Ensuring you have the right mix of people on your team is vital to its success. Susan Pechman, chief marketing officer at the NPD Group, offers advice for recruiting the right marketers
A wise mentor told me early in my career that I should always hire people who know something I didn’t know. Given how much I respected this particular individual, I started following this philosophy right away and it has stayed with me over the past 25 years.
One of the first experiences I had using my mentor’s advice was when I was managing a product development group for a new consumer service and I had a team of creative, editorial staff that was critical to our launch. I quickly realised that we were missing the discipline of a classic marketing person and added one to the team. Today as CMO of a B2B marketing department with a diverse range of talents, we are light in the area of ad concept development and creative. The same advice I was given 25 years ago applies but with a twist. It’s not necessarily about hiring people who know something I don’t know but rather it’s about getting them on the team whether it’s through partnerships with agencies or working with consultants and freelancers.
In looking for the missing piece in the quilt of talent on my team I search beyond the traditional skill set of a good B2B marketer. The traditional skill set is typically the list of skills and experience outlined in position descriptions or marketing job postings. These skills are an important consideration in the hiring process but there are traits that set apart the good from the best. Some of these traits are behavioral, some are attitudinal, some are inherent, and some are learned and honed.
Every great B2B marketer doesn’t need to have every single skill or trait. Rather it’s the mix of each marketer’s skills, experience, and traits blended with those of others on your team that produces success. Think Yin-Yang. Think Micro and Macro. Think parts and then the sum of the parts.
Below are the traits that I’ve learned the best marketers have in common:
Curiosity
What distinguishes a smart person from a brilliant person? Curiosity. What questions does the candidate ask? When given a challenging task in past jobs, what was their initial approach to the task? A good indication of curiosity is the candidate’s approach to the task. Did they ask questions, do research, talk to the right people, or did they dive right into the tactical plan.
Challenges convention
Employees who are willing to challenge convention can make a difference. There is a huge list of business success stories that resulted from an employee challenging the norm and thinking outside the box. There are questions we can use during the interview process to get at whether or not a candidate is willing to challenge convention and think differently. I also believe you can get at it by finding out how they approached a problem/challenge/opportunity in a previous job. I have had great success at getting at this by asking candidates to talk about their biggest success and also their biggest failure.
Passion
If you don’t look for passion in the people you hire, you could end up with employees who never engage especially deeply. The simple fact is that people are better at their jobs, more creative when they feel passionate about their work. Regardless of the drivers – interest, enjoyment, satisfaction, or a sense of personal challenge – passionate B2B marketers are more likely to take risks, look for multiple solutions to a problem, and seek out the best solution rather than the easiest. Passionate people encourage passion and enthusiasm among your other team members. It’s usually pretty easy to tell if a person is passionate about their work. Ask them why they do what they do, what disappointments they’ve had, what their dream jobs would be. Listen to how they talk about their work and the excitement and enthusiasm they project. See it in their eyes and body language. In addition, if the word ‘passionate’ is used by others to describe the candidate you have a candidate worth considering.
Open-mindedness
It has been my experience that the most effective B2B marketers are usually the most open-minded. Open-minded marketers find ways to deal with unexpected situations. It’s one thing to know ahead of time and be able to plan for it and it’s another to deal with the unexpected. The difference between someone who only follows preset plans and one who is flexible and adaptable is that with the latter you really learn how the person thinks, how they handle stress, how resourceful they are and the kind of judgment they exercise given circumstances they may not have experienced before. High performers will not miss a beat – they will quickly grasp the situation, take stock of resources, make decisions, and take action. It may not be a perfect solution, but they will deal with it. Facing unexpected situations requires resourcefulness, thinking fast, and courage. These are the traits of high-performers. Another distinguishing characteristic of open-minded B2B marketers is how they deal with ambiguity and uncertainty. By accepting the uncertainties associated with ambiguity they draw upon their abilities to improvise, to adapt to the circumstances, to be open to alternatives and to make decisions, all of which involves risk-taking and sound judgment – all marks of a great B2B marketer.
