Complementary Skills Make for a Winning Business Partnership

Partnership comes in all shapes and sizes. It is especially rewarding when one of these arrangements results in success for everyone involved. This was the case when SMR was hired by a consulting firm to find a Chief Security Officer for their client, a global provider of specialty insurance and risk management products located in the Southeast US.

SMR had a long professional relationship with the principal of the firm. Prior to starting his consulting practice, he was successful as a Vice President of Security at several Fortune500 corporations. We were engaged to recruit for security roles around the world for more than one of his previous employers, so he knew exactly what SMR could deliver for his client.

He utilized his wealth of experience running security programs to assess his client’s corporate security organization, and the new position of Chief Security Officer was targeted for recruitment. However executive search work was not part of his portfolio of services. His goal was to accelerate placement of the role, so it was natural that he thought of SMR given our past relationship.

Having a partner to bounce ideas off is always good, and it was in this spirit that the job description for the new CSO role came together. We shared a strong belief in the way forward on the recruitment project and knew how to quickly achieve the hiring objective.

SMR tackled the search project, identifying multiple diverse candidates each of whom had potential for success in the role. The consultant remained the intermediary between his client and SMR,  and was the glue that bound all of us together on the project. We were successful at quickly placing a strong security leader in the position.

This was a fast-moving collaboration that easily halved the amount of time it would have taken to fill the role had SMR not joined the team. Our partnership brought complementary skill sets to the project and delivered a successful result for all.

We continue to have a valued personal relationship with the consultant now that he has retired. And our professional relationship has extended to his client from the project that brought us all together. SMR has picked up the consulting mantle for them and continues to recruit for their security risk and resilience needs around the world.

Want to learn more about partnering with SMR? Contact us to hear more of our success stories. And if you’re interested in knowing about our current projects, sign up to receive job announcements for the region and join our security talent community to be considered for our current recruitments.