A privately owned French-Czech joint venture in the North-East of Czech Republic was faced with the planned departure of its Czech local Partner. The activity of the company was the production and commercialisation of a niche-product in the health business, requiring both special technical experience and knowledge of the changing local health legislation and administration.
The local staff and management supported the French partner in the replacement, but were very anxious about the future of the company. Our task was to find and to hire a local Managing Director, able to take over and develop the company with its current staff.
Our consultants spent time with the departing partner as well as with all members of the management team in order to gauge their motivation and expectations towards the new Managing Director. We visited the production facility and retail outlet to get a better understanding of the company's activity.
We then drafted an "optimal profile" of the candidate weighing in the importance of the different hiring criteria.
After having searched the market, we came soon to the conclusion, that no candidate from this "niche industry" was appropriate for our client. We widened the scope of our search and presented a short-list of four candidates to the whole management team. We then eased the candidate evaluation process through and led both the French investor and the local management team to a consensual decision.
The newly appointed General Manager was not a "true replacement" of the leaving partner, but an acceptable partner for everyone. During his integration period, he could rely on the support of both the French sister company and his local management. The company passed its "critical period" without losing clients, revenue or key staff.