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LM Glasfiber is the world's leading manufacturer of turbine blades used in the wind energy industry. The company,
based in Lunderskov, Denmark, has facilities located in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, China and India. In 2004,
the Grand Forks ND facility was employing 240 people, worked 24/5 and was producing less than 300 MW of wind turbine blades.
Two critical hires needed to be made to get the Grand Forks operation back on track, a CEO and a Director of Operations.
Culture fit and knowledge of the upper Midwest market were among KeyStone's strengths, and the firm was retained
to identify top notch candidates for the roles. Through work with the global CEO in Denmark and an assessment of the current
culture in the Grand Forks facility, KeyStone gained a solid understanding of the critical success factors for the roles and
set about the recruitment process. However, after 4 weeks of recruiting, things drastically changed. The CEO in Denmark was
replaced and the hiring responsibilities were taken over by a senior member of the U.K.-based investment firm that owns LM
Glasfiber. Along with this change, the decision was made to combine the two positions into one, with the title, VP of
Manufacturing. This person would be charged with coming into the facility and improving manufacturing efficiencies to get
the facility on track to meet dramatically increasing customer demand. If the successful candidate could do this, he/she
would be named General Manager within a year. KeyStone changed the recruiting focus to identify candidates for the VP of
Manufacturing role. The profile was someone with a strong manufacturing background, strong process improvement and the
potential to step into a much larger GM role in a short timeframe. A person who would work well with the Danes and Brits,
and build a winning culture with the North Dakotans would satisfy the cultural profile.
As usual, identifying candidates who possessed the skills profile was not the most challenging part of the
search process. KeyStone identified multiple candidates who could technically "do the job". Identifying candidates with the
right values/drivers for the cultural profile proved to be more difficult. It should be mentioned that finding a candidate
who would be attracted by a smaller market like Grand Forks, ND would, itself, pose a challenge.
After an exhaustive search, KeyStone identified Blake Seas of Aberdeen, SD. Blake had a strong background
in operations management and process improvement and was ready to take on both a new challenge and more responsibility. Blake
joined LM Glasfiber in August of 2005 and started making the necessary changes to make the North Dakota operation a world
class manufacturing environment. He also started converting the culture from one of a lackadaisical nature to an accountable,
winning environment. In late 2005, Blake was named GM U.S. Operations and when a new facility was built in Quebec in 2006,
Blake was also given responsibility for that location. Since 2005, the Grand Forks facility has doubled in size, expanded
to a 24/7 operation, employs over 800 people, and now produces over 1200MW of wind turbine blades. More importantly, the
U.S. Operations have become one of the primary contributors to LM Glasfiber's Global success. Blake comments, "KeyStone's
unique ability to quickly locate and recruit the appropriate candidates who not only have the technical skills, but who
also possess the aptitude to change paradigms within an existing culture, sets them apart from other search firms. My
experience with Keystone was extremely positive, and I recommend their services for any company which requires the recruitment
of top individuals for difficult-to-fill executive-level positions. The professionals at Keystone are great to work with
and they achieve their commitments in a timely fashion."
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