Unusual role within a multinational company, requiring a blend of expertise for multi-state employment laws and labor relations management, along with a HR business partnering work history; with the aim to deliver a more holistic and rounded approach to achieving the changes needed to achieve business goals.  

Remit challenge – This global biotech company was looking for an experienced Labor Relations professional who had worked extensively within industrial manufacturing settings.  With a legacy of poor union relationships, poor employee engagement, recurring issues with production quality plus supply chain reliability and historic loss of customers as a result; this professional was vital to “shore up” HR capabilities on key sites in addition to being a critical risk advisor for a relatively new business leadership team.  This Labor Relations expert needed to be a subject matter expert on various employment laws, with advanced technical knowledge and capability for negotiating sustainable collective bargaining agreements, and an ability to achieve win-win solutions with employees and union members. Rather than merely resolving disputes, and wasting countless hours lurching from issue to issue, the company needed a leader capable of designing and implementing interventions that identified and fixed issues before they escalated, whilst fostering a more stable, harmonious, engaging, and productive work environment.   

Hiring challenges- The local, state, and national talent pools offering the required blend of Labor Relations plus authentic HR Business Partnering expertise is small.  The necessity to secure a contract negotiation expert with a track record of building productive, win-win relationships with unions, rather than adopting an “us versus them” approach shrunk that talent pool further.  The required work base location posed a miniscule local talent pool and high reluctance for other candidates to travel and/or relocate to it.  Finally, the restricted budget for salary and package that would be allocated to secure this person, added an additional layer of complexity to the search.   

Solution- Required an extensive nationwide search to identify and strategically engage high calibre professionals within these specialised skillsets.  Significant marketing was done to promote the benefits of the location and the authentic career development options available at the employer company.  Heavy use of our networks within these expertise areas and across the specific and complimentary industries of this company, resulted in a strong slate of contenders.  Our thorough assessments weeded out those who couldn’t “walk the talk” or were not truly committed to the location and package, and as a result of our targeted approach, we presented 3 subject matter experts who not only met but exceeded the hiring criteria.  An offer was extended and accepted without negotiation, reflecting the strength of our ongoing due diligence checks and comprehensive pre-offer preparation.  Since joining, the hired professional has delivered measurable value, making a significant impact and overachieving on performance ratings.   

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