How to hire a manager: Seven important skills to look for
When hiring your next leadership member, look for candidates with a healthy dose of these seven traits.
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Posted On March 5, 2025 Adecco
Finding experienced talent is difficult – especially if you’re looking to fill a leadership or management position.
Fortunately, Adecco knows how to hire a manager, both for temporary and permanent roles, and we know how important culture and leadership skills are for a successful team. To help, we've put together a list of seven essential traits that you should look for when you need to know how to hire a manager.
1. Organizational and communication skills
Great time management, an ability to prioritize, and comfort with multitasking are critical soft skills found in all great leaders.
In a high-stakes environment, ineffective communication can be a significant contributor to errors and lost company dollars. Being able to clearly communicate issues, escalate them, and work with colleagues and upper management to find a solution will help minimize mistakes – and costly errors.
2. Professionalism, humility, and positivity
Working in today’s rollercoaster labor market can be extremely stressful. Our recent study found that nearly 20% of today’s workforce may be experiencing unhealthy stress at work.
Great leaders must remain positive, focused, and compassionate, with an ability to take control of difficult situations and resolve conflicts rapidly.
3. Responsibility and accountability
Accountability may seem like a loaded word, but when it comes to leaders and managers, it’s about their ability to justify and take responsibility for their actions.
Being accountable, taking responsibility, and using the tools available to report and escalate issues can be the difference between a critical error and a miscommunication that could have been easily resolved.
4. Patience
Leadership positions are fast paced, but managers also need to navigate bureaucracy, internal processes, and best-practice protocols. It’s not uncommon for leaders to work within cross-functional teams and across departments, so being calm, cool, and patient under pressure is important.
5. Desire to learn
The best leaders are those who strive to continue their education. Whether they are a CEO or a plant supervisor, current knowledge and certifications are essential to leading a team. Plus, if they are dedicated to staying informed and practicing the latest best practices, they’ll pass that knowledge on to the rest of your team and operations.
6. Team spirit
Most, if not all, leadership positions require working as part of a team. Teamwork is essential to ensuring the well-being of your current employees and organization. Additionally, team spirit can serve as a great motivator for employees who regularly work evenings, nights, and weekends.
7. Emotional stability
Many leadership positions can be demanding, not only psychologically, but also emotionally and physically. Employees with strong emotional stability are less likely to exhibit intense emotional reactions to stressful situations, which can be critical for team morale and effectiveness.
Not sure how to hire the right manager?
We’re no stranger to finding top talent for hard-to-fill roles. From our own extensive candidate pipeline to specialized talent recruiters, our resources are a game-changer when you need a strong manager, executive, or leader.
Contact us today to get your search started.