Compensation assessment to reduce turnover
(Compensation assessment)

Compensation is difficult is to measure and maintain as market indicators change so rapidly. Lack of involvement for even 12 months can result in significant changes to your turnover rate. Compensation assessment doesn’t always necessarily have to be pushing salaries up, but more often then not the lack of a competitive salary and benefit package generates a turnover rate that would make most executives uncomfortable.

A leading west cost electronics corporation is a good example of the benefits a company can gain from a compensation assessment study. After years of strong growth the company was known as one you would want to work for. With a positive image in the market place attaining and retaining employees often seemed effortless.

After the sharp decline in the technology sector early in the century the company started to experience above normal turn over and while trying to refill the talent loss the management team didn’t take the time initially to address the core issue. After several years they were still experiencing turn over at an alarming rate.

With the hiring managers consistently reporting problems with salaries and candidates declining offers the company decided to bring in a firm to do a compensation assessment. Quickly one of the core items brought to light was the fact that although once before the companies name was enough to attract top talent, this wasn’t the case after 2001.

Several months later all of the troubled positions are reevaluated in terms of compensation and job description on a local and national level, the turnover rate slowly starts to decline and the rate job offers being accepted is increasing. Having a strong brand and excellent work environment holds a lot of weight in a competitive market. Combined with a competitive compensation package that is parallel to your competitors, you turn over rate will shrink and attracting new talent will be less difficult.

Automaker branches out
(Employment Research)

Imagine attempting to setup a budget for a new location in an area you’re not familiar with. When a large automaker decided to make a move to the south, uncertainty set in not knowing what the soft costs would be. With the broad generalization that farmers in the south come from a strong work ethic many of the new site development team thought finding talent to staff the plant would be a non-issue. The automaker decided to gather some research to survey the area and this decision would reveal astounding problems that were not budgeted for.

Once the scope of project was set the research team started a 60 mile radius and an over all 1 hour of commute time information gathering session attaining what the area had to offer in terms of skill-sets. One major metropolitan within the area offered general administrative support talent along the lines of accounting, financials and purchasing. As the project moved along, many gaps were coming to light concerning the lack of experience in a manufacturing environment. Although the workers in the area did come from rural area with a farmer’s work ethic, the area did not have the long history of manufacturing skills.

The following areas were identified as issues.

  • Manufacturing Engineering
  • Tooling \ CNC
  • Industrial Maintenance
  • Supply Chain
  • Robotics
  • Plant Engineering
  • Management with large scale manufacturing experience

The identification of these issues brought the plant startup to a halt. Two issues had to be addressed immediately. One of the issues was having the skill sets onsite to get the plant setup and launched. The second issue was budgeting to relocate talent to the area for its normal staffing requirements with the financial consideration of having to constantly relocate employees as turnover happens. Factoring these items into the operating and startup costs of the new plant launched raised the budget by millions.

Having the information you need can save you from making the same mistake twice. Although the automaker has launched new plants in the past all over North America, many of the talent questions were never raised nor budgeted for and the soft costs ended up coming out of someone’s else’s budget. Proper planning and being aware of all the issues and hurdles will guarantee your next investment will be calculated.

International distributor in search of Change
(Executive Search Project)

 When is the appropriate time to implement change? If you asked this question to any of the great CEO’s, they would all reply the same candid answer; No time like the present. Many companies realize they cannot begin to transition without change. The weighing issue arrives at hand when you must select an individual to lead the transition and follow through with great success.

This story of change is written after a project executed last year. A seasoned international distributor with aggressive growth goals realized they could not make the transition to join the ranks of other industry benchmarks without rapid growth in the next 60 months. With growth for the prior 36 months at a stalemate the board decided the future of the company was beyond their control if they did not have a true leader implementing their ideas. This decision leads to a national search for a new CEO.

With clear direction from the board, the project team focused on attaining talent from top industry competitors. The major roadblocks were addressed in how to obtain and interest such an individual. Even with an aggressive compensation package and employment contract, overcoming the issue of leaving an outstanding organization to work for a smaller competitor is often impossible. After extensive research within the industry, the project team learned of key executives that would fit the role.

With the anecdotal information obtained about the target candidates the project team was able to hone in on a gentleman that dedicated a large portion of his career to taking on difficult business challenges specifically transformation and restructuring projects. This gentleman will have full control turned over to him from the board within 2 months of the first contact.

Walking into a corporation with expectations of double digit growth in the first year can be a little intimidating for the wrong individual. Selection of the wrong leader to implement change can be disastrous with the fall out affecting the stability of your business. Engaging with an Executive search firm to find the right individual to assist with implementing change and managing transition increases the chances you will hire the next great CEO.

An extension of your company
(Structured recruiting)

Seamless integration into your organization is what makes a great relationship with a contingent recruiter. Utilizing the structured recruiting process allows us to present candidates in a uniform fashion across the board so expectations are always met. Recruiters can be used to augment current recruiting activities or can be a fully outsourced extension of your company that handles all of your hiring requisitions.
                                                           
An example of a close working relationship is written here with a client that was looking to replace its entire 3PL with an in-house department. The entire hierarchy was given to our firm from the top down along with timelines and imperative positions that must be filled immediately. As a tier one automotive company, the transition to an in-house logistics department was challenging without damaging its supplier ratings.

The auto supplier partnered with a contingent firm given the capacity issues of their in-house staffing department. Taking on the task of managing a mass hire of 100+ employees within 180 days exceeded the scope of what they could handle. With the slow process of passive recruiting such as referrals and online ads, an active recruiting approached had to be executed to fill the vast amount of positions in less then 6 months.

With the close integration of the recruiting firm and the internal staffing department, the project was completed within the 6 month time period. Being an extension of your department eliminates the concern of a project being completed promptly. With unlimited resources, an excellent recruiting firm will work along side you to execute the most different projects.