Building a Better Search Committee
By Laura Gassner Otting
When recruiting for executive level positions, one of the first steps may be the formation of a search committee. A successful search committee creates a calm and focused atmosphere inside of an organization that is in the midst of a leadership crisis. It can set the tone for the search and therefore, the future of a program, a division, or the entire non-profit. To most candidates, it is the initial and often lasting face of the organization. You should determine at the outset of your search if a search committee will be necessary and staff it accordingly.
Membership on a search committee may be one of the most significant opportunities to serve an organization because it puts a staff or board member in a dual role of public relations director and protector-in-chief. Members should be key stakeholders, such as senior staff and board members, grantors and grantees, community and constituent members, or those politically prudent to involve; they should also have a proven track record of good judgment about people and ample time to dedicate to the process. Staff members, outgoing founders, and incumbents should also be given special consideration, to determine if they will help or hinder the process.
Remember that search committee members come to their responsibility from different viewpoints (and therefore, different understandings) of the organization’s current and future needs; some of these needs are real and some of them are perceived. Reviewing the requirements of the next executive together will guarantee that the search committee members are looking upon each candidate with a similar understanding of the challenges that lie ahead for the hire, and may help them hire for talent and track record rather than personality fit alone.
For more information on the responsibilities of a search committee and the selection of its members, read the full article here.
About the Author: Laura Gassner Otting founded the retained nonprofit executive search firm of Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group in 2002. She helped build the start-up ExecSearches.com, served as a vice president at Isaacson, Miller, and as a presidential appointee for the White House Office of National Service and a program officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service, where she was part of the team that created the AmeriCorps, and as a member of the Clinton/Gore Transition Team and 1992 Election Team.
Laura serves on numerous community boards and is the author of Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector. She is widely quoted for her expertise in mission-driven work in publications like The New York Times, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, US News and World Report and Money magazine.
When recruiting for executive level positions, one of the first steps may be the formation of a search committee. A successful search committee creates a calm and focused atmosphere inside of an organization that is in the midst of a leadership crisis. It can set the tone for the search and therefore, the future of a program, a division, or the entire non-profit. To most candidates, it is the initial and often lasting face of the organization. You should determine at the outset of your search if a search committee will be necessary and staff it accordingly.
Membership on a search committee may be one of the most significant opportunities to serve an organization because it puts a staff or board member in a dual role of public relations director and protector-in-chief. Members should be key stakeholders, such as senior staff and board members, grantors and grantees, community and constituent members, or those politically prudent to involve; they should also have a proven track record of good judgment about people and ample time to dedicate to the process. Staff members, outgoing founders, and incumbents should also be given special consideration, to determine if they will help or hinder the process.
Remember that search committee members come to their responsibility from different viewpoints (and therefore, different understandings) of the organization’s current and future needs; some of these needs are real and some of them are perceived. Reviewing the requirements of the next executive together will guarantee that the search committee members are looking upon each candidate with a similar understanding of the challenges that lie ahead for the hire, and may help them hire for talent and track record rather than personality fit alone.
For more information on the responsibilities of a search committee and the selection of its members, read the full article here.
About the Author: Laura Gassner Otting founded the retained nonprofit executive search firm of Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group in 2002. She helped build the start-up ExecSearches.com, served as a vice president at Isaacson, Miller, and as a presidential appointee for the White House Office of National Service and a program officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service, where she was part of the team that created the AmeriCorps, and as a member of the Clinton/Gore Transition Team and 1992 Election Team.
Laura serves on numerous community boards and is the author of Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector. She is widely quoted for her expertise in mission-driven work in publications like The New York Times, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, US News and World Report and Money magazine.
