Hiring Situation

• ・Company A, Global IT company and known segment leader in the U.S., was seeking to establish a Japanese subsidiary and needed to hire in Japan a Country Manager (CM) able to devise market strategies.
• ・Initially, They were using a global search firm for their management hiring to handle the project on a retained recruitment basis. However, the client was not well known in Japan and three months of searching had yielded no results. It was time for a different approach.

Analysis of the Situation

We reached to the conclusion that there were two main factors why they cannot find a candidate.

One factor was the budget for this role. Initially, the company was thinking that a candidate well versed in digital marketing and other strategies was suitable. However, major consulting firms were also boosting their hiring in Japan at the same time, and were doing so at high salary packages. This caused viable candidates to apply at consulting firms.

The second factor was miscommunication between agents and hiring managers. Since the type of candidate sought by the management level had not been accurately conveyed to agents, referred applicants had not made it past the final interviews with the management. The company's management was looking for a passionate individual who aspired to expand the Japanese branch of their company in the future. However, the candidates that other firms had introduced were those who wanted to further their careers by joining a company with the potential to increase its presence in the Japanese market.

While candidates with impeccable professional background were introduced to them, they were still not what the company was looking for and the result was not being hired.

Our Approach

We first explained the competition from major consulting firms and suggested slightly raising the salary range being offered. A more competitive salary package was a critical factor in this case, since the position was targeting someone with expertise in strategy in various business fields, which was similar to what the consulting firms wanted.

Next, we interviewed the company's C-Level Executives directly and asked specific questions on the type of candidate they were hoping for. Having three-party discussions with the management and the hiring manager allowed us to have better information on the hiring criteria and fostered cooperation among all the parties.

Although candidates with relatively less experiences are often recommended when discussions indicate that an ambitious person is part of the hiring criteria, this particular case also required someone with expertise in diverse fields. So, we decided to focus our approach on more veteran professionals with experience as Country Managers. By targeting candidates who wanted to personally strive to grow a business, we aimed our search at skilled professionals who also had aspirations that would equal those of junior individuals.
Additionally, we suggested using our "Exclusive Search Service", given that the client had already faced some losses from their earlier, unsuccessful hiring attempt.

Ultimately, we were able to successfully introduce and place an appropriate candidate. Although the entry offered package for the candidate was slightly lower than the current package, the position met his desire to avoid an already matured company in favor of one that he could personally steer toward growth. After he joined, Adeptima is handling the majority of the hiring tasks for this company that has grown to have 60+ employees in its Japanese subsidiary.

This case was one where we succeeded in locating an excellent professional by avoiding the assumption that an "ambitious individual = a younger individual" and by taking skills into account as part of the equation. Furthermore, by paying extra attention to the practices of other industries that included their competitors, we were able to leverage another factor for success.