About Us - Consultant Profiles
Our consultants' broader business experience and connections in the marketplace means we can help you build a strong, successful organisation. Learn more about our key personnel...
Margo McLay | Len Hayward | Grant Radcliffe
Len Hayward
It can take years to build a good employer brand, but only a few months to kill one. And in a slow economy, HR and recruiting teams that can’t show their ROI to the business often get cut first in a downturn.
In the recruitment world, surviving the turbulence of a downturn gave Executive People Managing Director Margo McLay real clarity on how to move her business forward while helping her clients steer through this time of change – do what she preaches to others and find and recruit the best talent.
Len Hayward, an experienced business development executive and talent manager, has joined Executive People to drive the business expansion plan.
Len’s responsibilities are ensuring Executive People’s business strategy stays on track to build its corporate and government client base, but he will also be hands-on with recruitment and devising new recruiting methodologies to help clients find and recruit the best talent.
Len says he’s excited by the new challenge. In his capacity as Business Manager Len will also lead strategic development of Executive People’s recruitment divisions covering water / waste water, waste management, marketing communications, healthcare, engineering and construction, information technology, government, corporate and human resources.
“As every project manager learns, change is difficult. Executives, stakeholders, and potential users resist change for all sorts of personal, political, and emotional reasons. What Margo wants to achieve is simple logic and even though addressed to her own business, are equally relevant to all of her business clients. The common thread all through is that businesses need to respond proactively to the economic situation - with an analytical and pro-active approach.”
Len says while there’s no place to hide in terms of job losses in this climate, there are industry verticals which are more resistant, or may recover quicker than others.
“There comes a point in time where a technology refresh becomes a requirement to maintain a competitive advantage,” he says. “And water-related industries – such as utilities, infrastructure and testing facilities, have been better performers than most other sectors during recessionary times.”
To help Executive People and its clients survive the HR squeeze, Len will consult with hiring teams to select the best by leading pre interview meetings and post-interview debriefs, identify ways to reduce hiring costs and/or improve ROI with clients’ existing budget and help to deliver real value to clients’ businesses.
“It’s important to analyse the situation in your environment. Don’t follow blindly what others are doing. Forego the “one-size-fits-all approach” approach, and in a situation like the present one, HR-related issues should be handled individually and strategically. You need to involve people, redesign salary packages if you have to. Look strategically at cost-cutting and don’t make training and development the first casualty. Keep the team motivated and concentrate on your core areas of specialisation. If that means outsourcing of functions where you can negotiate a better deal with long term loyalty, then do it.”
Len suggests that companies can’t overlook the opportunity to strengthen their talent pool.
“Until very recently, the markets were booming and there were areas of skills shortage even with high salaries trying to lure. Shutting the door today to all recruitment will be a foolish decision. A slowdown is a good time to make finer moves and separate wheat from the chaff. In booming times, you get reduced to a recruiting agency and are not able to do many things you would love to do. This is the right time. Hiring must continue; but needs to be judicious, thoughtful and focus on bringing on board the right fit for today and tomorrow. Invest in people today when their appetite is at lower level; but work hard to make them a part of the team, so that they stay put and deliver when you need them the most.”
Tertiary qualified in project management and marketing, Len has more than 14 years of business strategy experience including consulting in areas of recruitment and retention, executive search, coaching and mentoring, talent retention strategies, performance management and OHS. He brings with him a solid track record and strong portfolio in the Water / Waste Water, Waste Management, Infrastructure, Energy, Resources, Engineering, Agriculture / Viticulture and the Local & State Government sectors.
