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Bringing Value to Our Clients

By Carl Pauly, Partner
Region: Värmland

Top level sector: Retail

AT MU, WE HAVE A UNIQUE WAY OF WORKING AND BRINGING ADDED VALUE TO OUR CLIENTS. I THINK IT’S OUR TAILORED, CUSTOMISED, CREATIVE APPROACH THAT ALLOWS US TO MAKE A STATEMENT ON THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH MARKET.
THIS CASE I’M THINKING ABOUT REALLY BRINGS THAT UNIQUE VALUE TO MIND. WE HAD A DISCUSSION ABOUT WHICH COMPANIES IN THE REGION WE WOULD LIKE TO BUILD BUSINESS RELATIONS WITH; WE FOCUSED ON SOME MID-SIZE LOCAL COMPANIES, FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESSES OR COMPANIES WITH A STRONG MARKET POSITION WITHIN THE REGION, RIGHT ON DOWN FROM BIG RETAIL ORGANISATIONS TO THE MOST FAMOUS ICE HOCKEY TEAM.
WE DECIDED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MEETING FOR THE REGION, AND WE GOT TO JOIN AND PRESENT OURSELVES AND OUR VALUE PROPOSITION. AFTER A COUPLE OF WEEKS, WE GOT A CALL FROM ONE OF THOSE FAMILY-OWNED COMPANIES. THIS ONE WAS A RETAIL COMPANY. THEY WANTED US TO MEET THEM TO DISCUSS HOW WE CAN CHALLENGE THEIR WAY OF WORKING WITH EXECUTIVE SEARCH.
THEY WANTED A PARTNER THEY COULD WORK WITH AND TAKE A DIFFERENT ANGLE TO ANALYSE THE SITUATION, CREATE A PRECISELY TAILORED PROCESS AND FOCUS ON SHORT- AND LONGER-TERM PERSPECTIVES. THEY LIKED OUR “NO SHORTCUTS” APPROACH AND OUR IDEA OF IDENTIFYING THE CANDIDATES TO PROCESS THROUGH A SCIENTIFIC-BASED SYSTEM.
THE COMPANY’S PROBLEM? THEY WANTED TO CHALLENGE THE NORMAL POOL OF LOCAL CANDIDATES. THEY WANTED TO INTRODUCE MORE DIVERSE CANDIDATES INTO THE POOL AND WORK MORE STRATEGICALLY TO REALLY ANALYSE THE RELEVANT CANDIDATE MARKET FOR THE ROLE. THEY NEEDED TO PROPERLY ANALYSE THE SITUATION AND EXAMINE BOTH ITS CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE, ALONG WITH THE CAPABILITIES REQUIRED. THAT’S AN EXTENSIVE BODY OF WORK.
WE STARTED BY ANALYSING THE CLIENT. WE DETERMINED THAT THE MOST CRITICAL AREAS WERE TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW STRATEGY TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. THIS INCLUDED ALL BUSINESS AREAS FROM MARKETING TO PRODUCTION. THE WAY FOR US TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE SCOPE REQUIRED A LOT OF WORKSHOPS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS, BOARD MEMBERS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS THROUGHOUT THE ORGANISATION.

The key to success? A precisely tailored process built on the company’s need for leadership and expanding the scope of the search. As it turned out, the right candidate was actually around 1,500 kilometres from the headquarters office. That was a long way away, but they were the right person for the job and it’s worked out incredibly well so far. This case also shows how powerful word-of-mouth is. Since this position search, the company recommended us to local outlets (like the hockey team and other organisations) for their own personnel searches!

Carl Pauly, Partner & Director
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