Finding the right candidate during a major organisational restructure

Background

Our client, a Canada based energy company needed to establish a new financial control group that would better serve its significantly changing needs. With 62% of its business in Canada, the company was looking to expand internationally and was on a strong growth trajectory. The business had grown to 7 subsidiaries, including three outside Canada, with revenues of CAD655 million, and a workforce of 450 people.

Client's Needs

The company’s finance team, composed of 25 employees, was divided into three separate divisions: Accounting & Financial Control, Cash Flow Management, and Financial Information Systems. Its Financial Control group was designed for a much smaller business, and had become inadequate for what was now a diverse group of entities operating in different markets and geographies.

While the group was producing a large amount of financial information, only a small portion of it was useful to operations. The company needed a highly experienced Group Financial Controller to establish a new financial control group with a different culture and who could implement practical financial procedures, particularly regarding the collection and analysis of financial information.

Key search challenges

The search was further complicated by the uncertainty created as a result of a major organisational restructure that directly impacted the incoming individual’s remit and team
We needed to secure a candidate who would act as a business partner to the board whilst being groomed as the CFO’s successor
We had to identify candidates with a certain approach to their work and the ability to deliver against the backdrop of significant ambiguity
The candidate had to have sector-specific and operational expertise, with a strong track record in reorganizing the subsidiaries of large groups, including underperforming business units
To facilitate and speed up the candidate’s onboarding and integration into their new role, we provided our client with an in depth coaching report on the candidate, based on the assessments they completed

Cormis Partners Strengths

Strong processes, fast and agile team

Deep expertise in major turnkey transportation and infrastructure projects

Broad ranging and well-established international network

Robust and thorough qualification and assessment methodology successfully leveraging new technologies

Outcome

For this assignment we sourced, assessed, and produced a strong shortlist of world-class internationally experienced finance talent. We placed a Group Financial Controller who, within 12 months, set up a robust financial control & information system procedure which allowed the transmission of information on a regular schedule.

Our placement was successful in establishing a uniform procedure for monitoring investments and profitability and was also quick to establish trust and credibility within the wider leadership team.