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Decision Making DNA: How the Most Overlooked Factor in Hiring Could Be Your Organization’s Greatest Competitive Advantage

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When a Fortune 500 CEO described his company’s culture as “innovative and fast-moving,” his CFO characterized the same organization as “disciplined and process driven.” Both were correct from their perspectives. Yet this subjectivity reveals why traditional cultural assessment may fail, and why 63% of senior executives have resigned or considered resigning due to frustration with organizational decision-making.

The financial stakes are staggering.

 

Cultural misunderstanding costs organizations an estimated 6-9 months of executive salary in replacement costs, averaging $500,000-$900,000 per failed hire. For global enterprises, these direct costs pale compared to cascading effects: decreased engagement, damaged stakeholder relationships, and missed strategic opportunities that compound across quarters.

The root problem? Organizations cannot measure what they cannot define.

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The CEO Succession Paradox

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In the ever-evolving landscape of business leadership, the conversation around CEO succession planning is gaining momentum—and for good reason. Companies led by young, visionary CEOs face a unique paradox. While these leaders may not be expected to step aside in the near term, the potential for sudden and unforeseen disruptions necessitates a robust, forward-thinking succession strategy.

In this piece, we will explore key insights and best practices that CHROs and boards should embrace to secure long-term leadership continuity and resilience. According to the recent study conducted by Equilar and featured in Barron’s annual Top CEO Issue, the median tenure of CEOs of S&P 500 companies has decreased 20% since 2013, with the median tenure now at 4.8 years. This research also shows that 80% of large-Cap CEOs have been in their role for 10 years or less.

Too often, in unpredictable scenarios, succession planning is treated as a reactive measure. Forward-thinking companies, however, recognize it as a continuous strategic process. This shift in mindset transforms succession planning from a backup plan to an integral part of business strategy.

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The Future of Healthcare Leadership Decision Making

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At Kingsley Gate, we believe the healthcare industry is the backbone of a successful society, economy, and private sector. In the post-COVID landscape we’re living in, we have shown that senior executives are in the driver’s seat, spending 40% of their time on decision making1, and are the force behind the direction the healthcare industry moves toward.

Our approach to executive hiring takes into account the fact that an organization’s decision-making capability is an extremely important, predictive measure of financial performance2; and that it’s often an under-developed muscle/overlooked aspect of the executive search process. Our cross-industry findings published in 2023 can be found here.

In this mini report, we dive into some of the unique dynamics affecting executive decision making in healthcare, as well as our perspectives around future trends in the industry.

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Bad Decisions: Why companies miss the most important factor in executive hiring

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Astonishingly, the skill of making effective, timely decisions is often overlooked in leadership candidates. As companies search for new hands on the tiller to navigate uncertain waters, it is becoming clear that it is essential.

For many senior executives, feeling empowered to make good decisions is a crucial aspect of their remit. This skill feeds into many other areas of responsibility, such as good management practices, communication, strategy and more.

Despite its centrality, new research from Kingsley Gate reveals that decision making is the ‘missing piece’ in hiring strategy for leadership positions.

A quarter of senior executives say they were not asked about their decision making capabilities at interview stage and only around a third (36%) say that their decision making style aligns with that of their organization. There is also evidence to suggest that, even when asked about decision making, senior executives are not pressed to elaborate on their approaches to the process and thinking behind their decisions.

This report reveals the many benefits of ensuring that decision making is an integral factor in the leadership hiring process; how to empower senior executives to make good decisions; and how to accommodate contrasting decision making styles.

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The Value of Decision Making: A LatAm Perspective

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In the second half of 2023, Kingsley Gate conducted in-depth conversations with over 35 senior executives and board members across 11 Latin American markets (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic). Our interviews not only confirmed the validity of the findings from our quantitative study with FT Longitude of the Financial Times Group (published earlier this year) but also elaborated on a number of driving forces, nuances, and exceptions to these findings.
  Overall, we found that most senior executive participants not only believe that decision making is both a critical component of any leader’s mandate, but also that decision making does tend to look slightly different in a Latin American context.

 Most agree the path to improving a company’s decision effectiveness is through “human-centric” factors more so than data, process, and technology, and many are satisfied with their current roles and decision-making environments. There is a consensus that Latin American organizations are more creative in decision-making, but opinions vary on contributing factors to this creativity. The idea of “gut feeling” and its contribution to decision making generated rich discussion and debate, with various perspectives represented herein.

Has Latin America found the missing piece in executive hiring
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Has Latin America found the missing piece in executive hiring?

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As companies navigate a global business landscape that is more complex than ever, the skill of making effective, timely decisions should be considered non-negotiable for leadership.

Yet our new research shows that decision making is an overlooked factor in hiring strategies: a quarter of senior executives in our global survey say they were not asked about their decision-making capabilities at the interview stage. And just 36% say their decision-making style aligns with their organization’s.

In both Latin America (LATAM) and other international markets, senior executives whose decision-making styles align with their organizations are more likely to be happy in their role overall. People, rather than technology or processes, are also most likely to drive improvements in organizational decision making.

However, despite these similarities, our findings reveal some stark differences between LATAM and the rest of the world. For senior executives in LATAM, satisfaction with their organization’s decision-making processes is more than 10 percentage points higher than in other regions. They are also a lot more likely to have been asked about their own decision-making capabilities at the interview stage (87% compared with 75%).

Despite this, the majority (79%) have either resigned or considered resigning at some point in their careers because they were dissatisfied with the way their company made decisions, compared to 63% of senior executives from other international markets. And 39% of LATAM senior executives say they have actually resigned, compared to 34% of those from elsewhere. Additionally, only just over a third (37%) of LATAM senior executives’ decision-making style aligns with that of their organization’s.

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A Measure of Decision Framework to Improve Adaptive Cognition & Leader Success

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This study introduces and validates a comprehensive 24-item instrument designed to assess leaders’ decision frameworks, highlighting the critical role of metacognitive structures in leadership effectiveness.
Drawing on responses from 5,009 senior leaders across diverse sectors, the research underscores significant disparities between leaders’ decision frameworks and organizational contexts, leading to dissatisfaction and turnover risks. By integrating this instrument into recruitment processes, organizations can enhance metacognitive awareness among leaders, facilitating smoother onboarding and integration into complex decision environments.

The findings advocate for a proactive approach to aligning leadership capabilities with organizational needs, aiming to elevate decision-making processes and cultivate high-performance leadership teams. This instrument serves as a practical tool for fostering adaptive leadership and improving overall leader satisfaction and retention within organizations.

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Multifaceted Risks Facing Financial Services

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The dynamic landscape of risk and control leadership within the financial services sector demands a nuanced understanding of emerging challenges and strategic responses.

In this comprehensive report, we delve into the multifaceted dimensions of risk, regulation, and control, providing key insights drawn from a global survey of 88 financial institutions across 30 countries. Our findings unveil the top risk priorities, presenting a comprehensive view of the intricate interplay between cyber threats, credit risks, environmental concerns, regulatory changes, geopolitical tensions, and the rise of digital assets.

Our exploration begins with an analysis of the top risk concerns, where cyber threats and environmental risks emerge prominently.

Cybersecurity risk, operational resilience, and the transition to digital strategies assume the spotlight, with a detailed breakdown of the percentage of respondents choosing each priority. The whitepaper navigates through critical areas, such as credit risk, environmental/climate risk, regulatory implementations, and the implications of geopolitical instabilities. highlighting the pivotal role of talent pipelines, growth evaluations, and cultural awareness in shaping resilient organizations.

Download the full report to gain in-depth insights into the evolving landscape of risk and control leadership, understand the pressing challenges faced by financial institutions, and access strategic recommendations to navigate an increasingly complex operating environment.

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Her Corner Office: A global study on Women in Business

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Gender diversity has made its way to the top of the agenda for most companies. However, we still have a long way to go before we achieve the balance that truly reflects the realities of our society– especially since it is not yet moving at the speed the business environment demands.

The ‘Women in Business’ study conducted in LatAm in 2021 aimed to understand women executive leaders; what made them successful; and identified the management skills and leadership attributes they developed allowing them to achieve roles as Board Members, CEOs, and other key positions (C-Level) in the front line.

Fast forward to 2022, our ‘Her Corner Office’ report took the study global, featuring both qualitative and quantitative insights gleaned from our conversations with leading women executives across the globe as well as our global survey.
As leaders, ensuring deliberate progress toward achieving a gender-diverse workplace is paramount for fostering inclusivity and harnessing the full potential of talent. Both reports shed light on the remarkable success of women in leadership positions, specifically in the C-suite and boardroom.

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Leading HR In Hypergrowth

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What does it take to shape the people agenda of an organization in hypergrowth mode? What kind of CHRO is more likely to be successful in an environment that can often be in a state of ‘controlled chaos’?

For the last few years, as central banks have opened the taps of cheap money, the world has been awash with liquidity. A flood of capital is chasing good business ideas and there is a wave of hypergrowth companies rushing to become unicorns.

Hypergrowth companies can be start-ups or scale-ups but, in both cases, speed is a defining factor. For hypergrowth CEOs who have a clear business vision and easy access to capital, the biggest bottleneck is often people. This is where a strong Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) can make a significant difference in the development of the company.

Our team at Kingsley Gate interviewed eight CHROs of some of the most successful hypergrowth companies in Asia to share their experience and lessons learned. The picture they painted was highly consistent.