Supporting with the appointment of the Group Head of Procurement
THE COMPANY
Halma is a global Group of life-saving technology companies.
Their main purpose is to protect infrastructure and enable safe movement, and also provide technologies that protect people and assets at work across a range of critical industrial and logistics operations.
Halma operates a de-centralised model across their 40+ operating companies around the world. This meant that the behavioural and personality fit of the candidate was as important as their strategic procurement skills.
THE CHALLENGE
The role itself required a candidate with extensive experience in a group procurement setting, covering an international remit. Experience was required across a huge range of both direct and indirect spend areas as well as a significant skill level within technology procurement.
Added complexity was the non-mandated approach to procurement, meaning that the influencing skills and mindset of the candidate were critical in finding the perfect match.
With Halma being named one of Britain’s Most Admired Companies, there was lots of interest in the role, but we had to ensure that both the experience and the personality profile were on point, so we created an impressive marketing campaign and conducted thorough market mapping and headhunting as well as having extensive conversations with our pre existing candidate network.
THE SOLUTION
With group procurement roles, there is always a tendency to try and move towards a centralised, perhaps even mandated approach.
Halma is clear that they value their de-centralised model and, as such, was critical that our pre-screening of candidates was thorough enough to ensure candidates had the appropriate influencing skills needed to leverage success in a non-mandated environment.
Importantly, for the longevity of the placement, we needed to dive deep into the candidates’ motivators and own measures of success to ensure that they wouldn’t become frustrated by the de-centralised and non-mandated procurement approach.
The Procurement Heads team thoroughly assessed both the skills and behaviours of all candidates. A comprehensive shortlist of profiles was presented within two weeks, ready to commence the four-stage interview process as designed by Halma.
THE RESULTS
Throughout the process, our Industrial team worked closely with the Group Procurement Director. There were in-depth briefings, candidate reviews, and feedback meetings. Following final stage presentations to the CTO, the perfect candidate was appointed for the role.
FEEDBACK
“Working with Lucy LoRusso and the team at Procurement Heads has been an absolute pleasure. The entire process was not only enjoyable and fun but also marked by outstanding communication and professionalism.
Lucy demonstrated attention to detail during the search phase. Rather than simply presenting candidates from the top of the list, she took the time to understand our specific needs, culture & ways of working, delivering candidates who were genuinely well-suited for the role. This tailored approach ensured the quality of the search and gave us confidence in the process.
For me personally, what set Lucy apart was her ability to refine the search as we progressed. Discussions were clearly reflected in the subsequent candidates presented. It was evident that Lucy consistently took our input on board to fine-tune the search, and her dedication was second to none.”