Case Study

The Quintessential Search: Finding the Proverbial "Needle in a Haystack" in South Africa


Our Client

Our client is one of the world’s leading consulting and outsourcing organisations. They are a truly global brand that has a reputation for hiring the best talent in their target markets.

The Situation

Our client wanted to recruit a Business Development Director who would sell high value, strategic outsourcing to the public sector in South Africa. Due to the South African government’s policy of Black Economic Empowerment, it was essential that the successful candidate be of Black ethnicity.

This was imperative for our client because in order to sell to the government, as a global firm you must demonstrate that you are employing Previously Discriminated Individuals (PDI’s) in key positions in foreign owned companies. Furthermore the successful candidate also had to have a proven track record in selling large, complex outsourcing deals, coupled with a detailed understanding of the public sector both at a Provincial and National level.

Having worked with the client extensively on a pan-EMEA basis, we knew the high calibre of individual that our client sought - which could not be compromised - even though the target pool of candidates was greatly reduced because of the ethnic dimension that we had to adhere to.

The Results

We conducted comprehensive research into the South African market and identified key individuals who could help us identify the most relevant candidates. Through using these high level networks as well as targeted research into specific organisations, we were able to identify and approach relevant candidates in South Africa and comprehensively map out the South African market, thus providing valuable information to our client on the competitive landscape of the outsourcing market.

All the research and telephone interviews were conducted in the UK and Paul Drew and Mike Drew arranged interviews with the candidates in South Africa over a period of three days in Johannesburg and Pretoria. We delivered a shortlist within six weeks of commencing the search and the candidates progressed through a series of interviews both with the local South African team as well as the Lead Partner who is based in the UK. The successful candidate was offered the role and joined within 4 months of starting the search.