When one of our clients wanted to reorganise its style of project management to support a growth plan, Gaetan Siohen hired them a team of directors.
The situation
One of the historical players in the manufacturing of high-voltage heavy machinery for the energy transition field was reorganising its project management methodology in order to support growth. We were tasked with recruiting a full management team.
The Challenge
Thanks to an undeniable product quality and a century of experience, this SME has an international reputation in niche sectors such as nuclear, mobility, and defence.
However, their structure was suffering from several departures and a growing demand from their customers. They, therefore, decided to reorganise their methodology and recruit several senior profiles/directors in order to improve quality and responsiveness
The challenge was to find a set of candidates with very specific skills and experience in line to properly support the growth strategy. In addition, it was necessary to find leaders capable of developing and supporting their teams.
The scope of the search was therefore quite limited and the best profiles did not necessarily live in the region requested.
Our solution
We launched the search after a constructive exchange with the human resources director and technical members of the board of directors. Several criteria were identified:
- Technical skills with the same types of products
- Leadership with direct management experience
- Experience in a growing and reorganising an SME
- Tailor-made project management in a complex environment
- International experience
Given the complexity and strategic importance of these hires, we first had to draw up a highly targeted shortlist of profiles corresponding to the demand.
We did this by mapping the market to produce a list of companies with similar activity to the client in the desired region from which we could target the profiles that could evolve in the positions sought. At the same time, knowing the potential limit of the local talent pool, we drew up a list of the client’s direct competitors across France so as not to overlook candidates who could relocate.
After drawing up this list, we started screening the candidates to ensure the right fit for the role, not just from a skills perspective but also from a cultural perspective and checking to see if their personal and professional motivations were a match to what we knew the company and the roles could offer.
As with our usual recruitment process, we supported the interested candidates and the client HR team through interview and feedback rounds and eventually hires.
Result
We were able to complete their team with three new strategic directors and three other technical profiles all able to implement the desired strategy, develop the sectors in which they are present, and help launch the company in promising new markets.