How We Have a 100% Success Rate with CFO Hires
(That’s Right. 100%)

According to SHRM, companies have about a 43% success rate when hiring. Meanwhile, at my executive recruitment firm, we have a 100% success rate with CFO placements.

This may sound like an outlier, but there’s one factor that consistently changes our outcomes.

It’s psychometric assessments, a.k.a. personality tests.

Since 2009, we’ve been using these assessments in our CFO searches. They’ve been immensely helpful for our clients, ranging from the international engineering firm that needed its first-ever global CFO, to the Mid-Atlantic civil firm that grew from $300M to $2B.

Why psychometric assessments? They identify intangibles that are hard to detect in resumes and traditional interviews, including a candidate’s decision-making style, adaptability, leadership communication, emotional intelligence, and overall strategic mindset.

The strategic mindset is key, especially when one tries to sort out the difference between CFOs and Controllers. As one CFO brilliantly put it, “A Controller thinks about today, and a CFO focuses on tomorrow.” Tomorrow thinking is strategic thinking. It’s hard to quantify, and it’s not taught or encouraged in business school.

Note that we don’t use psychometric testing to be intrusive or weed people out. That’s what some companies do, and it’s a huge mistake. Instead, we encourage our clients to use the assessment results to:

• Confirm or challenge gut instincts
• Measure self-awareness (a BIG one)
• Identify areas to explore into during interviews
• Determine EQ and decision-making patterns
• Incorporate results into an onboarding plan
• Consider executive coaching
• Spot red flags early

Basically, it helps us figure out if someone is not just a “good fit,” but the right strategic leader for the company.

Psychometric assessments also work beyond CFO roles. We’ve had over 80% success using the same process across other C-Suite hires.

Now, I’m not saying these assessments are a silver bullet. Hundreds of searches have taught me that successful searches also share the following traits:

• Commitment
• Collaboration
• Timing
• Decisiveness
• Thoughtful onboarding

And no search is easy. The number of things that can go sideways during a search is enough to question the sanity of anyone who does it for a living. But if you layer in psychometric tools and partner with someone who knows how to interpret them, you’re not flying blind. It’s a little more work but well worth the effort.

If you’re curious how psychometric assessments would look for your next C-suite hire, let’s talk.