Growth puts additional pressure on almost every part of a power generation business, and hiring is no exception.
As project volumes increase, service operations expand, new customers are secured, or the business enters new markets, existing teams often absorb the additional workload first. Project leaders take on more delivery responsibility, Service Managers oversee larger engineering teams, and senior leaders become increasingly involved in operational issues that should sit elsewhere in the organisation.
Eventually, the business reaches the point where another leader or specialist hire is required. By then, there is usually considerable pressure to make the appointment quickly.
This is where hiring decisions can become more difficult.
Across power generation, CHP, BESS and critical power, we see several recurring mistakes when growing businesses approach leadership and business-critical hires. Most begin before the first candidate is ever interviewed.
Here’re 5 of the most common power generation hiring mistakes and what businesses can do differently.
1. Starting a Search Before the Role Is Properly Defined
When an existing team is stretched, there is an understandable temptation to begin the search immediately. However, approaching the market before agreeing what the appointment needs to achieve can create problems throughout the entire assignment.
Different stakeholders may have different expectations of the same role. One director may expect a new Head of Projects to strengthen processes and develop the team, while another expects that person to take immediate ownership of live projects. A Service Manager may be hired to improve operational performance, while the Managing Director expects them to increase service profitability and strengthen key customer relationships at the same time.
Those expectations need to be discussed before the search begins.
A rigorous role definition should establish what the individual will own, which problems they are expected to solve, what needs to improve after they join, and what successful performance should look like during their first 6 to 12 months.
This gives the business clear assessment criteria and allows the opportunity to be positioned accurately when relevant talent is approached.
2. Giving the CV Too Much Weight
A CV provides useful information about someone’s career, but it only shows part of their capability.
Two leaders can hold the same title in similar power generation businesses while carrying completely different levels of responsibility.
For example, one Service Manager may have owned field engineering performance, customer escalations, service margins, recruitment and operational budgets. Another may have worked within a larger organisation where several of those responsibilities were owned by separate functions.
The title may be identical, but the operating experience isn’t.
A structured assessment therefore needs to establish what the individual personally owned and what sat elsewhere in the business. Candidates should be able to explain the decisions they made, the problems they solved, the teams they led and the measurable improvements they delivered.
Understanding the context behind someone’s achievements provides considerably more information than reviewing their career history alone.
3. Underestimating the Commercial Importance of the Appointment
Some roles become significantly more influential as a power generation business grows.
A Head of Projects can be responsible for millions of pounds of live project delivery and have a direct influence on programme performance, variations and margin. A Service Manager can affect engineer retention, utilisation, customer satisfaction, SLA performance and service profitability. A commercial leader may be responsible for building the pipeline required to support the next stage of growth.
These are not simply additional members of the management team. Their decisions can have a measurable impact on business performance.
Before approaching the market, it’s worth considering what happens if the person appointed does not perform at the required level.
If underperformance could affect delivery, margin, customers, revenue or the wider team, the search process should reflect the commercial importance of the appointment.
That means investing sufficient time in defining the requirement, understanding the available talent market, validating candidate capability and maintaining a structured assessment process from the beginning of the search through to the final appointment.
4. Prioritising Sector Experience Without Understanding Cultural Alignment
Relevant power generation experience can be extremely valuable, particularly where the role requires knowledge of CHP, diesel and gas generation, BESS, critical power or field service operations.
However, sector knowledge does not automatically mean someone will perform effectively within a particular organisation.
Power generation businesses operate in very different environments. Some have established management structures, formal processes and clearly defined departmental responsibilities. Others operate with smaller leadership teams where senior people remain close to customers, engineers, projects and everyday commercial decisions.
A leader who has been successful in one environment may need a very different leadership style to succeed in another.
The assessment process should therefore explore how candidates operate as well as what they know. This includes how they make decisions, communicate with senior leadership, manage ambiguity, introduce structure, develop teams and respond when priorities change.
Cultural alignment should not mean hiring people who think exactly like the existing leadership team. The objective is to understand whether the candidate’s working style and leadership behaviours are suited to the environment in which they’ll be expected to perform.
5. Approaching a Business-Critical Hire Without a Structured Search Process
A leadership or business-critical appointment requires visibility of the relevant talent market, not simply the people who happen to be considering a move at that moment.
Many experienced leaders and specialists within power generation are performing well in their current businesses and are not actively looking for another position. Reaching that part of the market requires direct engagement and a credible explanation of why the opportunity is worth considering.
A structured search provides clear ownership of that process.
The relevant market can be mapped to establish where suitable talent sits, what experience is available, how individuals compare against the agreed criteria, and what may be required to secure the right hire.
Market intelligence gathered throughout the assignment can also help the business test its original assumptions. Salary expectations, location constraints, competitor structures, candidate motivations and the availability of particular skill sets can all influence how achievable the original brief is.
This gives the business more than a selection of candidates. It provides market access, evidence and a clearer basis for making the final appointment.
What Hiring Mistakes Actually Cost a Growing Business
The impact of an unsuccessful appointment extends considerably further than the cost of completing another search.
If a Head of Projects cannot establish control over delivery, other leaders may have to remain involved in live projects. If a Service Manager cannot improve engineering performance, existing problems around utilisation, retention or customer service may continue. If a commercial leader does not deliver the expected results, growth plans can be delayed while the business continues carrying the cost of the role.
Internal time is also affected. Senior leaders spend additional hours supporting the individual, teams compensate for capability gaps, decisions take longer, and responsibilities that should have transferred to the new hire remain elsewhere in the business.
If the appointment ultimately needs to be reconsidered, the business may have lost several months before the next search even begins.
For growing power generation businesses, this is why hiring risk needs to be considered alongside hiring speed.
How a Structured Search Reduces Hiring Risk
A rigorous search process begins with clarity.
Before the market is approached, stakeholders should agree why the appointment is being made, what the individual will own, which outcomes matter most, and how success will be measured. Those requirements can then be translated into consistent criteria against which every candidate is assessed.
The next stage is market access. Rather than limiting the search to visible or immediately available candidates, the relevant talent market can be mapped and approached directly. This provides greater visibility of the people capable of delivering the required outcomes and valuable market intelligence about candidate availability, expectations and motivations.
Assessment then needs to validate evidence rather than rely on assumptions. Previous achievements should be explored within their operating context, while leadership behaviour, commercial accountability and decision-making should be tested through specific examples.
Throughout the assignment, clear communication and regular market feedback allow the business to make informed decisions and maintain momentum.
The result is a controlled process designed to secure the right hire rather than simply complete the recruitment activity.
Conclusion
Growth often creates hiring requirements at the same time that leadership teams have the least capacity to manage them.
That makes clarity and structure particularly important.
Beginning a search without clearly defining the role, relying too heavily on CVs, underestimating the commercial importance of the appointment, overlooking cultural alignment, or approaching the market without a structured process can all increase hiring risk.
For leadership and business-critical appointments, a specialist search provides the opportunity to understand the market properly, engage relevant talent, validate capability and make decisions based on evidence.
The objective is not simply to make an appointment quickly. It is to secure a leader who can support the next stage of the business and deliver the outcomes the role was created to achieve.
Planning Your Next Leadership Hire?
If your power generation business is growing and you are preparing to appoint a senior leader or specialist, book a call with us before you approach the market.
We can discuss the outcomes you need from the appointment, provide current market intelligence, explore where the relevant talent sits and explain the structured search process we use to secure business-critical hires across power generation, CHP, BESS and critical power.