What to Look For in a Senior Manager

Finding the right professional fit for a senior-level position in your company is essential to allow your business to grow and reach greater heights. However, this task comes with a certain level of difficulty and requires a more hands-on approach. After all, these high-level hires already have years of managerial experience and an advanced level of expertise and specialty.

To help you build an organization that will last by hiring the right people, here are some of the most important qualities of a senior manager that you should look for:

PEOPLE SKILLS

As the job title suggests, a senior manager is tasked to manage and interact with people who have different personalities and are on different levels both inside and outside the company. With this, having excellent people skills is essential for the job.

The main thing that makes up for people skills is communication skills, which incorporate the articulate delivery of messages, active listening, and better negotiation tactics. However, interpersonal skills also include being flexible when needed. So make sure to tick the box that reads team player, because the capability of a leader to collaborate and work with the very individuals that he or she is supposed to lead is among the things that make up for people skills. This helps establish not just relationships but also trust and understanding within the team.

EMPATHY AND PASSION

Taking on the role of a senior manager requires an understanding of both the organization and its people.

Senior managers are the ones directly affecting the productivity and engagement of employees, so it’s important to find someone who will understand their needs. A senior manager needs to be aware of the importance of appreciating and recognizing employees within the organization to nurture them and boost their morale, ultimately increasing employee productivity and contributing to organizational growth.

Aside from this, a senior manager also needs to dive deep into why the company does what it does, and where the company aspires to be. Your business needs to have people with the passion to help see the organization’s vision through and encourage employees to act together towards a common goal. Having a senior-level leader who identifies with your vision and advocates it as well will lead to the effective and strategic alignment of division initiatives, policies, and projects with that of the organization’s.

INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE

Senior managers need to take a practical perspective and approach to help keep the organization afloat.

It is crucial for you and your senior manager to set short- and long-term goals that are attainable and realistic. To achieve this, a candidate’s knowledge of industry-specific best practices must also be on your list as having in-depth knowledge of the industry allows one to assess available and applicable opportunities systematically and make informed decisions.

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

Lastly, senior managers must be capable of using their time properly to prepare strategies that will drive necessary change in the business and survive the dynamic business world and the challenges that are still to come.

Strategic senior leaders drive an organization and its people to be more proactive than reactive in recognizing and exploiting opportunities. Hiring senior managers who are effective in focusing on the right things, making tough calls and important decisions, delegating tasks, and allocating time and resources can help future-proof your business and deliver inevitable and necessary changes to the organization.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The abovementioned qualities are just the tip of the overall skills that make a great leader. But keeping these in mind as you try to build an efficient management team may help you narrow down potential business leaders suited for your company and its vision.

A HELPING HAND

Icon Executive Asia has been in the recruitment industry for the past decade. Composed of experienced recruitment consultants, we have developed expertise in talent acquisition for various industries.

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