#337: How to Recruit, Onboard, and Integrate Key Executives with Mike Frommelt from Keystone Search

Ep.#3 [THEME SEVEN]

A lot of business owners want out of their business but not their asset.

If you are a business owner that wants to transition out of your management role but still stay on as owner, you need to hire a high level executive to make sure your business runs without you being there.

Today, I talk to Mike Frommelt, CEO of Keystone Search which is an executive recruiting agency based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On today’s show Mike shares - with full transparency - how he sources, hires and integrates high level executives into companies with business owners who want to separate themselves from the management role.

In this episode you will learn how to find key executives (especially since most of them already have jobs), what assessments Keystone uses to make sure these executives are the right fit for your company culture, how to effectively and efficiently go through the hiring process with these executives and finally what results you should expect, as the business owner, after these people are onboarded.

Hiring a high level person to fill your shoes on the management role side of your business is one of the steps to getting back your freedom of time so you can enjoy work, create wealth and have an impact. I hope you enjoy this episode with Mike Frommelt

// WATCH THE INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE: Intentional Growth™ Podcast

What You Will Learn

• How to keep business operations going without you
• How Mike accesses key executives to make sure they fit the company culture
• What is a culture blueprint and how it’s part of onboarding key executives
• The personality tests Mike uses when assessing new hires
• How to justify giving a new executive a piece of the company while you grow
• How Mike sources these key executives
• What are truly important to new executive hires when looking at moving companies
• Mike’s hiring process when hiring new executives
• How long a hiring agency stays on once an executive is onboarded

// USE YOUR FINANCIALS TO CLARIFY A PATH TOWARDS A MORE VALUABLE BUSINESS: Intentional Growth Financial Assessment

Bio:

Mike co-founded KeyStone Search in 2002 and has over 30 years of executive recruiting/search industry experience.

Mike has led hundreds of executive level search projects over the years and has developed particular expertise in leading privately held businesses through critical leadership transitions. This includes numerous CEO transitions as well as business owner exits/transitions.

Mike grew up in a small family business, learning the value of hard work, customer service and treating everyone with respect. “Working with companies & owners who recognize and appreciate the value of their employees, customers and communities is incredibly rewarding” says Mike. “These companies deserve to grow and succeed into the future, and I’m thrilled to play a part in making that happen for them”.

Mike graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a B.A. in Psychology and Business Administration. He is a frequent public speaker on the topics of CEO transition, succession/exit planning, corporate culture, talent development, and core values. He is an active member of the ESOP Association and the National Center for Employee Ownership. Mike is also very passionate about EOS®/Traction, having run the system at KeyStone for nearly 10 years.

Interview Quotes:

18:11 - “The core values of that owner. What gets them out of bed in the morning? How they behave on a day-to-day basis. How they treat their employees. How they treat their vendors. Everything that they do on a day-to-day basis is reflective of their core values.” - Mike Frommelt

20:00 - “We have a tool we call our Culture Blueprint, our core values assessment. We ask them do that over a period of time. We don’t just sit with them and just ask them the questions.” - Mike Frommelt

20:46 - “I think where companies makes some mistakes is they let the marketing team write their core values. Or they let the HR team write the core values.” - Mike Frommelt

26:30 - “Communication is a really big piece of it.” - Mike Frommelt

27:04 - “Sometimes the owner doesn’t really know what a president really looks like or what a president should do.” - Mike Frommelt

41:08 - “I find that a lot of owners don’t really want to [just sell out] because they are worried about what happens to their employees and where the company is located.” - Mike Frommelt

42:23 - “One of the things that we’re generally looking for when we’re doing these positions is we’re looking for someone who’s been where you want to go.” - Mike Frommelt

42:45 - “The difference between how a thirty million dollar company works and how a fifty million dollar company works are very different.” - Mike Frommelt

48:57 - “Culture [and growth opportunities] always trumps pay.” - Mike Frommelt

59:39 - “I don’t know that there is such a thing as too [many meetings to discuss hiring someone].” - Mike Frommelt

01:08:12 - “You really don’t want to do an executive position on contingency.” - Mike Frommelt

01:16:42 - “Any owner out there, any entrepreneur that’s started a business or ran one, you’re already a success. It’s about trying to figure out what do you want.” - Mike Frommelt

Links and Resources:

Keystone Executive Search

Find Mike on LinkedIn!

Arkona Website

The 5 Intentional Growth™ Principles (5 Videos to Help Clarify Your Vision)

Intentional Growth™ Financial Assessment

Fractional CFO Services

You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.