Case Study: Senior Executive Positions in Building Products Industry Utilising a Distinctly Tailored Recruitment Strategy Including Search and Advertising

The Challenge

As a long-term recruitment partner we were recently commissioned by a client in the building products industry, to source two senior Executive Leadership Team (ELT) positions to report to the CEO.

The company is a market leader in their segment and operating in the Commercial Build environment.

The two positions, a Chief Operating Officer (COO) and also a General Manager, Marketing, have been challenging to fill previously. The COO role was, in fact, a somewhat new position to drive change in Operations and Service Delivery.

Our Approach

We employed an Ad Search methodology for both positions, developing carefully crafted advertising copy and supporting that with targeted research in the market and direct approaches to key individuals. The advertising copy was designed to ‘tell a story’ and to capture the reader with the client’s strategy. Further, I put my direct mobile telephone number on the advertising copy, inviting discussion with interested candidates! People were open to call.

The response from the market was astounding. We took a vast number of calls for both positions, engaging in confidential discussions around the industry, the company, the role and the strategy. This not only engaged with the market but importantly allowed us to uncover a number of clearly well credentialled individuals through these conversations, candidates, who had driven similar change in their careers. We learn a lot from these discussions, far and above that of just reading a candidate resume.

In the end, we had over 230 candidates for each position!

Key Takeaways

Quite evidently this was a substantial piece of work to initially engage in such a manner as outlined above, but then to also thoroughly and accurately assess each candidate’s application against our selection criteria and critically the company’s culture.

We indeed found the process very rewarding, but it could only be done successfully because we knew our client’s business very well, its strategy and its culture, whilst also enjoying a strong relationship with the CEO. Without this sort of relationship and knowledge, we could not have engaged with the market the way we did, and without that, the approach would not have been anywhere near as successful.

However, it is also a very significant piece of work to engage and communicate with so many individuals, keeping them advised of the process and ultimately, unfortunately for many, advice that they have not been successful.

That whole professional candidate management and communication piece is extremely critical. Brand and reputation all need careful management. Providing timely, professional feedback to candidates is something we pride ourselves on. We believe that commitment to transparent, respectful candidate management sets us apart from other recruitment firms.

To engage and assess this number of applications thoroughly and properly could clearly not be done by a client doing this by themselves. It’s not just the sheer amount of time, but it is also being able to confidentially and discretely approach key individuals in the industry. Being independent, a search firm can do this. Thankfully, we have the resources, skills and processes to undertake this.

Outcome

The result was the successful placement of two outstanding senior executives—both of whom are set to start later this month. The new COO and ‘Marketing head’ will play crucial roles in driving our client’s continued growth and innovation.

In addition to filling the roles, we developed valuable relationships with a number of highly qualified senior candidates who, although not selected for these positions, remain strong prospects for future opportunities. We look forward to working with them on their career journeys and indeed introducing them to some of our other clients.

Conclusion

This case study highlights how a tailored and comprehensive recruitment approach, underpinned by strong client relationships and a deep understanding of the business strategy, were central to delivering a high quality outcomes. The process further demonstrated our expertise, proven methodologies and superior candidate management.