President/CEO Search

Finding the best fit for the President/CEO position is one of the most critical and challenging decisions a Board of Directors can make. The search for a President/CEO involves many factors, including executive competencies, cultural fit, and Board/CEO dynamics. D. Hilton Associates has the knowledge and experience to identify the skills and knowledge a financial institution is seeking in their next President/CEO and those intangible qualities that make an executive placement truly successful. Our President/CEO Executive Search process includes:

• Conduct a Board Workshop to discuss desired candidate competencies, transition concerns, compensation trends, and the organization’s mission, vision, and values.
• Provide real-time executive compensation data, guaranteeing our client’s ability to create competitive compensation packages.
• Administer our proprietary Leadership Competency Survey to the Board and interview the executive management team to identify the necessary traits for an incoming President/CEO to be successful.
• Utilize a multi-pronged candidate identification approach, including sourcing through industry referral contacts, databases, and extensive outbound, nationwide research of talented professionals throughout the financial services industry.
• Provide personality and aptitude testing options based on client needs.
• Assign a strategic project to candidates to determine vision, skillset, cultural fit, and financial acumen.
• Facilitate candidate screening and assessments with personal interviews, background, and reference checks, as well as the coordination of final interviews between the candidates and the organization.

C-suite Executive Search

As financial institutions contend with the challenge of identifying and hiring talented executives in an increasingly competitive market, effective executive recruitment becomes even more important. A shrinking talent pool means a more competitive hiring environment and financial institutions must ensure they are attracting the best talent possible. D. Hilton has the experience and industry network to help financial institutions overcome the challenges in today’s hiring environment.

Our clients find that our focus is on quality placements. D. Hilton’s thorough and rigorous candidate assessment evaluates multiple factors and traits beyond the required skillsets, allowing D. Hilton to select and present the most capable, qualified candidates to serve as leaders in financial institutions across the nation.

When searching for your executive recruiting partner, D. Hilton is sure to stand out from the rest:

• Decades of combined recruiting experience among the senior management team.
• Our comprehensive placement guarantee and flat fee retainer pricing on all searches.
• Multiple databases with profiles of bank and credit union professionals.
• Nationwide distribution of both clients and candidates.
• Proprietary Executive Search Planning Workshop to listen to the organization’s needs.
• No affiliations with other divisions (e.g., overdraft products), vendors (e.g., branch design firms), or associations (e.g., CUNA, CUES, ABA, etc.) that would impair our ability to offer the best candidates.
• We only work for financial institutions, not candidates.

Executive Management Succession Planning

Planning in advance of a change in leadership can help facilitate the smoothest of transitions for your organization. D. Hilton Associates’ executive management succession plans prepare financial institutions for a positive transition with the development of:

• A comprehensive job description, following an extensive assessment of the board’s priorities, goals, and vision for the institution.
• A profile of the ideal President/CEO to ensure successful selection decisions.
• A custom compensation trend report showing options consistent with market conditions.
• Evaluation of the executive team and potential successors to determine strategic ability, cultural fit, board chemistry, and overall acumen.
• Development of a succession plan document that includes roles, transition procedures, and a contingency plan.

With a succession plan, your organization will be well-equipped to focus on building momentum from one generation of leadership to the next.