Predict the future with 6 insights from the C-suite jobs market

If there’s one industry that does have the inside track on how companies are thinking about the future, it’s recruitment. Though much of the industry has been put on hiatus (as clients stall new appointments), more organisations than you might believe are continuing to focus on hiring.

Indeed, when during times of uncertainty businesses are recruiting for top-level jobs, the people they’re employing can give us a pretty good idea of the skills that forward-thinking companies are seeking — and therefore the future plans they are making. Think of it as a canary down the mine.

With that in mind, I spoke to CEO Jo Dalton and Talent Partner Simon Gottschalk of JD&Co, an executive search firm for high-growth tech-fuelled businesses which has built senior teams for scale-ups including Deliveroo, TransferWise and GoCardless. Spoiler: they’re busy, a sign that companies are taking seriously the need to rethink their models.

Here are the trends they’re picking up in the leadership teams of the future.

Triumph and Disaster are two “imposters” who should be treated the same way

“Companies are demanding step change regardless of how COVID-19 has impacted them,” says Dalton. “In sectors like travel tech and event tech, they’re saying, ‘We need to completely transform our business model and we don’t have the right senior team in place.’ I recently had a call with a big omni-channel business, and they know they haven’t got the right CEO, because that person isn’t going to be somebody who can exploit the online opportunity that they need to go after now.” 

However, a sense of discomfort is also shared by those who have seen growth during the pandemic. “Many of our direct-to-consumer clients have seen an upsurge in business, in productivity or the need for their service during the crisis — but they’re saying ‘We now need a stronger leadership team to deliver on a new, bigger ambition that we have’. Their business has been super-charged so they need leadership that can go further, faster.”

Neurodiversity and cultural awareness are in demand, as work culture is being humanised

“Firms are looking for people that are much more culturally aware,” Dalton explains. “I’m a massive advocate of humanising business, and I’m glad to see that people are actually calling out that they want leaders who are not tone deaf, but actually have an appreciation for culture, know what’s going on, are authentic, and are neurodiverse. Every single hire that we are being asked for at the moment, they’re looking for neurodiversity and a leader who can look beyond the business and competitive set and understand the mood of the world around them.”

To find new leaders, employers have to be brave and look beyond the obvious parameters

“I think there has to be a call to arms for braver leadership,” says Gottschalk. “In these times of uncertainty and ambiguity, I think it becomes easy to default to some of the more obvious and safe decisions when hiring as people think it creates more certainty. For a search we worked on recently we talked the client through 20 profiles, probably 75% of which sat in different but complementary sectors.” But the client wanted to shortlist four candidates all of whom were either working for a direct competitor, or in the same sector. “So it becomes incumbent upon us to think about how we help businesses feel brave and confident going in and talking to world-class talent beyond their own sector or experience,” he says.

The whole world of talent is at your fingertips — anywhere on the planet

“I don’t think everyone has really cottoned on to the fact that talent is now globally dispersed,” says Dalton. “So, if you are a London-based company, traditionally you hunt for talent in London — but now the whole world is available to you, because there aren’t the constraints of an office. You know, some would say that we’re just about to divorce office space forever.”

Emotional intelligence now punches above IQ and even experience

“For me, businesses of the future are defined by just two things: their people and technology,” says Dalton. “If you’re in a leadership role, you’ve got to be able to attract, acquire, and retain top people within your organisation — and you’ve got to have the technological capabilities to compete against anybody else in your sector.” Emotional intelligence is key, not just a great IQ and a good education. “They need to be able to really understand and acknowledge the situation that we’re in now, specifically around how they treat people,” she says.

Candidates are looking for sound ethics in the roles they take, but large organisations are lagging

“I’ve had quite a few leaders looking for roles who were saying they’re actually now looking more diligently into companies’ laws and the way they govern themselves, their data governance, before they look at joining them,” notes Dalton. “And then, if you cross that over into businesses that have got B Corp status — that’s a major influencer now — as is general ethics around sustainability. There are some great first-time founders that are doing that, and there are lots of start-ups that I see, and loads of green shoots.”

But does that exist in large organisations? “No. Not in a way that feels credible or that really resonates with the leaders considering joining them.”

Whether you’re an employer, a candidate or just seeking to predict the future shape of the business world, Gottschalk and Dalton highlight some fascinating trends, but they can, perhaps, be distilled into two important notions.

Firstly, ambition hasn’t been tempered by the crisis. In fact, the opposite. However, delivering against that ambition will be limited to the employers who are brave enough and have the foresight to look beyond the old boundaries.

And secondly, call it what you will — emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, neurodiversity, kindness at work — it is clear that the traits required of tomorrow’s leaders go far beyond the current corporate skillset. Ignore this, and you are liable to get left behind. Embrace it, and perhaps, in the long run, business will work better for everyone.

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