Increase your ROI by Hiring The Right People

We have been helping our clients in rediscovering themselves. Most of them were always working in the same old fashion, with trust and quality as the most important values. However, the end consumer was never involved in the decision-making process when it comes to the construction of buildings and structures. The building developer, architect or construction companies were in charge. As of 2010 things have changed: clients wanted to have a say and hired specialists. This has meant a different approach within the industry.

So, what did we do? For one of our clients in the area of Rotterdam, we have recreated a new Leadership and Management Team. With annual earnings amounting to € 50 million and a workforce of approximately 200, the CEO realized he needed to change the organization in order to survive in the long term. Together, we formalized a talent strategy road map. This entailed a detailed overview of what the organizational chart should look like within a period of 5 years. In addition, we did research into our client’s competition conducted in-depth interviews with various customers of our Rotterdam project.

We started our project in 2012 and today, the whole leadership team has been replaced with new talent. Most of the talent comes from outside the building and construction industry. All of the executives have a Bachelor’s degree and on strategic positions a Master’s degree. Adding people with a design background, from the FMCG and heavy industry and combining a healthy mix of males and female executives has meant a dramatic culture shift internally and externally. We have (re)placed the CFO, Business Controller, Marketing Manager, the Sales Leadership Team, and the Operations Team (consisting of Supply Chain, Product Management and HR Management).

The bottom line results of our client have improved considerably. This is due to the fact that the group of executives have thought outside of the standard processes that were known within the industry. Strategic rethinking within supply chain management, marketing, using big data and online marketing resulted in support of the end consumer all the way. As of 2014, our client has been able to assemble, produce and supply products in any size or color fit. In addition, through a basic Lean Six Sigma program, they have been able to deliver whenever required. This has meant an integration of supply chain within the industry, better anticipation of future requirements and improvement in overall costs. The investments the client has put into using Lens, has meant an increase in Return of Investment by more than 1500% over a period of 3 years.

One of the drivers of this increase in profit was the culture shift created by hiring new people. The organization transformed from an old-fashioned supplier to an entrepreneurial data driven supply chain specialist within the industry. Our client does not focus on products as its unique selling point anymore, but on their services. The talented people make the organization unique and therefore being one of the main suppliers in the building and construction industry in the Netherlands.  Lens is proud to have been involved with this change. Ever since, other building and construction companies have been using our services on a national and international level. We have reach on a global level through the Kennedy Executive Network. Roland Wadl leads our Building & Construction Practice.

If you require new highly qualified Sales Executives, supply chain managers or big data specialists, we can assist you in your support for change. Both on a regional and a global level.

Dave Heilbron runs Lens together with Carl. He is involved in a wide range of search activities around construction, FCMG and retail.