A CASE STUDY:

A NEW CAO FOR THE TOWN OF

NORTH OVERSHOE

Sam Swartz is the good-natured second-term mayor of North Overshoe. He and I had often spoken about recruiting options, most recently when we met at a municipal trade show. I wasn't surprised, therefore, to get his call early one morning in June. "Bill is quiting, we're going to need that new Town Manager you and I were talking about," he said.

The story is eerily similar to those in many towns and cities in every province right across Canada: North Overshoe's CAO had suddenly decided to retire. They should have seen it coming! A baby boomer - in fact, one of the first boomers, having been born in January 1946 - he was one of the first to reach age 65. He had been CAO for more than 20 years. In Canada, more than 1,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day, and it is going to continue at that rate - 30,000 per month or 360,000 per year - for the next 18 years!

Mayor Sam explained that his CAO had agreed to work 'til the end of July, and that he wanted to make sure there was enough time to find a first rate municipal administrator. The proposed salary was generous, and appropriate for a town their size.

North Overshoe had been growing in leaps and bounds. The mayor explained that they had plans for even greater growth so it was going to be necessary to find someone who not only understood municipal administration but one who could also work with builders and developers. 

The Ravenhill 'A.S.K. Full Search Process'™ began with the identification of municipal managers and administrators across Canada. We identified 19 town managers, including four local candidates who were enthusiastic about the new opportunity in such a great town. We immediately began the task of contacting them.

Our competitors rely on newspaper advertising and Web based posting to attract candidates, but we don't like to do that. Why? Because generally, only unhappy and/or unemployed people respond to such ads. We are Municipal Specialists...Ethical Headhunters, who rely on networking - we simply know a lot of people - and a lot of people know us! I must confess that this part of the work is somewhat easier for us at Ravenhill Group Inc., simply because of the more than 2500 municipal contacts we have made while exhibiting at one of many municipal trade shows. For the past six years we have attended CAMA, AUMA, LGGA, LGMA, SUMA, AMO, ROMA and ICMA.

At this point in the North Overshoe search, we implemented the first of our unique, trademarked A.S.K™ processes. A.S.K™ facilitates the rapid discovery of only 'ideal candidates'. A.S.K™ is a tool we use in every assignment to help us and our client understand the key attitudes skills and knowledge necessary to excel in the role.

We thenpresented a long list of nine 'ideal candidates', according to our preferences and the town's criteria. We met with the client to discuss the search results. At that meeting, we narrowed the list to five candidates. (Our procedure is to retain some long-list 'ideal candidates' in reserve for possible follow-ups.)

The candidates included the GM of Public Works from a city, the CAO of a smaller town, the deputy CAO from a larger municipal district, the Director of Planning from a larger city, and the CAO from a small city a couple of provinces away.

Next, we supplied the interview questions and a committee of Council held interviews at a local hotel. The number one choice was a candidate from Saskatchewan.

With both our candidate and the client convinced, we completed three reference checks, which satisfied North Overshoe. An offer was extended and, as always, we assisted the town and their new CAO with salary negotiations. 

The following week I got another call from Sam. "Great job," he said. "You did everything you promised and then some! I'm sure glad I ran into you at that trade show way back when. You know, the two best things about working with you is that you work hard to make everyone happy, and your "Hands Off Guarantee"...you don't recruit from former clients. We'll definitely call Ravenhill Group the next time one of our people springs a surprise on us!"