Manufacturing/President - Building Products

IRC Global Executive Search Partner

Madison MacArthur, IRC Global Executive Search Partner - Canada

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Manufacturing/President

Client/industry

Building Products

Situation

Engaged by the USA CEO of a leading Global building products company we were directed to conduct a highly confidential search for a new President of their Canadian operations.

Assessment

As the parent company had made a heavy investment into this new market they were expecting aggressive growth. Their products represented very new technology in a specialized product category that was rapidly moving mainstream. This required attracting a President that would be comfortable in taking on a small company and capable of leading it to becoming a very large business within 5 years. It required finding an executive that had a depth of experience in managing through change and a track record of rapidly growing businesses. However, the executive also had to be prepared to roll up their sleeves and get deeply engaged in the trenches.

Challenge

The company had very recently entered the Canadian market through the acquisition of 3 businesses. The organization had gone through significant change within a very short period of time. 3 privately owned companies were now part of a global giant and the principals of the private companies and much of the senior management left. 3 locations were consolidated into 2 locations one in the east and one on the west coast. The manufacturing facility on the west coast went through a complete retrofit with new state of the art equipment. The two plants in the east were consolidated into one brand new plant with new equipment, new training and a number of new staff. At the same time, the company was implementing SAP worldwide. All of these changes were undertaken to position the company for explosive growth.

Methodology/Solution

As this business involved introducing new technology into the building industry it was important that the candidates have a thorough knowledge of the industry and be well connected within it. Madison MacArthur conducted in-depth research and identified a number of companies within the industry that had experienced significant organic growth. The senior executive in these identified companies became prime targets. We also researched companies that had grown through acquisition and targeted executives that had led these initiatives both in Canada and in the USA. A slate of 5 candidates (4 from Canada and 1 from the USA) was presented to the client. Post interview, the client commented that all of the candidates more than met the criteria as set out, affording him the opportunity to really focus on fit, adaptability and stamina.

Candidate

Although the successful candidate was from the USA, he had a depth of experience within the building industry on both sides of the border. He had exceptional leadership skills, a track record of managing companies through change and had significantly grown a number of businesses. He was a very “hands-on” manager that was equally comfortable in doing high level strategic work as well as more rudimentary, tactical work and had led companies that had grown tenfold.

Post-mortem

Although still very new to the role, the candidate had quickly established himself, has been well received by the staff of both facilities and is in the process of shoring up all loose ends from the considerable change that the company has gone through. As the candidate has managed significantly larger businesses, the clients only concern regarding his ability to get back into the trenches has proven to be a non-issue as he is already well entrenched.

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