AVP – Learning Services
Summary of the search:
This position was a very senior level position in the Learning Services Division. Role involved acquiring,
managing and enhancing relationships with external Clients addressing their learning needs with appropriate services and
solutions from the Company.
Client:
Global technology services firm that defines designs and delivers information technology (IT)-enabled business
solutions to its clients.
Location:
Southwestern, US with extensive travel.
Search Challenge:
- The ideal candidate needed to have a combination of expertise in the delivery of learning, human capital or total
talent management. Additionally the candidate needed to shoulder revenue generation responsibility of over $25MM per
annum. The combination made this a challenging search.
- The search had been open for over 3 months and the most potential “active” candidates in the market had already been
talked to by the client.
- Candidate had to be willing to work in a global organization involving extensive travel and working round the clock.
Methodology:
- Since the search was not new in the market, we ruled out using traditional sources to find the right candidate.
- We targeted various professional groups and associations to be able to reach out to Learning professionals across
the country. Professional sites were targeted to compile a list of such groups - including ASTD (American Society for
Training & Development), ISTE, E-mind etc.
- Joined professional organizations and interacted with group members thereby helping in understanding the market and
the pool of potential candidates.
- Networked and attending workshops also gave access to potential candidates.
- Active participation in discussions and Q & A sessions online helped in reaching out to the targeted sector.
These interactions and discussions led to an informal way of presenting the opportunity to potential candidates, which
finally helped us zero in on two great candidates for the position.
Result:
The candidate was not actively looking and was happy with his current role. He needed high motivational factors to move
out of his position. It took many conversations with the candidate to demonstrate the merits of interviewing with our
client. Once candidate saw the full merits of the role, he accepted and began to interview with the client. Discussions
with the client on how candidate wanted to lead the practice actually led to the creation of a higher level role for the
candidate than was originally envisaged. Candidate sold himself into a higher role and client was extremely satisfied in
finding the right person for the job.