Get good directions at the career crossroads
The timing of your next career move isn't always within your control, especially in the current climate. Redundancy, downsizing, a merger or takeover may be the catalyst for that call to the head-hunter. But who do you contact, how do you assess the opportunities out there and define what you have to offer?
Duncan Lawrence, Operational HR Director at Speedy Hire plc, has been on both sides of the fence in the past 18 months. After nine years at Airtours and its successor company MyTravel, he reached a career crossroads when the business merged with Thomas Cook in 2007.
"Whilst I was offered a continuing role in HR at the enlarged business, this would have been the easy option. I wanted a fresh challenge and to continue to run my own team," says Duncan. "At this stage in my career, responsibility for delivering results and driving change was the most important factor influencing my choice of role."
Duncan's first move was to contact a broad range of executive recruitment consultancies as a potential candidate. "I hadn't kept in touch with many consultancies, so I was contacting them cold and the response varied enormously. Some simply added me to a database, whereas others took the time to get to know me and helped to shape my thinking about my next role.
"Andrew Tallents at Warren Partners is a good example of the latter approach. Although he did not ultimately place me, he advised me very openly about who to contact, the kind of roles and businesses to target and genuinely cared about ensuring I made the right move, rather than just finding me a job."
A contact mentioned the Speedy Hire role to Duncan, who then got in touch with a former colleague who was working in the business. The company's strong operational and sales culture appealed to him very much, and after a demanding interview and assessment process Duncan was appointed.
"Some of the lessons I learned during my job search included being willing to reconsider my preconceptions. Large public and private sector organisations are traditionally regarded as slow to embrace and implement change, while smaller companies are seen as more nimble and flexible. When I actually met potential employers, I often found the reverse was true.
"The value of networking was also highlighted. My personal style is to keep in touch with people I like and deal with on a regular basis, rather than waste time collecting business cards on the social and professional networking circuit. These valued contacts can be a really useful source of information and a good independent sounding board."
Duncan also recommends being selective about any outplacement support that is offered. "Online searches by role or salary bracket aren't terribly effective and you tend to waste time sifting out the chaff. However, I did find interview coaching very useful; it helped me to be more direct and less understated about my achievements and abilities."
Having joined £460 million turnover Speedy Hire, Duncan is shaping how the business gets the most out of its people, pragmatically applying solid people processes that will make a real difference. "I love that two years ago, Speedy had no HR people and rightly challenged the worth of any new initiative. It makes you focus on what the big wins are, and the simplest, best way of getting there."
Formed in 1977, the company has grown rapidly in the last few years to become the pre-eminent provider of equipment hire and wider services to UK contractors and builders, industry, utilities and the public sector, operating from over 400 depots throughout the country with more than 4500 employees.
"With Speedy's recent history of growth, I'm very popular with recruitment consultancies and regularly get calls from both regional and national companies!" adds Duncan. "However, I already have established relationships with several consultancies so cold callers need to work harder to get my attention. Simply saying that they'll get to know our business, and ensure they understand any recruitment brief doesn't differentiate them. That's a given and they are behind the curve. I look for consultants with a genuinely different approach, who have specialist knowledge that somebody else doesn't, but also a caring corporate culture and consistent values, which come across in everything they do."
When interviewing potential senior employees, Duncan is surprised by how many candidates fail to react effectively to the way the meeting is going. "It's important that people pick up on the signals, responding to points of interest and engaging in dialogue rather than just reciting their qualifications and achievements.
"I look primarily for core attributes that will fit with our company culture, rather than qualifications and technical expertise. For me, the perfect employee has the practical intelligence to deliver tangible results, emotional intelligence which enables them to interact well with other people, and a very strong work ethic. Anything else is a bonus."
As both candidate and employer, Duncan has his finger on the key factors for recruitment success, especially in the current challenging climate. "There are fewer opportunities out there, so candidates need to be smarter in their approach. I've certainly seen an increase in the number of CVs crossing my desk, and it's the ones that have been fine-tuned and well-targeted by capable recruitment consultants that tend to hit the mark."
Spring 2009
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