Who is a great CEO? It really depends on your company needs

Who is a great CEO? It really depends on your company needs

Finding a suitable and experienced CEO can make a great difference in your company’s future. See what to look for in a CEO and how Compass can help you find just the right one.

A CEO is the ultimate leader of an organisation

What is a CEO?

A CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is the highest-ranking executive in an organization and is responsible for setting the strategic direction and overall leadership of the company. The CEO is ultimately accountable for the organization’s success or failure.

What is a CEO’s role in an organisation?

A CEO’s role is to guide the organization to success. First thing is to create a strategy for a longer period. Typically strategy periods are anywhere from 3 to 7 years. The strategy should answer how the company will grow and succeed and answer any changes on the market. 

To execute the strategy they build the executive team how they see fit. The executive team is typically the CEO, a CFO, a COO, a CTO and a CMO, but the composition ultimately depends on the organization. 

The CEO reports to the board and the board is responsible for hiring or firing the CEO. The CEO and the board typically meet at least once a month to follow up on the strategy and the direction of the organization.

When do you need a new CEO?

The CEO reports to the board and the board is responsible for hiring or firing the CEO. The CEO and the board typically meet at least once a month to follow up on the strategy and the direction of the organization.

Sometimes the board sees fit to change the CEO. This could be due to the CEO not reaching the goals set with the board or for other reasons. Since CEO’s tend not to have any notice period, it is typical for the board to discreetly start looking for a new CEO while the old one still serves the company.

In these kinds of cases a headhunter is almost the only way to start looking for a new CEO. A headhunter can contact suitable candidates without giving away the name of the company first hand. Also headhunters are experienced in handling CEO changes and know how to execute the recruitment process with the sensitivity needed.

What type of a background does a CEO normally have?

CEO’s can have very different backgrounds. Some are the founders of a company without a specific educational background, but extensive industry knowledge. Other CEO’s have master’s or bachelors from business, economics or finance. Some CEO’s specialize in change management and turnarounds.

So how to know what kind of a CEO your company needs? Look at the needs of the company? Where do the big challenges lie? Do you need a CEO to come in and make a rapid turnaround or do you need a visionary to set long term strategy? 

A seasoned headhunter is a great companion in identifying a company’s needs since they have handled multiple CEO changes in very varying organizational environments.

How to find a great CEO?

There’s currently quite a lot of competition on the job market for experienced leaders. Typically leaders of this rank are found with the help of a headhunter. It is also the way many leaders are accustomed to change jobs and they rarely browse job ads, but rather wait to be contacted or they contact a headhunter themselves.

At Compass HRG we recruit on average a leader a day. What we’ve noticed is that successful recruits are the result of careful match making. A good headhunter can read the hiring organization and see what the organization needs. On the other hand a good headhunter knows what kind of a person is motivated to jump into any given organization.

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Effective recruitment, especially for a critical function, can be crucial to a business' success

THE RIGHT MATCH DOES NOT COME BY ITSELF

EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND NETWORKS

Compass Human Resources Group has existed since 1982. Today, we are an international organisation with offices in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

In addition, we have an office in the UK where we provide our international outlook and assist Nordic companies in the UK, Europe and other countries with their specialist and executive recruitment.

On average we recruit a leader per day. Our consultants have extensive understanding of the sensitive match making between a company and a leader.

We help you maximise your business performance through effective recruitment, headhunting and search. We have extensive insight and knowledge from 6 industries and in-depth knowledge of the modern labour market.

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Our team of experienced recruitment consultants has a deep understanding of finance and the skills and experience required to succeed in this field. We stay current on the latest trends and developments, enabling us to identify candidates at the forefront of innovation and change in the finance industry.

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