Head of Human Resources

Company

We represented an iconic retailer with a northern European headquarter. Their business was at the time of the search in a transformative mode with a substantial growth agenda. Half its nearly 30,000-strong workforce is based in southeast Asia, with the majority being blue-collar workers at a semi-remote manufacturing site.

Challenge

The main challenge with this search was marrying the desired job profile with the actual scope of the role. Based in a remote southeast Asia location limited the number of applicable internationally experienced senior HR leader profiles, whilst the sheer size of the employee base and the desire for a globally mobile candidate who would act as a strategic partner with the European team narrowed down the target talent pool even further.

Search

By leveraging our global HR leader network, our ChapmanCG research team put in place a multifaceted search covering local HR talent based outside of the country in question; international talent with experience in this particular part of seatheast Asia; and international talent with experience managing a vast employee base of blue-collar workers, with a southeast Asia remit. By approaching the search from several angles, including hosting several networking roundtable sessions in the region, we were able to shortlist suitable talent to present to our client.

Outcome

As a result of the in-depth research that went into this search, not only did we fill the initial role, but the client offered two additional shortlisted candidates jobs, and we have since worked on several other searches for the company.