An insight to hiring senior executives (page 2 of 2)

Herein lay the first major difficulty, meeting the board that contained his future counterpart for the southern region, who felt threatened.

This is where the issue of sensitivity and relationship building was of paramount importance. Demonstrating professional capability is one thing, but ensuring a cohesive board was vital to success and, sensitivity to the people within the board would be necessary to ensure that they performed as a single, focused unit. Time and efficiency were critical factors.

Provenance was a major consideration due to the high level of funding being invested in the business and this forged the need for a "formality meeting" with the venture capitalist company. They afterall, had to be comfortable that the new incumbent was able to deliver against their requirements. Often, at the top of a venture capitalist's stipulated requirements for investment, will be a workable exit strategy and to deliver against this they require high annual return rates.

The decision to hire was made against four major criteria; professional capability as demonstrated through past experience, business know-how supported by experience and qualification, the ability to work within a high ramp-up environment and at the same time ensuring a cohesive senior management team and finally, provenance - that comfort factor to the financial backer.

Hiring must take into account far more than skills, competencies, education and language skills, for the Middle East now demands the best if it is to be successful in the international business arena.