Over the past eighteen months, Aon Canada has revamped its search process. Instead of looking for senior managers who fit the skill set and experience, James Millard, SVP, human resources looks for candidates who are aligned with the company's corporate values. As Millard explains, Aon's culture is based on five values that focus on the client, on team work, innovation, business results, and living those values with pride and integrityAon operates several different businesses, the largest being risk management, insurance brokerage and human resources consulting. There are 2,700 staff in Canada and 42,000 around the world. Millard says that by embedding the company's leadership values into the job profiles, Aon has built integrity and structure into the hiring process. "People know our strategic objectives as soon as they hit the ground," he says.In Waterstone Human Capital's 2007 Corporate Culture study, 86% of senior executives told us that when hiring from outside the company they looked for cultural fit first. When hiring from inside the company, 70% said they looked for fit over skills. As well, 86% told us that leadership had led to the creation of their current culture, while 80% believe their culture helps retain top talent. These are powerful statements and ones that demonstrate the importance of hiring a leader that either fits with the existing values and behaviours or exhibits the traits of the evolving or desired culture.Millard says those candidates Aon has hired for "fit" rather than skills are integrating into the company more quickly, have a clearer understanding of Aon's goals and objectives and have an overall higher comfort level with the organization. "I certainly expect it to bring better retention rates and higher levels of productivity and for us to be able to prove that through metrics going forward," he says.The current shortage of leadership talent has forced Aon to not only look outside Canada for employees, but to use some innovative means to find them. For instance, an insurance conference held in Halifax this fall was a great way to reach out to the faculty of risk management at Dalhousie University and to the students. Aon set up a contest for the board game Risk and sponsored a scholarship for the winner. The contest garnered a ton of positive media attention and put Aon high up on the radar of an important target market for future hiring.In Waterstone's executive search work, hiring a candidate who exhibits a basic skill set and cultural fit starts with a clear understanding of our client's business and the candidate's role inside it. Once we understand the industry, the company, and the existing corporate culture, we can create the Candidate Evaluation Matrix.The CEM includes scores for pre-agreed categories such as performance history, values and behaviours, as well as cultural success measures. Our CEM is a tool for pre-screening and assessing candidates.After a thorough interview process Waterstone provides complete behavioural profile assessments for the finalists as well as directed referencing where we talk to former colleagues, employees and managers.We also suggest that two candidates present a 100 Day Plan. This exercise takes the candidate out of the interview mode and requires them to dive into an actual business case and demonstrate how they see their role within the company during the critical first few months of their position. The 100 Day Plan allows the search committee to see the candidate in action and a get a strong sense of how they will integrate into the company.
To find the best candidate, you first need to understand your company's corporate culture. A healthy corporate culture can be a magnet for attracting the best and brightest candidates, while a culture in need of change or a new direction can benefit from a leader who brings the desired values and behaviours to the job.
Marty Parker is the Managing Director and Founder of Waterstone Human Capital, a leading, retained executive search firm based in Toronto. Waterstone is also the Founder and Presenting Sponsor of Canada's Most Admired Corporate Cultures and The Canadian Corporate Culture Study
