Developing a productive internal technical team is a fantastic experience. Technical teams are more likely to succeed in utilizing the advantages of the most recent technological advancements on the market when they are led by capable individuals. Achieving that level of success also entails improving your business’s competitive posture.
The most significant recruitment that businesses make these days is a Chief Technology Officer (CTO), who will lead your organization through its digital transformation initiatives and put together a highly functional team of technical professionals. It takes time and preparation to find and hire the appropriate CTO, especially when businesses are fighting more fiercely for talent during what the media is referring to as “the Great Resignation.”
In a labor market like this, hiring a CTO office—or any employee—presents a number of difficulties. Since the pandemic, a greater number of people are willingly leaving their jobs, or they are opting not to return to work despite employment openings. A record 10 million positions were posted in the United States earlier this summer, while 4.4 million workers, or 3% of the labor force, abandoned their jobs.
Employers are snatching tech talent at breakneck speed, wherever they can find it, as a result of a wave of resignations and early retirements. Recognize that tech candidates are in a unique position to influence hiring negotiations when you start your search for a CTO.
It can be very scary to find and entice the proper person to spearhead your technological initiatives, particularly if you have no experience with technology.
You’re employing a CTO, but why?
A chief technology officer (CTO) is a professional who combines a special blend of technical “know-how,” business acumen, and interpersonal skills to interact with professionals across all levels of the organization. You are appointing a CTO to steer your business towards increased productivity and improved performance through the creation and application of new technologies. Remember that if this person is to excel in their position, they will need to have a thorough understanding of every department inside your firm.
We should add that there is a new dynamic to be mindful of in this current age of recruitment— corporations using technology on a wider scale than at any other moment in history. Technology is becoming the cornerstone of any successful organization as organizations depend more and more on it for all of their operations. It is anticipated that today’s CTOs will lead as CEOs in the future.
When you’re deciding on the duties and responsibilities of your new CTO, keep that dynamic in mind.
Identifying your new CTO’s function
Through the successful application of new technologies, a CTO will oversee the integration of new technologies into every aspect of your business with a continual focus on strengthening your organization and improving its competitive positioning. However, as technology advances on a regular basis, your CTO must keep up to date.
Chief tech officers ought to be capable of:
- Work together with your CEO to create a long-term, strategic plan that will ensure your company’s acceptance and investment in technology.
- Offer your skills in project management, networking, software, and IT infrastructure management.
- Create a high-performing team of technical specialists by luring in new technical talent.
In addition to their proficiency with technology, CTOs are sought after for their capacity to lead, which calls for strong interpersonal and rapport-building abilities. The most successful CTOs take on many hats and love doing so.
Creating a skills matrix in advance of your hiring process is the best way to make sure the correct people are hired. You’ll soon discover that you require a CTO with more than just strong technical experience when you take into account the problems your team must overcome. In addition, the following “soft skills” must be included in the skill set of your new CTO:
Strategic Mindset
CTOs are “big picture” thinkers who can unite the domains of technology and business strategy in order to propel both forward and create better futures. A CTO is always ready to share with you their vision of the future and educate others on how new technological developments might help your company’s business plan.
Effective Time Management
Even the wealthiest among us believe they can accomplish this more effectively.
Conversational Exchange
CTOs need to be able to collaborate and interact with both non-technical and technical personnel. For your CTO to succeed, verbal communication, rapport-building, and team leadership are essential.
tact and diplomacy
It is true that technical workers can think in “binary” ways. Absolutes. In both black and white. You’re incorrect; I’m right. The best relationships, however, are those that demonstrate your ability to be open to hearing other people’s perspectives and to the possibility that they may know more than you.
Types of Chief Technology Officers
There are various varieties of CTOs as well; the following four are the most prevalent:
Customer-business communication
dedicated to using user-facing technologies to improve the customer experience as quickly as possible. They think that by investing in these technologies, they will increase sales and propel the company’s growth, which is a validation of their work.
Infrastructure manager
assiduously focused on your company’s technical infrastructure and eager to monitor data, network performance, etc. is driven to optimize technological infrastructure investments and promotes the use of digital services, such as cloud computing, to enhance the delivery of IT systems.
A strategic planner
a supporter of using technology as the primary engine for a company’s business plan. possesses a strong “visionary” quality and is able to apply technological know-how to deliberate expansion initiatives.
Innovator
Extremely competent in showcasing how to leverage technology to create fresh concepts and business models that can spur an organization’s expansion.
Job Description for a Chief Technology Officer
Writing a comprehensive, official job description for the new CTO at your firm is an undertaking, not a task, and everyone in leadership should be able to participate in this process. Don’t make a list of your everyday obligations or requirements in bullet points. Alternatively, you might divide the talents you identify in your matrix into groups such as “technical skills,” “leadership,” “interpersonal communication,” and so on.
Wording describing how the CTO role is expected to directly contribute to the company’s business objectives should be included at the end of the job description.
A CTO’s Recruitment Approach
Hiring for executive or C-level positions is a combination of art and science. Your recruitment techniques should yield a pool of qualified individuals that demonstrate a potential to fit in with your firm’s purpose and objectives, and part of your approach should also be to promote your organization to future CTOs.
Many choose to do both if they are unsure whether to go to market or promote from within. Cast a wide net, but remember that the top technical talent is constantly in demand, not just from seasoned recruiters but also from rival businesses that aren’t afraid to reach out to potential employees directly through Facebook or LinkedIn sites.
As part of your recruitment efforts, you want to market your organization, so think about what makes it unique from competitors. Remote work settings, cutting-edge perks like health club memberships, on-site yoga sessions, etc. are a few examples. Make the position seem enticing and clearly explain to candidates what becoming the CTO at your organization will entail for them. Prospective CTO candidates are attracted to joining a rising organization, being in charge of interesting initiatives, and having access to special incentives like those listed above.
Networking must be one of your primary recruitment methods to optimize the use of your relationships. They’ll probably use social media to spread the word if you engage other professionals in a conversation about hiring the proper CTO and show them how it will lessen the burden of their existing duties.
Going above and beyond the cliched approach of posting on Indeed, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor yields the best outcomes when it comes to recruitment. Making the most of your relationships, social media connections, and employee referrals is essential when it comes to executive recruitment. Think beyond the box and broaden your search for a CTO to include your current staff, clients, and any other connections your recruitment team may have in their social networks. One of the executive recruitment strategies that has worked so well for businesses like Apple and Yahoo is this one.
The expanding need for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace is deep at senior levels. Businesses are realizing that their staff diversity and inclusivity directly correlate with their company’s success. Furthermore, among millennial workers, who make up the majority of our workforce, DEI is particularly significant. Statistics suggest that hiring with an emphasis on diversity has delivered increases in productivity, employee engagement, and workflow innovation.
The Value of Openness in the Hiring Process
It’s possible that you will communicate with your CTO candidates via the internet at first. If you are proactive in informing candidates about your hiring process, they will be very appreciative. This goes beyond simply posting material on your company’s employment website; you should also be active on the social media platforms that your business should be utilizing, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and others.
Due to their reputation for being critical thinkers, C-level executives are likely to be curious about the workings of your company’s hiring procedures. Throughout the entire recruitment process, try to stay in touch with each and every one of your CTO candidates by being open and truthful about your procedures.
These actions are more than just a kindness on your side; businesses that knowingly disregard this small act of transparency face serious consequences. According to statistics, more than 80% of applicants for available positions anticipate hearing back from the hiring manager to express interest. That’s a large number when you realize that 2/3 of that number will walk if they don’t hear back after applying. Maintain open channels of communication and provide prospective personnel with regular updates on your progress.
It’s also important to note that over half of the Gen Z applicants on the market will not even apply if they believe your hiring practices are archaic.
Uncovering Unknown Talent
More than 27 million Americans, according to recent research, fit into a brand-new category known as “hidden workers.” These are applicants with the necessary talents for success; the problem is that many of these workers are hard to get hold of. Because they might not be a perfect fit for the highly specified requirements outlined in job descriptions, over 85% of employers think that competent, highly skilled applicants are unintentionally disqualified from consideration throughout the hiring process. When you assess your pool of potential CTO candidates, keep in mind that the hiring and screening procedures now in use are keeping qualified experts out of the running.
Novel approaches to overcome these obstacles consist of:
- assessing whether our hiring systems’ antiquated algorithms need to be changed to make them more inclusive
- Modernize screening to focus on long-term metrics and performance. Prioritizing hiring speed and cost can sometimes overshadow other crucial criteria.
Studies have indicated that if a corporation is able to draw in experts from this category of “hidden workers,” it will be 35% less likely to experience difficulties in achieving its diversity objectives.
Interviewing Prospective CTOs
Your interviewing procedure makes all the difference between a fantastic hire and an expensive, time-consuming one that turns out to be a bad fit. When your organization conducts interviews for a C-level or senior post, such as chief technology officers, the stakes are substantially higher. Interviewing a professional for a lower-level technical post is quite different than interviewing a CTO or any other C-level professional. While the latter’s interviewing process focuses on particular duties or tasks, interviewing candidates for your company’s leading technology role entails a thorough and essential examination of not just their technical aptitude but also their capacity for strategic thought, people management, and assessing how well they will mesh as a leader within your current work culture.
First and foremost, be open to accepting remote interviews or even giving all applicants the opportunity. It will enable you to reach a broader audience, and in a market that is undoubtedly dominated by “job seekers,” remote interviews are now just expected.
When evaluating prospects, a successful CTO should be able to demonstrate how they can be the personification of your company’s technical strategy going forward and tell you how they can connect their technical abilities to your company’s mission.
The following are the important non-technical topics to discuss during the interview:
Senior management capabilities
Possibly the most important ability. Look for instances and find out how your applicant can use their leadership abilities to support the goals of your business.
Strategic Contemplation
One crucial competency of the CTO is the ability to suggest ways that technological advancements can enhance your company’s performance or even act as a catalyst for its expansion.
What is emotional intelligence?
Your CTO will be responsible for leveraging other people’s performance to accomplish goals. A competent and confident workforce can be developed by a CTO who is able to embrace a company-wide vision. This is distinct from leadership.
Conclusion
A strategic strategy is needed to ensure that the technical and leadership abilities of the CTO you hire are in line with your company’s long-term goals. Hiring a CTO is an important and complicated procedure. In addition to their technical skills, a competent CTO also possesses emotional intelligence, a strategic perspective, and the capacity to manage a highly skilled technical workforce. Organizations need to concentrate on developing inclusive, transparent recruitment methods, utilizing networks, and showcasing a strong corporate culture in a competitive and changing labor market. A strong candidate experience, diversity, and transparency are crucial in finding a CTO who can lead digital transformation and corporate success.