Whether you’re a family looking for your next nanny, an executive looking for an assistant or anything in-between, finding someone who is qualified and also a great fit for your role is one of the hardest parts of employing others.
According to Capgemini, over 64% of family offices globally report difficulty finding qualified talent. With salaries for private staff to high-net-worth individuals often being $100 – 200K+, it’s crucial to understand what to look for when hiring and how to know if you’ve made the right hire. Let’s take a closer look at top traits to look for when assessing applicants and how to know when you’ve found the right person for your home, family or family office.
Key Attributes to Consider When Hiring
Adaptability and Resilience
Working directly with high-net-worth clients or their family offices requires the ability to seamlessly handle shifting priorities and unpredictability. According to Guidant Global, successful employees should have malleable mindsets, remaining agile as a family’s needs change. Focus on candidates who are unfazed by sudden adjustments and bounce back from setbacks – resilient personalities that maintain composure under pressure. In your interview with them, understand how they’ve dealt with past role changes to assess their adaptability and suitability to working with you or your team.
Skillset Suitability
Ensure that candidates possess the precise expertise that your role demands. This may include childcare skills, tutoring capabilities, estate or household management, family governance knowledge, cybersecurity acumen, or other niche competencies. A candidate can boast an accomplished background in an adjacent field, but still not be a suitable match if their talents don’t align with the position’s requirements. Work closely with your recruiting partner to carefully assess their core competencies to determine if they will be the right fit for your role.
Autonomy
According to ExecRank, self-motivation is a critical strength for family office executives and associated team members. Employees need to demonstrate initiative and they should work independently with minimal hand-holding. Assess if applicants are proactive problem-solvers who take ownership of their responsibilities. Ask about projects they’ve autonomously driven from start to finish. Their ability to be a self-starter is critical to their success in this industry.
Flexibility
Working with high-net-worth families often requires accommodation of irregular schedules and last-minute needs. The Breeden Group notes that an individual’s willingness to adapt is one of the most critical aspects of hiring an individual to work for you on a personal level. Evaluate a candidate’s level of flexibility and capability to manage changing demands. Explore their availability for travel, variable hours or any other special requirements your job holds. Ensure, within limits, that they are willing to adjust their own plans if the need arises.
Attitude
For in-home positions, attitude can play a much bigger role in the overall success of someone in a position than formal qualifications. Employees interact intimately with all household or family office members, and you should seek candidates who are discreet, poised under pressure, patient and empathetic. A respectful, service-focused attitude will enable them to collaborate smoothly with families. Ask values-based interview questions to discern if you agree with them on a personal level and focus on candidates who are team players, through and through.
Pitfalls to Avoid When Dealing with Family Offices and Recruitment
Cultural Incompatibility
Examine soft skills like communication style, motivations, and values alignment through behavioral interviewing. While a candidate may check all of your competency boxes, incompatibility of work styles or personalities can undermine collaboration. Cultural match is imperative for family enterprise cohesion.
Cast a Wide Net
When sourcing passive candidates, don’t limit yourself to those visibly job hunting. Many remarkable candidates are open to new roles but not actively looking. They may be willing to consider an exciting opportunity working for you. Exceptional candidates often come from unexpected sources, but you’ll need to expand your outreach. Partner with a recruiting firm that has established relationships with local candidates to surface these “silent candidates” to yield top-tier hires.
Career Development
Candidates today expect structured career progression, which can be difficult in small family offices, where there can be limited opportunities for growth within one’s role. Clearly communicate opportunities for raises, promotions, skills development, and growth. For certain roles, the move may be horizontal rather than an upward ladder climb, and for others the opposite. Set expectations that prevent later disappointment.
Evaluating Candidates
Reference Checks
Speaking with former managers, colleagues, teachers or anyone who directly supervised the applicant provides invaluable input. Go beyond the candidate’s short list of pre-approved references for more impartial perspectives. Ask references about the applicant’s technical abilities, soft skills, weaknesses and suitability for the role.
Soft Skills Assessment
Look beyond skills and experience during an interview. Evaluating intangible skills like one’s communication ability, emotional intelligence, judgment, flexibility, and trustworthiness is paramount. Seek concrete examples that demonstrate these capabilities.
Customized Interview Process
Work with your recruiting agency to tailor your interview with a candidate specifically for the specialized role rather than taking a cookie-cutter approach. Include situational scenarios, role-plays, simulations and questions targeted to the niche skills needed. Require demonstration of key abilities in a trial with your candidate or through another type of practical assessment of their skills.
Intuition and Instinct
During interviews, listen to your gut. Notice subtle cues about the candidate’s integrity, motives and fit. As author Malcolm Gladwell outlined in his book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, human intuition often discerns things that overflowing resumes do not. Trust your instincts alongside the data.
Hiring for successful families, homes and family offices offices requires creativity and assertiveness, but if you get it right, the results will speak for themselves. By focusing on specialized capabilities, soft skills and cultural match, and avoiding common missteps, you can identify key hires for your unique role.
Working with an experienced recruiting agency is the best way to do this and at Old State Staffing, this is exactly what we do. Give us a call and see how top family offices and successful families/homes find the best talent!
