Hiring for Customer Experience (CX) leadership roles can be an exciting challenge. Get it right, and you’ve got the people in place to build a reputation as a brand that truly values its customers—and reaps the rewards. Get it wrong, though, and all aspects of the brand can feel the ripple effects.
Blue Rock Search is here to help you make the right hiring decisions for your team!
First and foremost, Blue Rock’s approach focuses on gaining a deep understanding of the role, its priorities, and its place in your growing organization. Likewise, we ensure that information is clearly communicated to all candidates to ensure there’s no misunderstanding—a common stumbling block in recruiting.
Here are six more pitfalls commonly encountered in hiring for CX roles—and how Blue Rock Search works with you to avoid them.
Overvaluing Industry-Specific Experience
Industry expertise is highly relevant to ensure great performance in a specific role. In today’s world, however, specifics change rapidly, which can leave employees and employers scrambling. One study suggested that as many as half of the skills in today’s work environment could become outdated within two years, meaning that specific skills may vanish as fast as they arrive.
Instead, the Blue Rock approach looks at industry-specific skills, and we place a high value on transferable skills and experiences. These skills include things like strong communication, collaboration, leadership abilities, creativity, and problem-solving. The world of CX is rapidly changing, both on a human and a technological level, and these “soft” skills are critical to adapting effectively and leading your organization into the future.
Overlooking Cultural Fit
It’s easy to focus heavily on technical skills and ignore culture fit, but studies have shown that cultural misalignment is one of the biggest and costliest drivers of turnover. In fact, turnover due to poor culture fit can cost up to 50%—60% of the role’s annual salary! At the same time, it’s a smart idea to periodically survey your culture and ensure it’s not causing issues of its own – MIT Sloan found that a negative culture is, by far, the strongest predictor of turnover, and is 10 times more important than compensation in predicting attrition.
The key to finding cultural fit—without accidentally leaning into conscious or unconscious biases—is to focus on core values, rather than individual actions. Our approach asks questions that probe a candidates’ preferred work styles and values. We also emphasizing giving them ample opportunities to learn about your organization’s culture firsthand.
Ignoring Data & Technology Proficiency
Customer Experience (CX)-related technology just keeps growing and changing, and it’s important to hire leaders with the know-how to integrate it into your approach. Data-driven CX is critical to delivering the personalized and engaging experience that customers have come to expect, so it’s important not to overlook these skills when recruiting for key roles.
When hiring, consider both current proficiency and future adaptability. In addition to asking about current industry-standard technology and data practices, ask questions that provide insights into candidates’ curiosity about future innovations and their history of seeking out new ideas that could improve the overall customer journey and experience. You’re looking for self-starters who embrace new tech without “jumping on the bandwagon” of every unproven trend.
Failing to Articulate a Strong Value Proposition
One of the most common mistakes in hiring—in CX and elsewhere—is failing to paint a compelling picture of why top candidates should join your organization. Compensation matters, but so too do elements like perks, upskilling, flexibility, and more. When you fail to articulate this overall value proposition, you risk losing great candidates to competitors.
It’s important to think beyond salary, particularly when targeting top CX candidates. According to research from SHRM, there’s a clear correlation between high-performing employees and an interest in career development and advancement. High-value employees place relatively greater importance on opportunities for career growth (41% vs. overall average of 36%) and professional development (33% vs. overall average of 29%). Blue Rock’s approach emphasizes “selling” the opportunity to top candidates and focusing on the factors that are likely to be most compelling to them, ensuring they fully understand the benefits of joining your team.
Neglecting Long-Term Succession Planning
Because the Customer Experience industry can change so quickly, it’s common for organizations to focus on the “right now” concerns when hiring. While that can help patch the gaps in the moment, it doesn’t serve the other purpose of strategic recruiting: laying the foundation for a successful future. One study by the Harvard Business Review suggested that, with better succession planning, company valuations and investor returns could be as much as 20% to 25% higher!
When hiring, take the time to consider what the future for this role looks like. How might someone progress? Similarly, be sure to consider your internal pipeline—depending on the needs of the open role—and look for opportunities to show employees that there is a long-term future for them at your company.
Rushing the Process
One of our biggest pieces of advice to our clients is don’t rush. In hiring, as in any other area, rushing things may lead to overlooking important details. Take the time to truly vet candidates, interview them thoroughly, and check references before making a final decision. Blue Rock Search prides ourselves on having a search process that is efficient yet detailed, ensuring that important roles don’t go unfilled for too long, but also that your mission-critical CX roles are filled with top talent who are excited about your value proposition and your brand.
The most common pitfalls in CX hiring can have a surprisingly significant impact on your recruiting success. To avoid these issues, businesses should clearly define the role, prioritize transferable skills, assess cultural alignment, and partner with specialized recruiters like Blue Rock Search. A strategic hiring approach ensures the CX leader drives meaningful change and aligns with business goals—and that’s the approach Blue Rock Search delivers on every project!
About the Author
As the VP of Recruiting at Blue Rock Search, Dawn Russell leverages her Social Talent Black Belt certification and strong strategic insight to build high-quality talent pipelines across a range of industries, with a particular focus on Customer Experience. She brings extensive expertise in both CX and Franchise, contributing to the firm’s success by aligning top talent with the unique needs of these specialized sectors.