The challenge
Naissance Trading & Innovation Ltd is a multi-award-winning manufacturer and retailer of natural and organic products. After recently opening a new sales and marketing site in Bristol, the Head of People & Engagement, Amy Foat Smith, approached Reed to help her find a head of brand marketing at Naissance.
Amy was already familiar with Reed’s services: “I have used Reed in a previous organisation and received high levels of quality and professionalism. In fact, my role before this one was placed by Reed”.
After setting up a virtual meeting with Amy to review the job description, Adam Buckland, Director of National Strategic Accounts and specialist in marketing and creative, gained an insight into the business’ growth plans. He quickly understood the importance of finding the perfect fit for the senior role, as the new hire would later go on to shape the rest of the marketing team.
Likewise, he was also confronted with a challenge: “The brand was not yet well established, but they wanted to attract someone from a household name – someone who understood what it meant to be a leader in their field.”
The several candidates who Reed found were quickly embedded and have become key members of our leadership team. They care, they think differently and challenge the status quo to help us break down barriers.
Head of People & Engagement at Naissance Trading & Innovation Ltd
The solution
Armed with a detailed brief from Amy, Adam knew the key to finding the right person quickly was by working to the agreed timescales and staying in regular contact with the client, updating them on how the search was progressing.
Adam and his team began by advertising the position across multiple platforms, but as finding the best candidate was likely to involve a head-hunting scenario, they also used a variety of searching techniques and criteria, as well as digging through Reed’s extensive database. This narrowed the talent pool down and created a shortlist of candidates for Naissance to review.
Adam said: “I spoke to around 40 or 50 candidates and submitted three. I was confident from my assessment of the market that one of those three was not only a great fit for the job description, but a great personality match for the business”.
Adam and a member of his team, Beth Green, took responsibility for all candidate engagement, including organising the interviews, arranging feedback, and then controlling the offer process and start date.
“Both Adam Buckland and Beth Green acted like a partner, doing what was right for Naissance and supporting us like an internal department… they advised us honestly and met our needs”, said Amy.
The results
Reed’s three shortlisted professionals were whittled down to one, with Joanne John becoming Head of Brand Marketing.
Such was our consultants’ skill in handling the hire, Reed has had the opportunity to add further recruits to Joanne’s team, supporting Naissance’s growth.
“The best compliment that we can be given is to have further roles assigned to us – we are continuing to build those relationships and support on live vacancies,” Adam explained.
Amy is incredibly happy not only with Joanne, but the rest of the employees Reed has found for the company: “The several candidates who Reed found were quickly embedded and have become key members of our leadership team. They care, they think differently and challenge the status quo to help us break down barriers”.
Similarly, Joanne expressed her gratitude to Reed and Adam for being “constantly in touch regards to the role, with insightful and informative feedback and updates”.
