What does it take to hire qualified candidates with relevant industry experience? How can you tell that a potential candidate will be a good fit for your business? How can you attract the right talent in a new market?
Consider the case of Solar Panda, a Canadian Solar Energy company looking to make inroads in the Kenyan Market. Promising an affordable pay-as-you-go solar home system at less than the cost of Kerosene, they engaged us to recruit for Head of HR and Customer Service positions that would form their core team to help them penetrate the market.
The brief: We were to source and attract candidates from the energy industry with impressive experience working with start-up companies. The ideal candidates needed to bring in-depth knowledge of the solar market as well as an entrepreneurial drive with the ability see the bigger picture and deliver outstanding results.
Solar Panda – Kenya
The Challenge: The search presented 2 main challenges;
- Candidates who fit in the bill were already in established companies and were not willing to take a risk and join a start-up.
- Potential candidates from competition had restricting clauses in their employment contracts that prohibited them from joining their employers’ competitors for periods between 6-12 months once they exited. These challenges slowed down the search.
Methodology: We employed a 2-part strategic approach to the search and assessment:
- We identified a list of reputable companies in the energy sector and through a blend of headhunting, database mining and utilizing our wide networks, we conducted a thorough search of potential candidates in the market.
- Shortlisted candidates were pre-screened through telephone interviews before taking them through detailed behavioural and technical one on one assessments to gauge their suitability as well as psychometric tests to determine the final list to recommend to Solar Panda.
We kept the management of Solar Panda appraised on progress providing weekly status reports while also advising them on terms of engagement they needed to review inorder to attract the best-suited talent for the positions.
The Results:
- From 20 targeted companies, we identified 14 potential candidates
- From the assessment, 6 were shortlisted for further engagement with Solar Panda.
It took us 3 weeks to complete the assignment. The management of Solar Panda settled for 2 candidates to fill in the two management positions respectively and has since retained us to recruit for other positions as well as provide advisory services in labour matters.
Whether you are recruiting for top or middle-level positions or you could be entering a new market and need experienced staff, the process need not be stressful and overwhelming.
Our team of experienced, knowledgeable and very passionate recruitment experts is ready to walk with you to get the right employees for your business.
Watch Solar Panda MD Testimonial Below.
