CLIENT: Leadership Development Firm

EXECUTIVES: Firm Leadership Team

BUSINESS UNIT: Learning Solutions

Recruiting Challenge: A subject matter expert needed for a newly created position

The Situation

Rice Cohen was retained by a 20-year-old firm that is the leading provider of leadership development solutions to the corporate market. While they had always been a recognized provider of training solutions their goal was to become a recognized provider of Leadership Development Solutions that encompassed anything from standard training to true consulting. As their business model evolved they discovered a need for a new position: true subject matter experts (SME) to work alongside the sales team. Before reaching out to Rice Cohen our client had unsuccessfully tried to fill the position on their own and through other recruiters but neither route was successful. Having filled sales positions for this client before, they reached out to Rice Cohen to help them find a Leadership Development Subject Matter Expert.

Solution Implemented

After consulting with the client, we decided this person would come from one of two places: a top leadership development firm or a traditional consulting firm. We put together a targeted company list and compiled a very specific behavior based interview guide to ensure candidates would not only meet the technical requirements but also guarantee the candidate of choice would be a culture fit for the client. It was important to make sure this person had experience working in a sales driven environment but was truly a consultant at heart. We presented two candidates who closely matched the Search Assignment Profile and went on initial interviews but turned out not to be the right fit. We used this as an opportunity to further calibrate and refocused our efforts in a slightly tweaked direction.

The Search Results

We presented three new candidates to the hiring manager and after the initial interviews they chose to move forward with two candidates and bring them to a final assessment. Based on the success of the search and the company’s continued growth, they came back to us and we helped them to hire two additional Leadership Development Subject Matter Experts in the next 6 months. Rice Cohen was chosen based on our prior success with the client, our expertise in the industry, and our vast network of top talent.