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There is oversupply of people willing to fill high level positions. Problem is that if you want people who have proven that they are skilled (aka successfully h

There is oversupply of people willing to fill high level positions. Problem is that if you want people who have proven that they are skilled (aka successfully held equivalent or higher position at similar company) the pool is much smaller and competition for them is much higher. In addition executive leaving is very disruptive (takes 6+ months to find new one, etc) so you want to pay above average so he does not leave which leads to arms race in salaries. On what executive mishire can cause just look at recent events at Flexport. It takes 1+ year to understand that executive is failing and course correction is extremely expensive and disruptive.

hotnfresh 3y ago
Promoting up from within, and grooming successors who started low down the ladder in the company, used to be common. Now we hire straight in from B-schools at VP or director level, and one of those ends up CEO eventually (if a CEO's not simply hired from outside, directly). This practice seems to have dramatically increased the cost of executives. I wonder if it's increased quality. [EDIT] OK not straight from b-school, they have to do a stint in management consulting or whatever first. Because having that be something that the totally inexperienced do makes complete sense.
- bumby 3y ago
  The idea of hiring straight from B-schools, without experience, tells me B-schools schools have decided to sell out to maximize student throughput. It used to be that very few people got accepted to B-schools without at least a decade or so of experience.
bumby 3y ago
>In addition executive leaving is very disruptive (takes 6+ months to find new one, etc) Ironically, I read this as an indicator of a bad leader and one who doesn't deserve high pay. A good leader should be regularly training their underlings to make sure there are as few hiccups as possible if they get hit by a bus.

hotnfresh 3y ago

Promoting up from within, and grooming successors who started low down the ladder in the company, used to be common. Now we hire straight in from B-schools at VP or director level, and one of those ends up CEO eventually (if a CEO's not simply hired from outside, directly). This practice seems to have dramatically increased the cost of executives. I wonder if it's increased quality. [EDIT] OK not straight from b-school, they have to do a stint in management consulting or whatever first. Because having that be something that the totally inexperienced do makes complete sense.

bumby 3y ago
The idea of hiring straight from B-schools, without experience, tells me B-schools schools have decided to sell out to maximize student throughput. It used to be that very few people got accepted to B-schools without at least a decade or so of experience.

bumby 3y ago

>In addition executive leaving is very disruptive (takes 6+ months to find new one, etc) Ironically, I read this as an indicator of a bad leader and one who doesn't deserve high pay. A good leader should be regularly training their underlings to make sure there are as few hiccups as possible if they get hit by a bus.