Case Studies

What makes Whitehouse Advisors different from other consulting firms in the human capital arena are the experience and expertise of its founder, Nancie Whitehouse. She has worked in both retained search, for large and boutique firms, and in corporate recruitment for one of the leading global private equity firms. She understands how search firms do business and what companies expect in terms of service and results.

• Moving Quickly To Recruit Key Management Talent
  The Client:

  A start-up operator of commodity exchanges for trading and monetizing Internet-generated consumer leads.

  The Challenge:

  This Internet startup had just raised $12 million — and needed help, fast, to develop a talent acquisition strategy and recruitment infrastructure.

  The Solution:

  We created a tailored methodology for quickly vetting and hiring candidates that was in sync with company culture and values. At the same time, we reviewed the current composition of the Board and established the key competencies required as new Board members were recruited.

  The Result:

  With the new strategy in place, the company hired 40 badly needed mangers to drive its continued fast growth.

• Creating a Recruitment Process Attuned to a Company’s Entrepreneurial Culture
  The Client:

  An early stage search engine optimization company.

  The Challenge:

  Talent acquisition was a clear priority for the newly hired CEO, but the pressure to recruit and on board across the company was far outpacing the time and capacity of the management team. The company lacked a user friendly talent management system to make informed decisions about their human capital needs – but it was worried about creating cumbersome recruiting processes that would undermine its distinctive, people-focused culture.

  The Solution:

  We developed a flexible recruitment process that outlined responsibilities and ownership in keeping with the company’s entrepreneurial business approach, plus worked with the leadership team to couch them in interviewing skills and how to use and tailor the process to build management strength.

  The Result:

  The company now has in place a long-term human resources strategy that supports their culture and their needs for future leadership hires. At the same time, we helped them recruit the firm’s first VP of Human Resources, who could continue to carry the new program forward.

• Building a Recruitment Function Ground Up for a Financial Services Leader
  The Client:

  A leading global provider of insurance and financial services to millions of individual and institutional customers.
  T

  he Challenge:

  Despite its many years in business, this major company did not have a formal recruitment function — and knew that it was losing money, time and quality hires by poorly managing its relationships with outside search firms. It wanted to create a strong internal recruitment function that could address the top 200 positions across the organization.

  The Solution:

  Whitehouse Advisor was retained to build the in-house team from scratch, developing position descriptions for the new function, interviewing candidates and recommending the right systems and tools to support the company’s executive hires.

  The Result:

  We hired the company’s first-ever Director of Recruitment and key members of his team and trained them in consistent and effective recruitment techniques.

• Helping a Startup Gain Key Bench Strength
  The Client:

  An early stage independent provider of data-driven equity research to institutional investors.

  The Challenge:

  The newly hired CEO had a mandate to hire a CFO, address the loss of several key team members and create a comprehensive strategy for human capital planning, recruiting and on boarding. In a critical stage of growth, the company needed to build new roles into its structure in order to drive the business forward – and the CEO needed help to do it.

  The Solution:

  Whitehouse Advisors stepped in as the company’s interim internal recruitment function, developing and implementing a comprehensive human capital program and recruiting tools to address succession strategies and future changes in business needs, along with a cohesive plan for identifying, recruiting and retaining the senior talent the company was lacking.

  The Result:

  The company had a recruitment process in place to support future leadership requirements – and we recruited the company’s first Chief Financial Officer, Director of Business Operations, Director of Business Development and Head of Trading Operations.

• Recruiting Senior Talent for a Rapidly Changing Business
  The Client:

  A leading alternative asset management company investing globally for a wide range of institutional clients.

  The Challenge:

  The company, in a period of unprecedented growth, had historically worked almost exclusively with contingency firms. The few retained searches had resulted in failed engagements and high-fee losses. Now, in an effort to recruit experienced managers, the firm needed to know the best retained search firms and recruiters for a record number of seasoned hires.

  The Solution:

  Whitehouse Advisors was retained to build the company’s senior hires function and to identify “best in class” retained search partners that could support the company’s rapidly expanding business. We also trained hiring managers in their responsibilities throughout the recruiting process and in interviewing techniques.

  The Result:

  We successfully partnered with department managers across the company’s business lines to complete 30 new senior management hires.

• Developing “Best Practices” Recruitment for a Fortune 20
  The Client:

  A Fortune 20 global conglomerate with varied businesses operating in over 100 countries, consistently ranked among Fortune’s “Most Admired Companies” and a Financial Times ”Most Respected Company.”

  >The Challenge:

  The Company’s infrastructure was made up of multiple global businesses. The recruiting managers were largely human resource generalists with a wide range of recruiting skills and experience, resulting in inconsistent hiring practices.

  >The Solution:

  We created customized training for the company’s human resources executives, laying out best practices in talent acquisition.

  >The Result:

  Eighteen key managers from different locations around the world attended the forum, moving the company’s disparate recruiting methods towards a more unified approach while still taking into account local differences and requirements.