What Personality Traits Should You Hire Into Your Tech Organisation’s Marketing Function?
When employers are searching for talent, they typically focus on industry knowledge and experience, as well as academic qualifications. While these are certainly important, hiring people with the right personality traits is equally critical to building your team. With this in mind, take a look at these five personality traits you should hire into your tech organisation’s marketing function – and find out how to do it!
1. Empathy
Someone empathetic is better able to understand how another person is feeling. They find it easy to put themselves into the person’s shoes and see things from their point of view, which is an extremely valuable trait to have in a manager.
Empathetic people are typically good nurturers and they’re able to unify teams and ensure that everyone feels valued and heard. Most people want their managers to have empathy, which is why it’s worth incorporating this trait into your leadership search.
Additionally, a good sense of empathy doesn’t just make you adept at understanding people; it can also indicate that the person is a good problem-solver. Being able to look at things from different viewpoints and take a variety of perspectives on board gives empaths a great basis to implement workable solutions, which can be extremely beneficial in a business environment.
2. Leadership
When you’re hiring at senior or executive level, good leadership skills are essential. No matter how much industry knowledge or experience an individual has, they need to be able to motivate and lead a team if they are to succeed in a managerial role.
Similarly, lower-level employees perform best when they’re directed by a strong leader. As well as giving them confidence, a good manager leads by example and helps to ensure that your corporate culture is a positive and holistic one.
There are many characteristics associated with good leaders, so be sure to look out for the following when you’re hiring into your marketing team:
- Communication
- Self-awareness
- Critical thinking
- Dependability
- Open-mindedness
- Honesty
- Decision-making
- Transparency
- Integrity
3. Knowledge of Market and Function
Whoever you hire for a leadership role should have an in-depth knowledge of the market and their specific niche. If their role is going to affect the future of your company, it’s vital that they understand how the market is set to evolve. This can give your brand a strategic advantage and enable you to evolve in a way that reflects emerging markets. No business operates in isolation, so choosing a marketing leader that has a good feel for the market will stand you in good stead.
People that have an in-depth knowledge of the market are typically able to take a broad overview of their department’s function in the greater scheme of things too. While you might be hiring a CMO or Marketing Director, their impact on other areas of the business should never be overlooked. Instead, talk to potential new hires about how they see themselves integrated with other core business areas and how they seek to capitalise on the future direction of the market.
4. Different to Your Existing Team
It’s natural to feel an affinity to people you perceive as similar to you but hiring staff simply because they share the same ideas or have a similar background can be damaging to your business. After all, you could end up with a senior leadership team that all share the same positive personality traits but are lacking in some areas. This results in you missing out on other advantageous personality traits that could lead to business success.
If you’re naturally risk-averse, for example, hiring someone who is more risk-tolerant could add something different to your company. Alternatively, if your existing leadership team is made up of people from just one or two sectors, hiring people from different industries invites new perspectives and specialties into the company.
When you incorporate diversity into your leadership search, you can increase the number of benefits to your business. Differences of opinion among your leadership team should not necessarily be discouraged, as they provide a great opportunity to look at things from a new angle or explore innovative solutions. By hiring people with different personality traits to those that are already on your team, you boost the resources and perspectives that are available to the company.
5. Vision and Creativity
A visionary leader is someone who knows what to do now – and where to go next. They can successfully predict how the industry will evolve and ensure that the business is well-placed to maximise success.
As well as being optimistic about the future, visionaries are often highly driven and determined to succeed. Unafraid of taking on challenges, they use their problem-solving abilities and vision to create the future.
Although the tech sector changes at a rapid pace, it is leaders with vision and creativity that forge the next path. From developing new solutions to designing ground-breaking products, a creative and inspired leader will help to shape your business in a way that leads the market, rather than follows it.
Finding Your Company’s Next Marketing Leader
The people you hire are the backbone of your business, which is why it’s so important to get it right. When you invite people into a leadership role, a significant element of your business depends on their success. From retaining employees to making accurate risk assessments, it’s vital to ensure that your next marketing leader can contribute to your company’s growth and foster a happy working environment.
At Acquire Digital Talent, we understand how to find the right fit for your business. Our unique search process drills down on both functional and behavioural core competencies to identify candidates with the personality traits, expertise, and experience you need. To simplify and accelerate the recruitment process, we use video technology to showcase each candidate too.
If you’d like to learn more about how this effective methodology could help you with your next Marketing Executive hire, contact Alex Marriner now on 44 (0)7583 648 612 or email him at Alex@AcquireDigitalTalent.com.