The Challenge
Previously a limited shortlist, heavily endorsed by a “leading” firm of head-hunters had resulted in an appointment that seriously damaged the business, forcing the owner to come out of semi-retirement and resume control. Understandably he’d lost confidence in recruitment firms.
Lord were introduced to the client by one of his trusted advisors and were given the brief on the back of our credentials, references and track record
LORD have not failed to successfully deliver a retained assignment in 22 years and we were not going to start now.
The Method
- Explored and challenged the brief. Did he really need a CEO immediately or would he prefer a COO who could work alongside him for a year or more, gaining his confidence before ultimately assuming control?
- Agreed that an operationally and commercially strong COO would be ideal as long as they could demonstrable significant automotive and aerospace business turnaround experience.
- Recommended that the role wasn’t confidential and that candidates could come from quite a wide range of backgrounds. “Breadth & Depth” and the optimum process to engage with candidates who had the specific set of skills, knowledge and experience he was looking for, was to:
- Complete a headhunt into a number of specifically targeted organisations.
- Action an online advertising campaign.
- Conduct a search of all the relevant candidate databases.
- 233 candidates generated and CV’s evaluated personally by lead consultant.
- An informed and confidential approach made to 43.
- 15 invited to attend first stage interview with LORD.
- 8 subsequently shortlisted to meet with the client.
- LORD offered to interview the 8 shortlisted candidates alongside the client to ensure that he was totally confident in the process.
The Results
8 candidates jointly interviewed, 3 selected for final interview.
Client thoroughly enjoyed the joint interview process and became genuinely excited about the quality of talent available to him. LORD offered to be present at the final interview, which was accepted.
LORD completed personality, verbal and numerical testing of the final 3 candidates prior to their final interviews – discussing the results and agreeing with the client specific areas to explore at final interview.