Shirley Parsons appoints EHS Manager within days of search. Who, within 2 years, reduced on-site TRIR by 94%.
The Challenge
A global, $2bn revenue industrial manufacturing company approached Shirley Parsons requesting urgent assistance on an EHS Manager position that had been open for 6 months. This was a key role for a 250-employee facility in the upper Midwest, which had been underperforming for H&S in recent years. The facility required an EHS Manager to drive positive safety culture change and re-engage with the frontline workforce, re-gaining their buy-in and trust towards H&S programs and initiatives.
Our Approach
The vast majority of local EHS Managers in the manufacturing industry had already been interviewed and rejected for the position, so thinking ‘outside of the box’ would be required to find someone suitable. In order to achieve the culture change required at this facility, it was clear that a candidate with excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills would be critical. We, therefore, focused our efforts on carefully screening candidates for these “softer” skills rather than simply focusing on the experience requirements listed in the job description.
The Result
Within just a few days of searching, a local candidate emerged as a very strong option for the role. This candidate had 5 years of experience instead of the “minimum” of 10+ that the client felt was needed to overcome the challenges at this facility. Although initially skeptical, the client agreed to interview this candidate and ultimately made the hire. Just 2 years later, our candidate had successfully re-vamped the EHS culture through targeted initiatives, improvement projects around core problem areas like ergonomics and machine guarding, and employee engagement strategies.
This has resulted in a 94% reduction to the site TRIR and a 35% reduction to the site worker’s compensation costs.