Reach for the stars - tips on hiring the right people in the publishing field

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Sept 15, 1994 by John W. Malcom

Don't just fill the job, propel your business. Here's how to find and sign the people you can promote.

The pace of change in publishing today puts a greater premium on overall smarts and creativity than ever before. Today's circulation manager tomorrow may be directing a telemarketing team for video releases, while the advertising manager creates local-market publications tied to retail events and publicity, and senior editors scout site-based and online opportunities. All of these specialists are performing tasks that used to be someone else's job. Company heritage and the trust inspired by a magazine brand name will always be important; but it's the agility of your employees that will form the most critical distinction in the years ahead.

The best way to ensure that agility is to fill key positions with people you can promote. Whenever you're searching for a new manager think about your company's future. That may seem like a tall order, but there are concrete ways to be as sure as possible that you're hiring a producer, not just another employee.

Make sure the person knows the whole job. Doing "the job" adequately doesn't merit promotion to leadership positions. For instance, a circulation manager must be able to perform in all facets of building a consumer base, from list management to direct-response television advertising supervision. A competent manager will do these things reasonably well to very well; a star, however, will demonstrate insight into the consumer, find new ways to communicate, and conjure up entirely new revenue streams. The star demonstrates entrepreneurial creativity, intuition, intellectual curiosity and a desire to produce that's beyond mere competency.

Favor a marketing background. Whether the position is in circulation, ad sales, promotion, custom publishing or multimedia, look for someone who started in marketing. Consumer packaged goods continues to be the training ground for the most sought-after people in business - and for good reason. Respected, innovative companies foster the basic principles and processes that underlie successful business decisions. Their marketing people learn how to analyze, how to put a plan together and how to sell.

That formal training is precisely what most magazine companies need. It takes painstaking analysis to sift through the many potential spin-off opportunities and sector expansions that magazine companies are faced with. Top management, financial people and advertisers alike need to see fully supported, comprehensive plans before they'll commit to new ideas. A multiple-magazine buy becomes less and less straightforward, to say nothing about developing and implementing a truly integrated marketing and media program. Today, the selling never stops.

Winnow out the salary-security hunters. Look for someone who left that "academy" marketing position to enter a more creative business, where a tremendous challenge was met with greater personal reward. When you find someone who has worked for "performance kickers" - essentially a compensation-carrot of profit-sharing based on performance - you've found someone who can create the management structures (usually flexible ones) and personal incentives needed to take a magazine into new areas of opportunity. The salary seekers look for safety; they're adequate workers, but make inadequate leaders.

Don't underestimate failed entrepreneurs. Focus on the ones who've failed. Successful entrepreneurs aren't about to quit their dreams and join your company. The smart ones who've failed usually have emerged from the process a lot smarter. They understand their mistakes. The know a great deal more about the workings of business, and they know more clearly than most executives just how they need to operate and be rewarded.

Dare for the leading edge. Most companies need leaders and entrepreneurs far more than they need "managers." Even the existing business that only requires maintenance keeps changing. You have to find someone who has demonstrated knowledge of how to grow a business amid great change. A micro-manager might be the ideal manager this year, but probably lacks the vision to deliver the publication, information or related marketing service that's needed. Someone who has done the strategic planning and mobilization work to take a successful enterprise to the next level probably can identify market needs that have not yet been articulated, and capitalize on undiscovered big ideas that can significantly expand the business.

Focus on personal philosophy. Ultimately, you're looking for people who balance a constant stream of new ideas with analysis. These people are apt to break the rules and take great pride coming up with unusual solutions "prove everybody wrong."

Unfortunately, these candidates usually don't arrive for the interview already armed with precisely the set of experiences you need in top management. The best way to learn their philosophy is to see how they react to questions about their experiences. You need to know how to draw out these qualities in younger executives because in the future, they'll require more challenge and more reward than you'll be willing to pay to grow your business.