I was recently asked what I enjoyed most about my chosen profession, and I have to say it got me thinking. Aside from the slightly less professional satisfaction derived from taking my team out for a well-deserved drink at the end of the week, I have to pinpoint it as the moment when a customer puts their full trust in you and mandates you to fill a business-critical role in their organisation. During this conversation, a mandatory topic always surfaces: Do you need someone with a background within your industry? Having supported numerous manufacturing professionals in their transition between industries as diverse as steel and life sciences, I have certainly seen success, but it is a topic worth exploring.
The Case for Industry-Specific Experience
The case for industry experience is clear. Knowing the product can help someone adjust to a new environment faster, gain buy-in from the team’s experts, and diagnose bottlenecks in the manufacturing process. Certainly, in more highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals and aerospace, the knowledge of how much work is required to validate new processes can make it challenging for transformational leaders with a different background. In a recent discussion with one such client, I found the costs associated with process validation when they made too many changes utterly breathtaking.
Leveraging Personal Networks in Executive Hiring
However, I believe there are some slightly more nuanced factors at play. Personal connections can certainly play a role. The ability to either bring in talent that you know can do a good job or closely reference someone from your network carries much less risk. But does this in turn risk creating a homogenous workforce? Diversity of thought is imperative to foster the creativity and innovation required to simply survive in today’s world. As recruitment professionals, we can also play a part. Industry specialisation has long been a selling point to our customers, but do our networks inhibit the chances of our clients making different hires?
The Power of Leadership Beyond Subject Matter Expertise
In a recently published article by McKinsey, leadership is defined as “a set of mindsets and behaviours that align people in a collective direction.” This, you could argue, places the entire focus on the soft skills that a leader brings. The more eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that this makes very little mention of subject matter expertise. If you have a team in place around a leader who knows the markets they serve, the processes to make the product, and the regulatory requirements to safely do so, then surely there is an opportunity to bring in a leadership specialist with a slightly different perspective.
Balancing Industry Experience with Transferable Skills
In the evolving manufacturing landscape, industry experience remains valuable, but it is not the sole determinant of success. As the industry continues to embrace digital transformation and automation, transferable skills, innovative thinking, and adaptability may become just as critical. Companies that take a flexible, balanced approach to hiring—valuing both experience and potential—are likely to thrive in the future.
To find out more about this topic, contact Tom Willis.
