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Summary
Barron Williams Executive Search were recently retained by a multi-national specialist manufacturer of technical paper products. Sold in over 80 countries across the world, their performance materials division is a leader in delivering high performance products. In the UK, our client has a long-established reputation for the manufacture of coated papers and textiles used in a variety of specialist markets. A first-class Operations Director was required to lead on manufacturing and develop the organisations CI culture as the business continues to grow.
Working as part of a small, dedicated Board, the successful candidate would work closely with the Finance Director. The brief specified that the ideal candidate needed to be a self-reliant, disciplined and pragmatic Operations professional, with relevant batch manufacturing experience and the ability to implement lean & CI initiatives. Knowledge of specialist coated products was advantageous, however, more important was an ability to lead and develop a team through a firm commitment to quality, process improvement and customer focus. Long-term prospects for the right person were excellent.
Issue
Having already worked successfully with the MD to recruit perviously, we were retained to bring in the right Operations Director to expand this small but evolving senior management team. To date the operations function had been overseen by the FD but the time was right to bring in an Operations Director who could ensure best working environment, processes and practice for the long-term.
The candidate brief for this role was attractive, at a level where the market is a little busier, and we expected a significant response when the role was advertised. The scope of the role brief and job specification was also a little broader than many, opening it up to a much wider target audience, especially as broad manufacturing operations experience was a higher priority than specific sector experience. And while the higher number of potential applications would lead many to believe that we could reduce our reliance on search, that was not the case. We needed to ensure that our client still had the option of choosing from the best available candidates on the market, not just those actively looking or easy to locate and engage.
We started by posting our carefully worded role brief across selected job-boards in parallel with reaching out to our network. On the day the advert went live we also identified interesting potential candidates and contacts from our network. Typically, we would expect to start by compiling a potential search target list of 30 to 50 people for a role like this, before we start making initial contact. At the same time, we started to make calls to our network contacts to seek referrals, recommendations and up to date market information. We ultimately ended up with a long list of candidates that we narrowed down to 5 people we felt merited a 1st round interview.
Action
To reach that point we had identified c12 candidates who’s CV and early discussions marked them out as potentially the strongest matches to our brief. As per our process, we telephone-screened and Skype-interviewed the candidates before presenting our recommendations to the client MD. Having conducted the first round client interviews with the client as is our standard practice, 3 candidates were invited back for the final stage.
Result
Throughout the process it was essential we understood the clients needs to find the right candidate fit. This was a rigorous process, and required the tenacity of a professional services business such as ourselves to find right personality to take on such a challenging role. This is a business that is growing but still has a relatively small senior management team. Finding somebody who could take over the Operations function and fit seamlessly into the culture of this organisation was no easy task but one we thrive on. The brief highlighted that it was vital that we found somebody with the right mix of technical experience and the people skills to come in and make the necessary changes. And most importantly to get the organisation’s established and experienced manufacturing team to buy into these potentially significant changes.
Next Steps
On our recommendation, the client agreed to setting the short-listed candidates questions for a brief, 10 minute presentation, to be followed by a Q+A with the MD and colleagues. The candidates would then have the opportunity to meet some of the team, followed by a final discussion with the MD. This process allowed candidates to engage with the team and see the operation first-hand. It also allowed the client to observe and assess the candidates in different settings, as well as being able to compare and contrast both the content and approach to a set presentation question.
Any Other Information
The interview process for the final shortlist of preferred candidates allowed for the MD to see how they’d fit into the organisation. After the factory tour, presentation and Q+A session, each had that key final interview with the MD. He was making the final decision, and this gave him the opportunity to challenge them on what they’d observed from the factory tour. He wanted to know what they picked up from the shop floor, and from what they saw, what they might change? Working with Barron Williams means we can tailor our process to fit with the individual needs of our clients. Our flexibility and experience of managing senior level recruitment for a myriad of different types of organisation means we can adapt. We’ve seen it all before. And we make sure we understand the needs of our clients so we can establish the right candidate fit. For our candidates we are professional and open, ensuring they know as much as possible. And that they’re well prepared for the types of questions they’ll be asked at every step of the process. It’s a two-way process after all.
Client Testimonial
“Their understanding of our business & thorough approach to developing the brief, finding, screening & delivering high calibre candidates, means that they are always my first choice when looking for additions to our leadership team”
