Chief Executive Officer - Building & Construction Company

IRC Global Executive Search Partner

Friedrichs & Partner, IRC Global Executive Search Partner - Germany

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Chief Executive Officer

Client/industry

Building and construction supply company.

Situation

The family owned company (500 Mio. EUR annual turnover) had to go through an extensive restructuring period. The board decided to replace the CEO and was looking for an executive search company for this demanding assignment. For reasons of confidentiality, they decided not to work with any of the consultants they already knew and approached a major multinational firm in their region to provide referrals for a new search partner. This multinational company that they approached had been working on a long-term basis with Friedrichs & Partner and recommended them for this search assignment. Friedrichs & Partner presented to the board of the client and was assigned to recruit the new CEO.

Assessment

This building and construction supply company was in a declining industry and
was facing a major reduction of staff. In addition to a restructuring concept there was a need to create new alliances and to develop a new business strategy. Therefore the ideal candidate for the CEO position would possess a strong finance background and should have been involved in restructuring of companies of a similar size. In addition they should have a business development background in order to lead the company to the next level.

Challenge

At the time of the assignment the whole construction and building industry was in a crisis and there were no companies with a proven success story. Therefore hiring from within the industry was not an option. As well, as the industry was struggling, it was not attractive to candidates coming from prospering industries. To adapt to the challenges, candidates were needed from industries that had recently gone through massive restructuring processes. These industries had to be identified and thorough research needed to be done.

Methodology/Solution

Based on the initial situation, Friedrichs & Partner developed a search strategy and executed this in the relevant market. In addition, existing contacts to industry insiders have been activated to source referrals from them. Within only 6 weeks, suitable candidates were identified and a carefully selected small group of candidates was presented to the members of the board.

Candidate

The successful candidate came from a multinational conglomerate working in diverse industries including the building and construction industry. This candidate was a CFO in his earlier career and spent the past 10 years as CEO of several affiliated companies of the multinational. He had a broad finance and controlling background and, in addition, he provided a proven track record of successfully restructuring businesses in difficult market environments. Personally he was a very optimistic person with charisma and strong leadership skills. As a result, he was quickly accepted as the new CEO.

Post-mortem

Only one year after his start with the company, he had managed to restructure the company, divested unprofitable business units and brought new focus to business development and new markets. This turn-around made it possible for the owners to sell the company to a major supplier, thereby creating a market player at more than double the original size.

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