Cross functional exposures and expertise - A must have for an organization

It has been observed that very few industry veterans/ CEOs prefer to hire people with expertise in an unrelated industry. This trend is somewhat changing though. A giant electronics company recently hired an ex FMCG veteran for a top job within the company. This makes one wonder about how should one decide on hiring especially for the top jobs within the company. Is it useful to have an industry veteran or is it good to have someone from an unrelated industry take up an important job within your company??

Essentially I believe that the following things need to be taken in to consideration before deciding if one should be hiring a person from within one's own industry or one should go for cross functional individual.

a. Company requirements & job description
Firstly, the need of the company in terms of the job description would play a crucial role in determination of whether the company and the role is open for a person with cross functional expertise. It is necessary to ensure that the job description is not looked upon with a myopic view but a wider dimension of the overall expectation from the candidate is taken into consideration. Many organizations tend to give more importance to routine tasks for a candidate taking up a role to decide on the job description thus reducing the opportunity to creatively look upon the positive impacts that a person can bring in.

b. Team composition
If there is a team who would be managing that role/ project/ task that the person is going to be appointed, it is always more beneficial to have at least 20% of the team to be composed of people with diverse experiences. This, one should remember not just works in a business school classroom, but also in every organization. It brings a fresh perspective and offers an opportunity to look at a business case with a diverse view. This would ensure that the team is better equipped to solve a business problem rather than having people with similar background giving the team a one dimensional approach.

c. Inter industry relationships
Seemingly unrelated industries tend to have a common thread. For example - Apple & Louis Vuitton, though they appear to have completely different businesses at first glance, there is a common element. Both tend to produce luxury goods and tend to target customers who are willing to pay a premium to own their products. So a person who has worked with Louis Vuitton may still find his expertise to be relevant for Apple.

d. Ability to bring a positive impact
As with most tasks / businesses, the primary thread is trying to find people who can bring an impact. So identifying a good resource is essentially about identifying the inherent capabilities of the person and his ability to positively influence one's business. Its essentially saying " Find good people (From your industry or different industry)- They will make it happen for you"