Executive Search Case Study

The Problem

Our client had identified retail buying professionals as a talent pool possessing valuable, much-needed skills. But the company had so far largely failed to convince buyers to ‘jump over the fence’ and pursue a career in consumer goods. Accordingly, they wanted to gain a better understanding of how buyers typically manage their careers and what circumstances might make them consider an out of sector move. At the same time, our client wanted to learn how its brand was perceived in comparison to that of its three main competitors.

The Solution

We answered our client’s needs by embarking on one of our most extensive sourcing projects ever. Firstly, we spent two weeks identifying over 500 buying professionals in well-known retail businesses based across the UK, the US, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. We then engaged with as many of these as possible, questioning them about their career aspirations, their openness to moving, their perception of the consumer goods sector and their thoughts on various brands including that of our client.

Results

• We provided our client with a talent pipeline of over 500 potential candidates.
• We successfully engaged with over a quarter of these, meaning our client had 125+ ‘live’ candidates who were open to a further call.
• We gained huge volumes of data on how buyers typically manage their careers and approach the market; we found out what they earned, what they wanted, and what they thought of our client.
• This allowed us to work with our client on crafting a compelling EVP and go-to-market proposition.

Outcome

Over the ensuing year, our client successfully engaged in multiple conversations with buyers across Europe and the US. To date, they have made three hires. They continue to manage our buyer talent pipeline, tracking the most interesting individuals and developing long-term relationships with potential recruits.