Recruitment Challenge: Finding talent with the right cultural fit 

David Bridgford, Corporate Finance Director at Merlin Entertainments  discusses how finding candidates with the right cultural fit is a key  challenge for the business.

Merlin Entertainments,

I have worked with Cedar for a short time but we have forged a very good working relationship. Cedar take the time to understand the needs of my business and work tirelessly when required. Cedar have proactively sought to include me on Cedar events - which are highly recommended - as a good opportunity to get to know Cedar, their staff and also as a networking opportunity.

Tate & Lyle Sugars,

February 2018

I have worked with Cedar for a short time but have quickly forged a very good working relationship. Cedar took the time to understand the needs of my business and worked quickly and accurately to fill any vacancies that they have worked on.

May 2018

I have been working with Cedar on couple of roles and they are an outstanding recruiter. I am so grateful for all the help that Cedar has given me and how patient the team have been with us. I would highly recommend Cedar for any candidate or company.

bsi.,

I’ve worked with Cedar on a number of recruitment opportunities over the last few years which, in an industry where the maxim that ‘you are only as good as your last assignment’ is particularly relevant, is testament to the quality of service that they provide. Cedar has made a conscious effort to understand my management philosophy and the things that are important to me. They also take the time to understand the corporate culture and the environment into which I am looking to recruit. This results in an efficient recruitment process, a relevant short list and appointments that have a fighting chance of success.

Associated British Foods,

Hugely impressed by the way Cedar go about their business in sourcing candidates and the matching process they go through which has proved to be an astounding success. We have over the course of the last 18 months brought in ten new people and it’s safe to say, the candidates we see from Cedar are always top of the pack. They are the ones that impress the most in the room and on the job, with some exceeding expectations and on the path to being our leaders of tomorrow. I’m genuinely really impressed in their methods on understanding the role, the recruiting manager and team and likewise candidates to really make sure the match it right.

We continue to deepen our relationships with them in areas such as devising recruitment and people strategies to make sure we ultimately make the right decisions and get the best for our business and its future; they have truly become a trusted partner of BT.

BT,

“I had the pleasure of being supported by Cedar across all levels of Finance recruitment from part qualified through to senior hires. At all the stages of the process, it was clear they had a fundamental understanding of the calibre of individuals we were after as well as working together with us to give useful insight and market knowledge. This allowed us to be competitive in market place when it came to top talent. I was impressed with the knowledge of the business they had and the strong relationship they had built with key stakeholders. They gave me the confidence t that they could inform and advise the business without my intervention. I would highly recommend Cedar and look forward to work again with them in the future”

BT Openreach,

Recruitment Challenge: finding quality candidates with the right cultural fit

Richard Kozlowski, Jimmy Choo, discusses his biggest recruitment challenge: finding quality candidates with the right cultural fit quickly.

Jimmy Choo,

We worked with Cedar while recruiting for a senior finance position. I think two things separated Cedar from the rest; first was their ability to match candidates with the position; and second was the quality of discussion we had with them. It was really about finding the best person for the role rather than them selling a person into a position. It was our first engagement with Cedar and we will definitely be using their services again.

Pfizer,

Having dealt successfully with Cedar in the past, I was confident in appointing them to deliver this project and they again exceeded expectations. From start to finish they delivered a consultative and value added service, the culmination of which has meant we hired three great candidates. I have no hesitation in recommending Cedar.

Liverpool Football Club,

It’s been a pleasure to engage with Cedar on our most recent hire. The role had been vacant for some time and other agencies had struggled to provide candidates for us. The Part-Qualified team at Cedar however, were able to arrange a shortlist of candidates within a matter of days of me reaching out to them. Interviews were arranged promptly and each candidate was an excellent skill match. I’m happy to say we’ve now filled the role with someone who is making a real difference to our organisation. I look forward to a continued working relationship with Cedar and would highly recommend them to others.

Sofa.com,

"I approached Cedar to assist in the recruitment of a temporary Accounts Payable Assistant for my team. From the beginning, the team were friendly, professional and ready to help. They met with me at my office so they could get a real idea of what I needed in my team. They were professional, to the point and worked swiftly. The quality of candidates and the CVs they sent across were great and I felt reassured they had really listened and understood what an ideal candidate looked like for me. Within a week I had someone placed who was capable, well presented and ready to work – what more could you ask for?

I can’t thank Cedar enough for all their help and will certainly work with them again in the future not only for temp roles but for perm roles too."

Caffe Nero,

“I have recruited several commercial finance professionals both on the interim and permanent side through Cedar.  I have continually been impressed with the quality of Cedar’s candidates and understanding they have demonstrated around match on cultural fit and skillset.  I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone wanting to up-skill their finance team”

Bank Of Ireland,

“We first tried Cedar when we needed a high quality candidate, fast. They didn’t disappoint, and unlike many other agencies we had tried, provided us a highly credible shortlist of suitable candidates. We could have filled the role several times over. Since then, Cedar hasn’t disappointed and each time we’ve needed to add to the team, Cedar have delivered credible candidates. They seem to know the candidates they represent well, and they have handled each of our engagements with swift efficiency, which has taken the pain out of recruiting for senior candidates. Happily recommend Cedar to anyone who doesn’t enjoy the recruitment process.”

Financial Times,

“I approached Cedar to find a special candidate to help build a growing team. In an extremely tight timeframe, Cedar used their immense experience and connections to locate a benchmark candidate who fit culturally into our business and who had all the required skills. The biggest players on the market couldn’t get anywhere near to matching such a candidate and I believe we got the best person on the market at the time. What I also like about Cedar is their proactively and their confidence to tell you how it is, which not only minimises wasting time, but also adds value to the recruitment process.”

Freemantle Media,

“We have partnered with Cedar now for a few recruitment projects and every time I have been extremely impressed by Cedar's ability to source high quality candidates. Cedar have demonstrated his deep knowledge of our business by sourcing candidates who are not only a close fit technically, but also from our industry. Cedar always keeps me well briefed on the status of all candidates throughout the interview process and I feel they are a genuine business partner. It has been a pleasure to work with the team at Cedar as I have found them to be highly professional, genuine, consultative as well as having a good sense of humour! I would have no hesitation in recommending Cedar.”

Global Brands Group,

“We worked with Cedar on a challenging position that other recruiters had struggled to fill. They quickly understood the brief and sourced  high quality  candidates. We are very pleased with the process and outcome.”

Hitachi,

“Cedar quickly and efficiently supplied us with two shortlists of international candidates, from which we hired two exceptional people. Cedar provided consultative advice throughout the process and their transparent approach helped us secure our chosen candidates. I was deeply impressed with their full understanding of our requirements and the speed at which they worked without sacrificing quality. I would thoroughly recommend them.”

Intuit,

"I have used Cedar over the past ten years as both a client and then a candidate. They are always my first call as nine times out of ten they will come out on top. They seem to really understand the roles they are recruiting for and the candidates they have, which not only gets a great  result,  but often means they do it with the fewest potential candidates saving everyone’s time."

KOOVS Plc,

“Over the years Cedar have made a real effort to get to know the business and the culture within our company. As a result, when we’ve needed to recruit, Cedar have always been able to put forward the kind of people who fit in and contribute quickly.”

Ladbrokes,

“Professional, excellent listeners and understand the exact needs of their customers. The Cedar team always go the extra mile and provide solid consultative advice. These are just a few reasons that I would not hesitate to recommend Cedar when looking for procurement talent or indeed for anyone looking to progress their own career.”

Leonard Cheshire Disability,

“We instructed Cedar to help us with the appointment of an Interim Group Corporate Finance Manager. They quickly understood our brief and set to work sending us CVs for five high  calibre  individuals. We conducted three interviews from this shortlist and subsequently offered the role to an excellent candidate. The entire process was completed in just five days. We were extremely impressed not only with the quality of the candidates but the speed at which they could be provided. I would not hesitate to recommend Cedar’s interim practice.”

LGC,

Cedar have greatly assisted me in building the team I need to deliver the business requirements in a challenging environment. The team have taken the time to get to know me and my requirements achieving a high level of successful recruitment. They are dependable and high in integrity, and go the extra mile to support me and they work hard to make recruitment for me as smooth as possible. They never complain when I give them an impossible task and, when I was in need of immediate  short term  staffing assistance; the team were quick to help. They are very effective at their job and it’s a pleasure to recommend Cedar as accomplished recruiting professionals.

Lifeways,

“We recently retained Cedar to help us find a high calibre finance director within a very tight timescale. Cedar provided a shortlist of 5 excellent candidates within 10 working days, each one of which could have performed very well in the role. They managed the search process effectively and efficiently, ensuring that we were able to appoint our preferred candidate. I would have no hesitation in referring Cedar to any business looking to hire Senior Finance Professionals.”

Livingstone,

“We retained cedar to help us manage a critical senior finance hire. They took a very comprehensive briefing, gave great advice on how best to approach the market and then delivered a high quality short list populated with candidates who had both the right skill set and the right personalities . The whole process took only 6 weeks from project sign off to offer and we secured a great candidate much quicker than I expected. I would have no hesitation in recommending Cedar as a genuinely value adding recruitment partner”

Moneycorp,

"Cedar helped me to recruit permanent finance professionals in my previous company who went on to become part of the talent pool. At Montessori St Nicholas, being commercial and financial is key to a Charity with trading subsidiaries that fund its social impact programmes. The team at Cedar put forward the right people, first time for both interim and permanent finance roles and are key to helping me build the finance team that we need for the future. For me, an ingredient to achieving that success is knowing that Cedar is a partner and not just a service provider".

Montessori St Nicholas,

“Cedar has placed a number of strong candidates within our Finance team and we can always rely on their promptness, quality  and  professionalism.”

Optegra,

Pizza Express,

Recruitment Challenge: Attracting talent with commercial finance experience

Nick Sambridge, Finance Director – IT and Transformation, explains that his biggest recruitment challenge for Post Office Ltd is attracting senior finance professionals with commercial experience.

Post Office Ltd,

“The Qualified Finance Team at Cedar possess a deep knowledge of the charity sector and have a wide and varied network of well-qualified individuals at their fingertips.   What I valued was that they took the time to understand our organisation and the requirements for the role which made the candidates presented to us already a good fit.  This was also helpful if they felt a candidate particularly shared our values and the same passion for what we do.

Having a partnership with Cedar significantly improved our time-to-hire and by working with them exclusively, they delivered the perfect candidate in just 2.5 weeks.  I will continue to use them in the future and would also recommend them.”

Power to Change,

Recruiting in Procurement was new for me coming from a Finance background and having previously managed a stable procurement team.

Cedar has helped me to recruit two roles in my new Procurement team: an interim IT Procurement Manager and a permanent Procurement Analyst and on both occasions Louise has made the process as easy and efficient as possible.

For the interim IT Procurement Manager, after discussing my requirements, they sent me the CV of the perfect candidate who was available on short notice and experienced in the area. They organised a meeting with the candidate within days and even the culture matched my organisation. I hired the candidate immediately for a start on the following Monday. The candidate is doing a great job in her role and is an asset to the team.

For the Procurement Analyst, I asked Cedar for help after having a bad experience with another recruitment agency due to the specific nature of the role.

They provided a short list of candidates that were spot on and despite one candidate disappointingly accepting an offer somewhere else, the new recruit is starting this week.

Cedar’s ability to understand requirements both technically and in relation to procurement competencies along with Cedar’s effective processes have delivered success for my team.

Rail Delivery Group,

2018

I’ve used Cedar for recruiting into my team for several years now, with them having placed more than half of my current team. They take the time to understand not only the technical requirements but also the person requirements. All the candidates I see from Cedar are a good team fit as well as having the relevant experience and skill. I can always rely on Cedar!

2017

Cedar have placed me and recruited into my team on several occasions. They take the time to understand both role requirements and personal fit and always find me the best quality candidates for roles I’m recruiting. They are honest and personable and genuinely one of the best procurement recruitment consultancies out there.Cedar have placed me and recruited into my team on several occasions. They take the time to understand both role requirements and personal fit and always find me the best quality candidates for roles I’m recruiting. They are honest and personable and genuinely one of the best procurement recruitment consultancies out there.

Royal British Legion,

"Following a failed open recruitment process for a media and marketing procurement manager, Cedar were recommended to me by another charity and I was very happy with the service I received. Cedar matched us with a high calibre candidate who had the technical skills and cultural fit that we needed. I am very happy with the appointment."

Save The Children,

“I have worked with Cedar as both a client and a candidate and both experiences were positive. They listened and consulted on each occasion giving honest and insightful advice. Most recently we recruited a senior finance individual through Cedar on a project basis which allowed me to forget about the recruitment process once I had briefed the consultant. Our short list of candidates was a good combination of the necessary skill level and the right personality fit into our team; something we feel is very important to our business. The interview process went smoothly and we are very happy with our new recruit who has made a great start and fitted in well with the team.”

STA Travel,

Recruitment Challenge: Finding candidates who understand the complexities of a multi-site business 

Jackie Freeman , Strada, explains that her biggest recruitment challenge is finding candidates who understand the complexities of the financial analysis for a multi-site retail business.

Strada,

“We chose to retain cedar on a critical and urgent recruitment campaign. We found them to be structured, efficient and genuinely consultative throughout the entire process and were impressed with the candidates that they introduced to us. Cedar talk about the importance of business partnering their clients and this was clearly the case when we worked with them. I would have no hesitation in working with them again or recommending their services to others.”

W H Smith,

"Cedar were incredibly responsive and took the time to understand our needs. Their advice was sound and the candidates high quality. Within 2 weeks of contacting Cedar, we had a Head of Finance in post who we are very pleased with. I’d thoroughly recommend them."

Barnsbury Housing Association,

"I was impressed with the responsiveness of the Cedar team. Our recruitment was completed to a tight timescale and we are very pleased with the appointment we made." 

The Vintners' Company,

“It was a pleasure to work with Cedar to find a full time CFO. We were looking for a very specific type of candidate, which they very much understood and definitely delivered on. From our initial consultation, through to the selection, shortlist and negotiation, they made everything very simple and straight forward.”  

Think Jam,