Services

• Client: Multinational company, newly entered in Romania through the acquisition of a local company
• Field: FMCG

 

Situation

The client took over a local company, along with the entire team, but required a few key trustworthy people to build/modify the current structures and to redefine the processes. The key persons shall occupy the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Commercial Manager.

 

AIMS approach

The search started with the Chief Financial Officer position, based on a very formal relationship between the client and the AIMS consultants. After the first project was successfully completed, the relationships changed significantly: the AIMS consultants and the client’s representatives started collaborating in a more relaxed context, which allowed the recommendations to have a bigger impact on the client’s activity. The second recruitment for the Commercial Manager position was also accomplished successfully.

 

The project's difficulty level for the Commercial Manager position was high because the client was going to activate in a field where competition is almost nonexistent. Therefore, there were no candidates that had the exact or necessary knowledge and skills. For the AIMS team, this project foresaw the identification of a limited set of success attributes, the elimination of the unessential ones and recruiting a candidate that corresponds to this profile.

 

Result

The candidates that were found were exactly what the client was looking for, and managed to have the necessary experience and align the local company to the standards of a multinational company.

• Client: Local company, one of the largest importers
• Field: Automotive

 

Situation

The client was activating in a very difficult industry, which continued to plummet with 14.7% in the first half of 2011, with regard to the same period of the previous year. His main objectives were to maintain sales at the level of 2010, increase the number of dealers and have a business growth in 2012.

 

In the last years, the company did not have a person specially dedicated to the Sales activity and coordination of the dealers network. The established objectives imposed the recruitment of an adequate person to fill in this position. After a period of research on one’s own account without finding an adequate candidate, the client decided to request the services of a consultant.

 

AIMS approach

The AIMS consultant started from defining the results that the client wanted to obtain, in order to understand what performance level was needed from the candidates for the respective position. The adopted strategy foresaw the direct approach of the potential candidates that held similar functions in other companies in the industry. The decision was based on the fact that the managers from the Automotive market are very cautious when it comes to changing their job and do not actively search for development opportunities. The segment of targeted companies suggested and established along with the client was also covered.

 

Result

AIMS suggested a brief list of candidates and after a series of interviews and assessments – the appropriate candidate was chosen. This person had a vast experience on the market – successfully coordinated a network of dealers, obtained remarkable results in Sales – and had the necessary and appropriate personality and skills for both the organization and the Direct Manager. For the candidate, the new position was a step forward in his career and corresponded with his own professional development objectives.

• Client: International manufacturing company
• Field: Electronic Industry

 

Situation

The company contracted AIMS services for the recruitment of a factory manager. The recruitment and selection process carried out by AIMS ended with the employment of one of the short-listed candidates. In the first two weeks of employment, the on-boarding intervention of AIMS began.

 

AIMS approach

The intervention of AIMS consisted of the organization and facilitation of three meetings “in three points”, between the AIMS consultant, the employed candidate and the Manager.

 

During the first meeting, some SMART objectives were negotiated and established for the new employee: learning (job, function, team, organization), bonding (internal and external networking, support network) and performance (obtaining actual results) – across the entire “testing” period. 

 

During the talks, the consultant acted as facilitator, challenging both parties to take into account the basic criteria on the basis of which the candidate’s integration in the organization was considered an asset, the obstacles that could arise in the fulfilment of the agreed targets and the responsibilities assumed in this process by each party.

 

In the following two sessions that covered approximately 9 months, the degree of Target Achievement, the challenges faced and the solutions identified were monitored, the AIMS consultant acting as moderator of the feedback received from both directions.

 

In the third and final sessions, conclusions were drawn on the basis of the questions addressed by the consultant to each of the parties:

• What is the employee’s current status in relation to the targets set at the beginning (learning, bonding and performance)?
• What should the employee do to be more successful on his position?
• What could the employee have done more or differently to attain a more effective integration process?
• What is each of the parties willing to do for this relationship to work?

All these conclusions were translated in an action plan.

 

Result

The onboarding sessions cast more light on the expectations of the two parties: the organization (represented by the direct Manager of the new employee) and the employed candidate undergoing the stage of integration in the organization. These expectations (defined in terms of targets, actions, behaviours) were communicated transparently and discussed, negotiated and prioritized by both parties.

 

The discutions moderated by the AIMS consultant made both parties (direct Manager and employed person) shift their attention from the short-term operational plan, and focus on the medium-and long-term objectives.

 

Another result was that the two parties succeeded into building more quickly a trustworthy, open and transparent relationship, based on communication and constant feedback.

 

The onboarding process culminated with an action plan aimed at improvement, which was assumed by both parties and which provided a new reference for the manager-employee framework.

 

• Testimonial:

“The on-boarding sessions were much about managing expectations. It forces you to think about expectations, to prioritize and to communicate them; and also to learn about what the other party is expecting. The consultant helped to make time for this, but also to bring these expectations away from the operational short-term level, to a more functional mid-term level. These discussions helped us to build up an open relationship in a very short time.”

Operations Manager Europe – Direct Manager

 

 

“The on-boarding sessions that I had were in the beginning strange to me. It was a first experience. But they were very helpful in establishing together with my boss the first steps I should take, on what I should focus, targets I should reach. With the questions asked by the moderator it was also clearer how to think, on which points we have to concentrate more. I also had the chance to ask if and where I need help. Very good was also that I got feedback on a regular basis about what I did. It helped my integration in the organisation and in terms of better understanding what is expected from me. As a candidate I was in very good hands at AIMS. They understood how I am and my needs and tried to find positions where I fit best.”

Plant Manager Romania – Hired Candidate

• Client: Multinational Company
• Field: Production

 

Situation

The company was in a difficult situation because it was operating for a few months without a General Manager. Moreover, the management team had a very strong personality and was willing to accept a new boss only if that person clearly proved his qualification. In fact, the former General Manager was dismissed due to employees’ complaints.

 

AIMS approach

Given the initial information, the scope of the AIMS consultants was to recruit a candidate with very good leadership qualities and a good technical understanding. The respective approach complicated the recruitment process and foresaw the extension of the search beyond the client’s specific activity field.

 

Result

Although the search lasted more than the initial estimation, the right candidate was employed. After an approximate period of two years as General Manager in Romania, the candidate was promoted at an international level, on strategic positions, with extended responsibility over more countries.

• Client: Multinational Company
• Field: Energetic

 

Situation

The client needed to recruit an entire management team, with the necessary expertise to coordinate the startup activities of the company in Romania.

 

The context in which the company was expanding on the Central-East European market was marked by numerous changes: from the development of the public energy infrastructure, the introduction of new European regulations (that have attracted the interest of foreign investors with regard to the potential of the local markets), to the decentralization of the energy services and liberalisation of the markets.

 

Within the context of the Romanian market, candidates with management skills, as well as with the necessary techniques, were very hard to find and recruit.

 

AIMS approach

AIMS has approached a strategy that assured a broad spectrum of candidates, with the essential data for success in the respective positions. The strategy was based on a direct approach, as well as on networking, in order to identify potential candidates in similar companies or in Industrial multinational company groups (equipment for the Energy Industry).

 

During the selection process, AIMS tested the professional skills, as well as the personality traits of the candidates. In the end, the client received a brief list with three recommendations for each position.

 

Following the interviews from the subsequent phase, AIMS organized Assessment and Development Centres for the first two candidates for each position. The scope was to assess the current level of skills in order to establish the development needs.

 

Result

The client has formed a homogenous startup team that is dynamic and has the will to immediately start and develop the local business.