Overview

Riyadh Municipality is the over-arching governmental authority responsible for urban development and growth in the Region. They were looking to recruit an executive-level manager. Saudi Technologies was recruited to assist.

The approach – analysis

We formed an assessment and analysis team, comprising some of our senior HR specialists. Working in close partnership with our client, we fully examined the operational basis of the role required. This allowed us to accurately define a candidate profile.

Once the role was defined and the attributes of suitable candidates agreed with the client, we matched the role against market norms. This allowed us to develop a projection for the likely remuneration package that would be required to secure interest from appropriately experienced top-decile candidates.

The role and its remuneration were examined also against the client’s existing establishment structure, to allow any potential anomalies to be identified and addressed prior to commencing recruitment.

The approach – recruitment

We initiated a two-phase approach to the recruitment:

  • we defined and executed an advertising campaign;
  • we utilised our extensive market intelligence network to approach selected in-post candidates.

All applications in response to the advertising were reviewed by our specialist assessors. The CVs were closely examined. A significant number were rejected.

This process resulted in a list of applicant candidates who possessed a credible CV. To this were added the names of those people we had approached directly who had responded positively.

Initial screening interviews and CV checks

All candidates were then asked to participate in an initial informal screening interview. The objective was to establish things such as their verbal communication skills and overall personality from the perspective of being a cultural fit to the client’s business.

Limited technical discussions also took place to check, at a high level, their skills base. From this process, a number of candidates were eliminated from further consideration and the remainder were designated “shortlisted”.

In-depth second interviews

An eventual shortlist of 5 highly credible candidates were invited for a second interview. Saudi Technologies’ senior management participated in the interviews, accompanied by some of our most experienced technical experts. Candidates were interviewed in-depth, as to their knowledge and past achievements.

Out of this, a total of 3 candidates were designated “final list” and were submitted to the client for consideration and interview potential.

Final interview and offer

All three candidates were then interviewed by the client, with senior leadership from Saudi technologies present to assist if required. The client stated their preference. We then engaged in all pay and provisions negotiations with the candidate. The offer was made clearly conditional based upon:

 

  • the satisfactory completion of a three-month probationary period;
  • their existing and past employers confirming that the declarations on their CV, relating to past employment, were accurate.

Once the successful candidate accepted the offer, we asked for permission to approach their current and past employers for references. These were obtained without concern.