Crossing the Chasm: Onboarding Executives from Adjacent Industries for Non-Traditional Roles

Are you looking for a new executive at your firm? Most companies begin looking for someone with relevant experience in their industry. But cross-industry hiring may lead to more effective results.

Hiring someone from an adjacent industry can provide new insights and perspectives, establishing your company as a thought leader and disruptor in its field. Find out how it can benefit your organization and the best practices for onboarding executives from adjacent industries.

Establishing the Cross-Industry Hiring Process

The cross-industry hiring process utilizes a combination of conventional and nonconventional methods. Here’s what it might look like for your organization.

• Define the Role: As with any job search, you must start by defining the role based on necessary skills, responsibilities, and culture.

• Start Your Search: The search will take a different approach, as you’ll want to look for people in adjacent industries, rather than the same industry. For example, companies looking for an operations leader may consider someone with transferable skills like logistics management. Ensure your search targets a wide range of applicants who may qualify.

• Look for Differentiators: When vetting and interviewing, you won’t necessarily be looking for skills alignment. Instead, you’ll consider what they bring to the table.

• Executive Onboarding: Once the candidate is chosen, begin training, ensuring they learn the necessary skills. However, it’s essential not to stifle the new perspective they may present to your teams.

What are the Advantages of Cross-Industry Hiring?

A Harvard Business Review article reveals that today’s boards are reassessing what leadership capabilities are needed in various roles, prompting them to look externally more often, potentially considering those with non-traditional backgrounds. They recognize potential benefits, which may include:

• New Insights: Coming from an adjacent industry means new perspectives. New executives may spot risks and opportunities that are otherwise missed. The diversity prevents ‘groupthink’, which can be damaging to operations.

• Adaptive Thinking: Leaders who can pick up new skills, utilize old skills, and apply an innovative approach are typically agile thinkers. They will adapt well to an ever-changing landscape that is so prevalent in modern business.

• Wider Talent Pool: Going outside of your industry allows you to appeal to a wider talent pool, giving you more options and more hiring criteria.

What are the Risks of Cross-Industry Hiring?

While cross-industry hiring can be beneficial, it can also offer some disadvantages. These include:

• Longer Onboarding Periods: Executives who did not train comprehensively for their positions may take longer to onboard, potentially increasing related expenses and reducing productivity.

• Credibility: An executive who comes from another industry may not seem as credible to stakeholders, including customers and employees. They may face internal management challenges, which can lead to reputational damage.

• Lack of Retention: A combination of tension among stakeholders and a lack of credibility could lead to early dismissal. Internal teams may be quick to judge your new hire for even the smallest of missteps, meaning your hiring efforts could be wasted.

Stahl Recruiting Can Assist Your Cross-Industry Hiring Efforts

While beneficial, cross-industry hiring can be challenging for various industries. Stahl Recruiting will simplify the process and help you find the best candidate for your company.

With various resources, we can easily tap into different markets. Our top-tier technology and vetting skills allow us to focus on the characteristics that are most important. We will help you find rail industry leadership that lasts.

Contact us to learn more about our transparent and reliable services.

FAQs

When is cross-industry hiring a good idea?

Cross-industry hiring is a good idea for companies that want to drive transformation, change operating models, and platform scale. It is best for organizations where leadership capability outweighs domain and is less suitable for licensure-required and tacit-knowledge-heavy roles.

How to judge whether an industry is adjacent?

An adjacent industry should have an overlap in buyer/user workflow, data standards and regulation, enterprise, economic structure, and operating cadence.

How can a cross-industry exec build credibility fast?

A cross-industry exec can build credibility through sponsor-led introductions, co-signed decisions early on, visible wins, weekly office hours, and published updates.