Calibre One Launches Purpose-Driven Recruiting Practice
September 22, 2016 – Search firms continue to expand into new areas, hoping to provide clients with the best services for finding, assessing, onboarding and keeping their senior level talent. Calibre One has followed suit by launching what it calls a ‘purpose-driven’ search practice to be led by partner Venesa Klein and backed by a team of specialists.
The new practice area will focus on placing senior level executives in growing organizations seeking to create innovation with meaningful impact. This includes companies that focus on empowering employees and/or making positive social impact, such as benefit corporations, B-Corps, L3Cs and other purpose-driven companies as well as investment firms focused on this emerging sector.
Calibre One will assist clients in identifying leaders with the right desire, personal values and skills to drive both positive financial and social impact. The practice will look beyond traditional performance indicators through an extensive assessment process to ensure its search strategy is fully aligned with a client’s specific objectives, values and purpose.
Searching for Holistic Leaders Now In Vogue
When searching for that next great CEO or C-suite leader, executive recruiters say they are turning away from looking at basic skill sets in favor of more distinctive holistic traits. According to a new poll by Mullin International, ‘Great Leaders Transcend Themselves,’ 48 percent of respondents reported “personal drive” and another 48 percent said “perspective.” The remaining five percent responded “reputation.”
“A growing number of companies are looking beyond the traditional bottom line to incorporate a higher purpose into their success,” said Venesa Klein, a partner at Calibre One. “We created our purpose-driven practice on the principal that the pursuit of purpose can be as powerful as the pursuit of profit. In fact, ‘leading with purpose’ can create a new path toward economic success and build value across all stakeholders — clients, employees and communities.”
Deloitte’s just released ‘Culture of Purpose‘ study found that businesses with a strong sense of purpose are more confident about their growth prospects. These organizations also experience higher levels of confidence among key stakeholders and are investing more in initiatives that lead to long term growth. The study noted that respondents who say their organizations have leaders with a strong sense of purpose are much more optimistic about their ability to stay ahead of industry disruptions and to outperform their competition.
“While the prospects for purpose-driven companies are bright, finding the right people to excel in critical leadership roles is what truly drives success,” said Ms. Klein. “Calibre One already has a proven track record of successfully building leadership teams for the world’s most innovative companies. Now, we are ready to work with purpose-focused companies to deliver great leaders with shared values that can make transformative contributions.”
Calibre One’s new practice is focused on placing leaders for mission-driven organizations, which means the search firm must align executives who share the same vision and passion for the particular cause the client is focused on. It is a mandate that recruiters are being asked to handle more often, but one not every recruiter feels fully equipped to handle.
“The idea behind this launch is to focus on the unique niche of helping mission-driven companies find senior level executives who are aligned with their mission,” Ms. Klein continued. “Executives, in other words, who share the same passion for a cause. Without that alignment, at the executive level the drive to make an impact becomes diluted. It is also critical within mission-driven organizations to understand their culture and find the right executives that mesh accordingly.”
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
