In my 20 years as an executive-search consultant, I’ve seen my share of seismic events — the Great Recession, Covid — wreak havoc on the market for leadership talent. We’re in another one of those moments now, and however you view the current administration’s pressure campaign on higher ed, there’s no doubt that it’s having ripple effects on the recruitment of top administrators.
In times of political and financial stress, hiring your next vice president or dean can feel insignificant — something to put at the bottom of a pile of 100 other things on the campus to-do list. And some institutions have announced furloughs and hiring freezes. Even so, leaders in vital roles will continue to retire, get promoted, or seek employment elsewhere, which means your institution still has to position itself to recruit top talent — people who will shape and secure its future.
Summer used to be a quiet time in the world of executive search as consultants, committees, and candidates planned, reflected, and rested up for another busy academic year. But the traditional search cycle has been upended, like so many of higher ed’s norms. Leadership searches now start year-round, and it’s not uncommon for new senior hires to take office in the middle of the academic year.
Like many this year, I’ve struggled to process the challenges facing higher education. Amid all the bad news, the good news is that institutions are full of committed professionals who view the work as a calling. I talk on a daily basis with presidents, provosts, vice presidents, deans, professors, staff members, and students at every type of institution. Sometimes I hear fatigue — understandably so — but I also hear resilience and conviction.
Leaders who are drawn to serve are still out there, if you look hard enough. And while recruiting is arduous lately, it is happening. So for those of you using this summer to plan or begin a search to fill a senior administrative post, here are six recommendations for finding great leaders in this unique moment.
Allocate extra time. While the leadership job market remains active, the search process is taking longer than usual. The various players involved in a typical senior administrative search (starting with presidents) often have numerous competing demands on their time, making it harder to start a search and keep it advancing.
Candidates are also moving hesitantly — asking a lot of questions and taking their time to mull whether to toss their hats in the ring for potential new positions. Some leaders are simply too overwhelmed by their current work obligations to devote much attention or hours to a job search. Those candidates who do opt to participate may need extra care and attention from the hiring institution and its search firm.
That something extra can be as simple as a phone call and other additional points of connection throughout the search. For example, in a recent dean search, the provost offered to speak with all of the finalists before their campus interviews (every candidate gladly accepted), and was also fully engaged during their visits.
No doubt, if you’re a senior administrator overseeing one or more searches, your days are already consumed with many other matters. This is not the time to be territorial. Instead, do some delegating:
- Lean on your team — either to help with the search process or to shoulder some of your other work so that you can devote more time to recruiting.
- Consider choosing two co-chairs to lead the search. That can help spread the work around and drive the search forward.
- If your institution is using a search firm, lean on your consultants. Executive search is our day job, and most firms have the tools, time, attention, and personnel to support a thorough and well-executed process.
Go out of your way to respond to a candidate’s questions and concerns. In some respects, the job market for campus leaders now is similar to what search consultants saw during the pandemic: During unstable times, people seek stability. With so much in flux across higher ed, even institutions usually viewed as rock-solid employers are being met with skepticism.
One leadership candidate, for example, recently asked me about a hiring institution: “Can you give me some insight into their situation? Is a hiring freeze on the horizon or is there a risk that I might take this position only to be furloughed a few months later?”
Such anxious questions are typical today. Candidates will be blunt in asking about your institution’s financial health, budgets, and strategic goals. Prepare to answer with candor. Aim to reassure candidates without painting an unrealistic picture — an often-tricky balance.
You also may need to be more proactive than in past searches. If you’re not seeing the desired candidate pool, you and your team may need to step in — early in the process — to mine your contacts for potential candidates and hold preliminary discussions with promising ones. Searches in 2025 and beyond will be “all hands on deck” from Day 1.
I have always advised finalists to accept a job with eyes wide open, and that is especially true now.
Reinforce your institution’s core selling points. It’s important to remember that candidates are evaluating you just as you are appraising them. In your pitch, fall back on the things that have always defined your institution, namely its values and academic credentials. How is your campus living up to its principles and fulfilling its mission?
In a recent leadership search, we worked with a campus that has a reputation for fostering a sense of belonging among students, and wanted to emphasize that to job candidates. “We attract students who are wired differently,” said a search-committee member at our first meeting. “When students come to campus, they find their place and their people. They want to be different and wildly creative but also have faculty who are like them. We help them grow, and they get an extraordinary education.” Those sentiments were echoed in all of our meetings, and we were able to convey that message to job candidates.
Be frank about the political and financial outlook. Understandably, institutions hesitate to air dirty laundry with potential hires, but avoidance is worse. If your institution is facing intense scrutiny from state and/or federal politicians, it’s best to prepare candidates accordingly. I have always advised finalists to accept a job with eyes wide open, and that is especially true now.
The same goes for budget concerns. It’s safe to assume that your candidates are professionals and well aware of the financial challenges facing higher ed. They won’t be surprised by your particular set of fiscal woes. One finalist I worked with on a search was disappointed when the salary offer didn’t come in as high as they had hoped. When I explained the institution’s budgetary limitations and rationale, they understood and accepted the position.
In short, be as open as you can about the context. Here’s what that might mean in practice:
- Be clear with candidates about the relevant open-records laws. How open will the interview process be? Will it include people from outside of the campus? With whom will they meet? What potential landmines should they be aware of?
- Provide finalists with resources by which they can formulate their own understanding of campus politics and controversies. Such resources might include recent news stories about a campus protest or a Dear Colleague letter from a federal agency. If campus leaders have made official statements regarding policies and procedures, point job candidates toward those documents.
- If there is some event or trend of significance that could affect the outcome of the search, pick up the phone and help shortlisted candidates understand the who, the what, and the why of it, as well as how they should handle the interview process as a result.
Be as nimble as possible. It may seem like contradictory advice — since I’ve already noted that leadership searches are moving more slowly these days — but campus recruiters must be ready to push against that trend if needed.
What might that look like? Say your college is very interested in a candidate who has also been shortlisted for a leadership post at another university. Be prepared to move up your search’s timeline to stay ahead of your competitor. Traditionally, searches have followed a very structured timeline with at least six to eight weeks allocated for the recruitment phase. But in a compressed market with stiff competition, you may need to play offense and defense, going after the talent you want while keeping your competition in check.
When filling a particularly challenging position, I advise clients to be more concerned about the quality of the pool than its size. And if you fall in love with a candidate who is in high demand, consider adjusting your process or moving more speedily to keep a top candidate in the pool.
Get creative and hire for the future. A lot of institutions are at an inflection point, making major changes in how they operate, which means they need a leadership team that can adapt to that new normal. Your college will need leaders with different skill sets and areas of expertise than you’ve hired in the past.
In a sector famous for slow, deliberate decision-making, ingenuity and agility are increasingly valued. Higher ed today is seeking skills often associated with the business sector: budgeting and financial acumen; data analysis; technological sophistication; political savvy; and innovation and creativity. Tomorrow’s higher-ed leaders need to demonstrate those skills and push for change (new programs or revenue sources, for example), bringing people on board as they go.
One clear strategy for your leadership search: cast a wider net and be receptive to candidates who might not fit the mold of current and past leaders.
Once you’ve found your ideal candidate, be creative in putting together a compensation package. Look for ways beyond salary to entice the right leaders to your institution. For example, if your institution is in an expensive real-estate market, a signing bonus might persuade the candidate. Or a retention plan can provide potential hires with a sense of security and stability. Recruitments nowadays often extend beyond just the candidate and might include spousal hires or wooing the whole family.
Every institution has limits in terms of what they can offer, and big financial incentives may not be possible — especially in this economy — but even a small gesture, like a personalized note, can go a long way to closing the deal with your top candidate.
Yes, these are difficult times for higher ed, but identifying and selecting key hires can’t be paused. If anything, uncertainty reminds us of the importance of strong leadership and the necessity of choosing leaders wisely.
This article was originally published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Permission to reprint has been granted.
