The current pandemic has posed many hiring challenges for business owners and entrepreneurs. Likewise, product manager headhunters are finding it quite challenging to get the best product manager for their organization. What are the product manager hiring challenges for 2022?
If you are curious to know the answer to the above question, here we will discuss the challenges and the qualities to look for when hiring a good product manager for your organization.
Excellent Communication Skills – Communication skills top the chart when it comes to looking for a great product manager. Even if the product manager is excellent in all other aspects like experience and strong technical knowledge – he is likely to prove ineffective if he doesn’t possess good communication skills. How will you expect your organization to grow if a product manager does not even communicate smoothly with your organization’s employees that belong to a wide range of disciplines? So, prioritize to look for great communication skills in the candidate.
Problem-Solving Ability – Another trait that employees and business owners respect the most in the product manager is problem-solving ability. It is a tricky role that involves many creative solutions to take the product to the market successfully. Allow the candidates to tell you about their background. Then, tell them about your product and ask them the steps they would like to take to improve the product. Having a healthy discussion will let you know about the creative thinking and natural problem-solving aptitude of the candidate, and you can make a wise decision in hiring.
Empathy – Product managers require an empathetic attitude to understand the product more clearly. The ability to see the product through the eyes of the customers makes it easy to fulfill the tastes and preferences of the customers. Experts believe that having the trait of empathy is quite difficult in the modern era where everyone puts their needs first. So, test this trait in the candidates and make hiring easy.
Leadership Qualities – Nobody can be a good product manager without leadership qualities. It requires leading a large cross-functional team with proper coordination. They should be able to generate enthusiasm among various teams and departments that are responsible for the development of the product. The leadership qualities of a product manager include being tactical, business savvy, data-informed, and decisive. So, find a person with impeccable leadership qualities to take your organization to a high level.
Curiosity – Look for evidence of insatiable curiosity in the prospective candidates. A curious product manager will always be in search of more than one answer and will perform his best to make the product a success. The best results come only after thorough research and analysis. Therefore, it is important for a product manager to be internally motivated and curious to keep looking for the answers.
Passion – The product manager should be passionate about his role. You tend to come across some people whose eyes just light up from the mention of their roles and activities. You cannot deny that product management is a long process. It can take months or even years to complete. And as you progress through the stages of product development, you may experience setbacks and disappointments. If the product manager is not passionate or strong enough to face these setbacks positively, the whole process may turn out to be futile. So, look for natural passion when hiring a product manager, and you will be good to go.
Know To Handle Failures – Smart product managers keep the product’s vision in mind. In short, they take the long view of the product. They know that any carelessness in one stage and their product will fall flat. In case a product or product launch fails, the product manager should gather useful learnings and apply them to the next product launch. You can ask them how they would react if they get a negative reaction from the market? Their answer will make you form a practical decision to hire a product manager who knows how to handle the failures effectively.
To Sum It Up
Many product managers find themselves stuck in the challenges as mentioned above that how will they get the apt product managers having these qualities. But if you are successful in getting the one for your organization, you will rightly empower your employees. Understanding the challenges as mentioned above and tackling them head-on is the key to successful product management.
You need not worry if your focus is to find the best fit for your organization. Palarino Partners is there at your beck and call to help find perfect prospects for the product management positions you need in your organization. So, without any further ado, contact us and make your organization a grand success with the excellent product management personnel. Visit us for more information.
