Introduction

Altogether Group are a sustainable, multi-utility provider of water and embedded energy networks for communities. The organisation was referred to North Search by a previous client at Macquarie Capital.

The company came together with the combination of Flow Systems and Meters to Cash Solutions and was acquired by Morrison & Co in 2019 on behalf of the Sustainable Communities Infrastructure Trust. In 2020 they rebranded and became Altogether Group.

As a small player in a large competitive market, with ambitious growth plans, Altogether wanted to elevate their executive leadership team prior to moving into their next phase of growth.

North Search was asked to identify two key roles:

Chief Corporate Officer - a strong CFO/Financial Leader with the ability to sit across the corporate function and facilitate the strategic direction and vision of the organisation.

Executive General Manager, Water – responsible for leading the senior management team, ensuring high quality growth, product, and service delivery; delivering operational and financial targets; identifying operational efficiencies and capturing growth.

Challenges

Altogether group are a relatively new player within the highly competitive utilities market and there were some legacy issues to overcome surrounding the growth and viability of the product offering. Advocacy was going to be key to attracting top-tier candidates. It is a highly competitive market for the best financial skills in the utilities market and beyond, solidifying the importance of our proven search process. Two internal candidates were also to be included in the interview process.

Identifying a commercially minded candidate proved to be a significant challenge within the water space. This is due to an existing talent shortage within this industry, exacerbated by the area being dominated by state-owned corporations. Quantifying the market and ensuring there was a female representation through the search process was absolutely essential.

Strategy

Following a detailed briefing meeting, we developed comprehensive search strategies for each position. The first stage of every search involves the development of an in-depth and high-quality candidate pack or “opportunity prospectus” for each role. To develop this, we undertook a deep dive into the direction, culture and the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) at Altogether. This was key in presenting a strong go-to-market message and aligning the quality of the search with the values and vision of the organisation. We developed a detailed market map for each position and went to market with candidate engagement across multiple outreach platforms.

Result

Through an iterative and organic assessment and feedback process, we were able to assist Altogether as they refined the key qualifiers for the roles - enabling them to land on the ideal candidates. We partnered with the client throughout the interview process, firstly with Altogether Group and then with key members of the Morrison & Co team.

Following much consideration, reference checks and more informal interviews, the preferred candidates were identified for each role. The stats are as follows:

1. For the EGM role, we identified 42 candidates, engaged 36 candidates and interviewed 5. This included the internal candidates. We then presented a shortlist of 3 key candidates for this position. One successful candidate was identified and hired.
   
   
2. For the CCO role, we identified 54 candidates, engaged 28 candidates, and interviewed 6 candidates. This included the internal candidates. We then presented a shortlist of 4 key candidates back to the client. One successful candidate was identified and hired.
   
   

North Search assisted in compensation and contractual negotiations for each role. By taking a true partnership approach, we were able to understand our client’s needs, vision and goals for each of the positions. We aligned our market research, advocacy and go to market messaging with Altogether to attract high quality candidates throughout the search process.