Project reference · Agriculture · Executive search
Farm managers from across Europe, and a leadership team for a new office abroad.
A large agricultural group wanted experienced European farm managers to run its farms, and at the same time a managing director, engineers and specialists for a new office abroad. We ran both searches at once: farm managers from our own team, the office roles together with a partner firm in the country of the new office.
2 searches run in parallel, by two firms
Scope
6 role types, from farm manager to managing director
Roles
14 months from contract to the client’s pause
Duration
1 trade fair turned into an interview venue
Approach
The search, month by month
How we ran it
Our own team searched for the farm managers across Europe, with a job description written for the brief, a stop-list of people the client already knew, and a written report every week to the client’s recruitment managers. For the office roles we brought in an executive-search partner in the country of the new office, who approached candidates directly, interviewed them and wrote a confidential report on each. Shortlisted candidates met the client by video, at a leading farm-machinery fair and at the client’s head office.
The brief
What the client actually needed
The group farmed on a large scale and was modernising. It wanted farm managers from the European Union who had run modern farming operations and were willing to move for three years, each taking charge of a group of farms, its people and its machinery.
At the same time it was opening an office abroad and needed a managing director to lead it, mechanical and agricultural-machinery engineers, and seed and crop specialists. Those are people who are not looking for a job, so they had to be found, approached and persuaded.
The hard parts
Where it gets difficult
Moving a farmer’s family
A farm manager does not move alone. Each candidate weighed schools, housing and a three-year contract far from home, and the package had to answer those questions before the first interview.
People who are not looking
The managing director and the engineers were in good jobs at well-known companies. They agreed to talk because they were invited, and they expected a clear role, a reporting line and a quick decision.
Decisions take longer than candidates wait
Interview dates moved and visits were postponed. Senior candidates who had kept their diaries free had to be kept informed and interested for weeks at a time, or they would simply drop out.
Roles that change mid-search
Twice the client asked a strong candidate to consider a different role from the one he had been approached for. Each time we asked for the objectives and the reporting line before going back to the candidate.
Two search firms, one client
Our contract and our partner’s had to sit side by side: who presents whom, who bills which fee, and how travel costs are shared. Settling that openly with the client kept the search itself free of it.
Knowing when to stop
After fourteen months the client asked us to pause. We sent a written summary of findings and options, and the client confirmed that all outstanding invoices were paid.
What we did
Brief, search, present, pause
- Months 1–2 · Brief. Contract signed, job descriptions agreed and weekly reporting set up with the client’s recruitment managers.
- Months 2–9 · Search. Farm managers approached across Europe, checked against the client’s stop-list; from month five our partner searched for the office roles with a target list of companies and a confidential report on every candidate.
- Months 7–11 · Present. Candidates presented at a farm-machinery fair, a long and short list for the office roles, video interviews, and final interviews at the client’s head office.
- Months 12–15 · Pause. The client reconsidered several roles and then paused the search, after a written summary of findings and options; every invoice was paid.
Not every search ends with a signature. This one taught us to agree the decision timetable with the client before approaching people who are not looking for a job, because they will not wait twice.
In the client’s words
“Hope for the fruitful cooperation in future.”
The client’s HR lead, confirming the pause and that all invoices had been paid.
How we work
We do not show you another company’s name
The client, its owners and its people are not named here, and they will not be named in a meeting either. We are glad to talk this project through in detail. What we will not do is discuss the last client that way with you, or you with the next one.
Next step
Looking for farm managers or engineers from abroad?
Tell us the roles, the farms and the package. We will tell you honestly who will move for it, and how long it takes.