Leading with Competitive Edge
The Situation
The Medical Director with one of our clients, a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company took flight in March 2001. While other pharmaceuticals were busy on the M&A trail, and expanding their markets, our client was left in the lurch to look for a highly competitive and experienced substitute. The earlier executive search company hired by our client in March 2001 had been silent for more than a year. The requirements naturally, are stringent and the process was like looking for the needle in the haystack. There are only a handful in Malaysia, with the best already hired by their competitors.
In June 2002, we were approached.
The Approach
Given the scale and scope of responsibilities, and coupled by the disadvantage that our client was without a Medical Director, we had to refrain from media advertisement. We employed the Executive Search process immediately. The Targeted search focused on successful players in agreed peer organizations and we combed the market from leading private hospitals, to research laboratories and every nook and corner in the industry. The whole exercise was done with high extent of discreetness that we had not ruffled the feather of our client’s competitors or the industry generally.
What We Delivered
Our ability to process the assignment within very tight timescales was essential. Within a span of 4 weeks, we presented our client with 8 profiles of candidates. The top brass was almost relieved and met up with all eight candidates. Three of them were shortlisted for a second interview with the regional team, and after much negotiation and convincing, the right candidate was hired. The whole exercise took only about slightly more than 2 months. With our special attention to specific cases, the client realized it was worth the switch and swift move.
Winning The Race for the Best Talent
The Situation
Our client, a large construction conglomerate is gearing towards getting listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in the year 2003. They were one of the six Malaysian companies, who had been awarded large-scale highway projects in India in the year 2001. The situation and challenges in India are strikingly rough for Malaysians to endure. Each company folded up their sleeves and lined up only the best of Project Managers and team members for this venture. The most common obstacle was the location. It was an undeniable fact that the selected employees denied the opportunity in fear of the working conditions. Our client was not left out.
We were summoned.
How We Approached
We sat together with our client to identify the potential factors that pose a setback to this secondment. Undeniably, attractive and fair compensation package was highly imperative to encourage a Project Manager to be relocated for more than 2 years to India. We realized that the current team will not be able to endure these challenges and may risk losing them should this secondment demotivate them.
The consultant specializing in construction and engineering industry was put to task for this situation. We identified the main players and placed advertisements in the local media and the Internet concurrently. Within 36 hours, we presented our client with potential candidates. Our approach had to be different. We motivated each potential candidate with the future developments in the region of East Asia, to begin with and presented them with facts on the current local situation. In other words, we provided career advise before proposing a career upgrade. While some were unmoved, we attracted a handful who were up to the challenge of being instrumental in developing infrastructural projects in under developed countries.
The Solution
By the fourth week, our client had 8 candidates to consider.
