Recruiting the Not for Profit Executive Director: Avoiding Serious Pitfalls
By George Dise
Executive Director search committees fall into three common pitfalls: too many members on the search committee, dragging out the process, and seeking candidates just like the incumbent. Here’s how to avoid getting tripped up.
How large should the search committee be? Five members is good, since an odd number eliminates ties in voting, and there are enough members that two can be absent from interviews. More than five increases the chance of personalities clashing and dragging out decisions. Or, there’ll be too many opinions to balance, dragging out the process.
When you’re putting together a search committee, it helps to mix in people who’ve experienced a search committee before with people who haven’t. You’ll have more people on the board at the end of the search who now have experience working on a search committee. It has the added benefit of forcing experienced members to justify their methods to newer members, forcing them to evaluate whether they’ve been doing it right. Any bad habits the experienced members bring with them from other committees will be diluted. It also helps to include representatives from different groups within the organization in the search committee. When I worked with a search committee for a local high school an alumnus and a teacher were included on the committee to help ensure that the candidates were compatible with the character of the school.
The process can drag on if members aren’t motivated to work together or have difficulty scheduling meeting times. The longer it takes the committee to identify candidates, interview them, then meet as a group to share conclusions, the greater the chances that outstanding candidates will be snapped up by more efficient organizations. A strong search committee should meet once a week, driving momentum and ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks. The longer the process takes, the greater the risk that committee members will lose interest or need to quit because of personal reasons.
The most troubling pitfall is trying to find a candidate just like the incumbent. The predecessor may no longer be the ideal candidate given changes in methods and strategy since he was hired. There will never be a candidate exactly like the incumbent. The search committee must be willing to expand search criteria to recruit candidates from diverse backgrounds. Bringing in a leader with new perspectives and new experiences can re-invigorate an organization, which is how a well-run search committee can bring about dramatic change for the not-for-profit organization.
2 comments ↓
This is a great piece that will help a lot of committees who are just getting started. It is so true that the right number on the committee is really important. Committees often make the mistake of agreeing that the vote should be unanimous; however, this often ends up giving one holdout a disproportionate amount of power.
It’s important to keep the process manageable. This is great advice to assist in the simplification of a process that otherwise would cause much frustration to all involved.
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