How is leadership screening different from traditional background verification?

Since the role of a leader is clearly more crucial than others, no organisation should simply rely on traditional background verification steps before onboarding people for such positions. Leadership due diligence should be much more comprehensive and detailed. Here is how:

• Only rely on self-researched primary references for leadership due diligence

For any position, especially for leadership positions, references are important. Even if an applicant provides impressive references, don’t just accept them without verification first. Do your own research to make sure that the references are trustworthy.  This goes a long way in validating the prospective hire’s character/reputation and attitude in general. A culture fit with the right set of values is indispensable while making senior level hires

• A thorough executive screening through competency mapping

Every exhaustive leadership screening should include competency mapping. In simple words, competency mapping refers to a process where the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses are identified and assessed. This is essential even for executive positions. Competency mapping is so important in leadership due diligence because it is easy to put industry experience ahead of a candidate’s innate traits and abilities, and assessing the candidate’s qualities by accurately identifying strengths and weaknesses can make sure you do not make this mistake.

• Leadership due diligence must involve career tracking

A comprehensive leadership due diligence must involve career track – how the candidate has grown or developed his/her career through the years. In other words, identify the various positions (both vertical and lateral/cross-functional growth) the candidate has held in chronological order till date. Apart from allowing you to understand just how qualified, experienced and efficient the candidate is, this process also throws light on the kind of reputation they have in the industry. In all, leaders are pivots to an organisations success and associated with a higher level of risk. Hence, organisations need to pay more attention to leadership due diligence with a focused approach to the same.