Numeritas : Shell : Addenbrookes NHS Trust : Grace Blue

Case study by Stephen Aldridge, Managing Director, Numeritas Ltd

Numeritas is a specialist consulting firm with a focus on financial forecasting. We had identified weaknesses in our recruitment process, which had resulted in some poor hiring decisions. Heron Consultants were referred to us due to their expertise in recruitment and helped us to identify the competencies we needed in our candidates. They then designed a recruitment process in close collaboration with us to assess candidates against the required competencies.

Our first impressions were of a highly experienced and practical team who quickly gained our trust by demonstrating a clear understanding of our requirements. This impression was reinforced as we worked with Heron and they delivered high quality solutions in a very tight timescale.

We would certainly recommend Heron to others because they helped us achieve a much clearer understanding of our requirements and a thorough selection process that we can re-use on future recruitment campaigns.

Case study by Sophia Ledingham, Global Talent & Learning Manager, Shell Trading

Unlike other organisations who often approach their work on the ‘off the shelf basis’ Heron are more client focussed and seek to understand what we are really looking for. We commissioned them to inject best practice; cutting edge approaches as well as remaining authentic to Shell principles and processes – this is challenging, yet they handled it easily.

I have been delighted by their service and delivery. Feedback from stakeholders has also been consistently good. If I have any concerns these are received positively and responded to immediately. Timeliness is excellent; they have not missed any sessions, meetings or any agreed milestones.

They are always creative in discussions making workable suggestions for improvements to process and outcomes. I was surprised when they suggested we drop a regular session, given as consultants this impacted their income. I appreciated their honesty and integrity to put the needs of our business ahead of the money.

Case study by John Lee, Operations Manager, Addenbrookes NHS Trust

Always fancied working in the city or maybe on a farm? What about NHS management? Well not many people wake up one morning and know what they want ‘to be when they grow up’. Since graduating, I have been travelling at break neck speed through my first years in the working world. Reflection was not a priority and career planning did not happen.

I mentioned this to a colleague who recommended Heron. I rang up and had an unexpectedly frank and useful conversation with Heron Consultants. There was no hard sell just someone who really understood where I was coming from.

The coaching process is not a walk in the park – no decisions will be made for you! You will get challenged if you want to. You will move at the pace you want. Ultimately you will get out of it what you put in. The coaching sessions were structured but flexible, adapting to tackle tangential conversations. I would do ‘homework’: reflective exercises. I also completed an excellent psychometric test. Heron Consultants intelligently linked the conversations so my priorities became clearer and reinforced. I sat with the decisions that I was addressing and they started to make real sense. I was now making the links by myself.

I have made some big decisions - in my head. I have told people about the decisions, which is a big step in itself. There is some psychological comfort in knowing where you are going. I can now start making meaningful plans for the future. It was a tremendously satisfying process.

I have already recommended Heron Consultants to another. If you think you know what you want to do in terms of career but are not quite sure then I would suggest you look to career coaching. If you are in a job that is not working out, but you can’t put your finger on why then give it a try.

Grace Blue, is a global executive search firm specialising in senior appointments in the media and communications sector. We make it our role to be in touch with the brightest and most creative businesses around the world placing senior executives in the right jobs. We were interested to explore how we could use psychometrics to enhance our current selection processes adding value to both the client and candidate experience.

We invited Heron Consultants to an informal meeting. By asking probing questions, responding well to our challenges and being flexible enough to manage our eclectic working style they were able to identify our needs and formulate solutions. Throughout we appreciated their creative approach and in particular the bespoke nature of their final proposal; they were honest, transparent and engaging. Rather ingeniously they insisted that if we were to introduce psychometrics to our candidates then we might experience the power of psychometrics ourselves both individually and as a team. Their proposal meant improvements not only to the Grace Blue service but also in turn raised our awareness both at an individual and team level, improving communication between and within the Grace Blue partners.

Heron Consultants were fun to work with, their feedback and reports were clear and articulate. They managed our expectations and delivered a competitive professional, personal service. For these reasons I would not hesitate to recommend them to any organisation and look forward to working with them again.