Our client is a global integrator, supplying a range of material handling and logistics optimisation solutions for clients in the retail and e-commerce space. These solutions include automated storage and retrieval systems, conveyor systems, sortation systems, robotics, software, and other technologies that enable their clients to improve efficiency, productivity, and accuracy in their supply chain processes.

We had previously supported this multinational in hiring across a range of teams: human resources, design engineering, software teams and more. In this case, they were in immediate need of a team of project leaders – including three Project Managers, a Senior Project Manager and a Program Manager – to facilitate the successful delivery of a critical, nine-figure project for a major client.

The client, a large blue-chip ecommerce firm, had strict timelines that needed to be accommodated. This created a need for a team of highly experienced, capable and adaptable project leaders who would be able to enter into the role quickly to efficiently deliver the project. While we knew this wouldn’t be a straightforward search – after all, our client had tried and failed to fill all five positions for three months – we were confident that our track record in project management recruiting, especially in the automation and intralogistics space would stand us in good stead.

 

Challenge

At the point of our kick-off meeting, our client had been searching to fill these roles for three months with no success. Why was this posing such a challenge?

  • There was a very limited pool of project manager candidates in the region with the relevant experience and skills.
  • Any candidates with the relevant experience were in extremely high demand from competitors.
  • Our client was looking for the ‘perfect’ candidate in each case.

It seemed like an impossible task. Surely these candidates just didn’t exist?! Our client had evidently contacted the obvious pool of individuals, so we needed a different tact.

 

Approach

Seeing the need for some ‘green grass’ – a wider talent pool to draw from – we worked with the client team to analyse the fundamental skills and experience that were crucial to these roles. This allowed us to tease out the core abilities required, as well as those where there was some flexibility. Our relationship with the client helped in our ability to challenge the current thinking. For example, if a candidate possessed these core competencies, could they develop some of the more specific knowledge required on the job?

This became a real breakthrough, as it opened our pool of possible candidates to a much wider range of equally capable professionals in adjacent and allied industries such as automotive, gas and oil. We found far more active candidates in these sectors who were excited about a new opportunity in the warehouse automation space.

Another key piece of work for us was market and competitor analysis. Furthering our insight into the specifics of these roles in the market helped us competitively position salaries for different roles depending on the nature of the position, county differences, the regional costs of living, as well as industry standards and trends. We were also able to position the company effectively against competitors to ensure they joined our client over other businesses.

With these steps forward, we began our search and – given our understanding of the market and the client needs – were able to identify a huge number of relevant candidates. We spoke with and assessed 100 of them to gauge suitability and skill-level, and in just two weeks delivered a shortlist of 20 to the client for interview.

 

Impact

Just four weeks later, the client had successfully onboarded candidates for each of the five vacancies. In less than six weeks from our kick-off meeting, they had gone from what seemed like a dead-end, to a fresh team of leaders with all the skills and core competencies required to deliver on this critical project.

We were so pleased to see these new team members thrive in their new positions and empower their teams to progress with the necessary resources and capacity.

Looking for warehouse automation talent and executive search services? Why not book a consultation with one of our specialist recruitment consultants to discover how you too, can secure world-class talent at speed.

In the meantime, feel free to download our project management multi-hire specialist talent acquisition case study to share with your internal talent team.