Hiring your next CEO? How to recruit executives that will stick around

While it's never easy to find and retain the right talent, recruiters and hiring managers often face their most challenging cases at the executive level — partly because they're looking for the wrong things. 

"Technical skills are important, but it is really secondary, it's almost table stakes," says Charlene Bergman, managing director and partner at advisory B. Riley Farber, where she heads up interim management and executive. "It's really that emotional quotient we're sourcing for. This is the ability to connect with people and the ability to lead in whichever style the culture of the company operates in. It's empathy with a partnership mindset."

According to career coaching firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, 105 CEOs left their post in October alone, up by 48% compared to the same month last year. As any recruiter knows, it's not easy to retain top talent, a problem that only intensifies for candidates at the top of their industries. 

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Unlike with junior roles, recruiters can already expect the talent pools for C-suite positions to have relevant experience and substantial growth in their careers. What makes or breaks the candidates comes down to how they treat people under them, Bergman says. 

While she admits that recruiters tend to have smaller candidate pools for executive-level positions, she warns against settling for anything less than an emotionally empathetic and communicative fit for the company. But that means the interview process has higher stakes.

"Getting to the core of who a person is not a straightforward task," says Bergman. "You have to understand their motivations and what they bring to the table." 

Bergman encourages interviewers to ask questions that explore the kind of legacies candidates feel they left behind at their previous organizations, and how that informs what they want to do next. Candidates should be able to articulate how they want to grow and impact their industry and potential employer, underlines Bergman.

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There are a few red flags to look out for, namely the candidate's level of humility when discussing their accomplishments and goals. 

"If they're all about themselves and what they've delivered, and there isn't [mention] of the team that supported them, that's a big red flag," says Bergman. "You also have to look out for someone who bounces around every year or two years. They're probably not putting the business's needs before their own."

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Bergman advises recruiters to really get to know their candidates on a personal level, understanding what's meaningful to them outside of work, whether that's family, hobbies or social causes. Ultimately, the candidate should be well-rounded not just as an executive but as a human being.

"Know what's important to your candidates, their style of leadership, their accomplishments and failures," says Bergman. "Know the impact they will have on the company."