Background – situation
The Customer Relationship Consultancy (CRC) works to help manufacturers build stronger, more profitable relationships with their customers by helping close the communication gap that can emerge between these businesses and their customers. They do this by collecting data about the relationship, and then analysing and interpreting it to enable the manufacturer to achieve successful ongoing relationships with their customers. The data is crunched by CRC’s Analysts, and the Consultants then take that data, build the insights to explain it, and present that story, plus the potential consequences to the manufacturer in question.
In 2016 CRC found they were facing a problem, caused by their own success. They had too much work for their current consultants to handle; they needed to hire at least one more consultant or risk disappointing their own clients and damaging relationships. As the experts in business relationships, they knew they had to avoid this at all costs. But being highly strategic, they also wanted to limit the risk of hiring as much as possible – so any new hire/s needed to be flexible and/or part time employees, whilst also being able to communicate highly strategic concepts and explain complex data patterns, in a highly engaging way at C-suite level. And this flexible talent should also ideally have FMCG manufacturing experience to boot.
It was a tall order.
Our approach – finding the right flexible talent
CJ. Talent has access to senior, experienced, highly skilled people who are now looking to work flexibly and/or part time, so we knew we could find the right flexible talent for CRC. Our shortlisted candidates had FMCG and/or a background in supply chain, but with multiple other strings to their bows too. Every one of our shortlisted candidates was able to add a huge amount of value, and importantly, they were all highly emotionally intelligent. This high level of EQ was extremely important because of the complexity of the work, the need to be able to understand the requirements of CRC’s clients, while taking a grown-up, diplomatic approach.
Chemistry has always been particularly important for CRC because it’s a tight-knit team. All of its consultants need to fit in with their CRC colleagues and be able to build relationships of trust and mutual respect with clients at C-suite level.
This meant that our stringent screening process was invaluable to ensure the short list of candidates we supplied met all of the necessary criteria and were ready to move onto the next stage in CRC’s hiring process. This involves signing an NDA, being given live data, and then developing a story and presenting that story, as if to an actual client. It’s a stringent process designed to filter out all but the highest calibre and most able of candidates.
Results / outcome
We were delighted when one of our shortlisted candidates received the offer of a role as Consultant with CRC, and this first candidate has been followed by multiple others from our candidate pool of flexible talent. In fact, each time the business is ready to expand again, they do so in a controlled way that reduces the risk, by hiring another part time consultant.
Over the years CJ. Talent has now placed four senior, strategically-minded part time consultants with CRC. And every one of them is still in post today.
Typically the candidates we’ve placed at CRC have held senior positions with one of the large FMCG firms, but are now keen to work in a more entrepreneurial environment, reduce the red tape they need to deal with, and increase their level of influence at work. The Client Relationship Consultancy is the perfect employer to enable them to achieve this. And CJ. Talent’s relationship with CRC means that they trust us to deliver the right candidates, time and again, so work exclusively with us when they’re ready to expand and hire again.
Contact us to find out how we can find the right flexible talent to grow your business
