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.”
