I highly recommend CriticalKnowledge. They have the capability to come into the most difficult situations and deliver, throughout the world. We retained one of the most prestigious search firms in the world to bring in senior talent to run our operations in China. They were unsuccessful.
We subsequently called in CriticalKnowledge, and they were able to source specialized senior talent to fill this extremely strategic position for us in a matter of weeks. We called on them again to bring in a sales leader for our German operations. And again they were able to deliver critical talent in a very difficult situation. I considered both of these situations to be long shots. And in both, CriticalKnowledge proved the capability and sophistication of the process they have developed. CK has worked to build a strong, long-term mutually beneficial relationship with us, and they have demonstrated a relentless desire to get us what we need.
I would suggest you hand them one of your difficult files, as we did, and then step back and allow them to demonstrate what they can do.
CK has proven themselves to us in situations where the top firms in the world have failed, and we will continue to leverage their exceptional capability to produce results.
They are a step above anything else we have seen.
– Chief Executive Officer,
Umbra
(Leading Global Designer and Manufacturer of Consumer Housewares)
We work with six of the top executive search firms in the world and six of the top specialized search firms in the world and none of them would have been able to deliver the talent that CriticalKnowledge did.
– Director of Human Resources, Petro-Canada (Global Fortune 500 Energy Company)
I would be pleased to recommend CriticalKnowledge. They came in to undertake a critical executive search for us. This search demanded a deep strategic understanding of our technology and business objectives. Therefore we made the decision to go outside the usual suspects in choosing them. It was the correct decision.
We had specific parameters defining what we were seeking that made the search particularly challenging, in terms both of expertise and cultural fit. CriticalKnowledge was able to assess the complexity of the need, provide valuable counsel, and deliver at a very high level.
Ultimately, we are focused first and foremost on results, and CriticalKnowledge was able to meet our needs with real expertise.
– Chief Executive Officer, Com Dev International (Leading Global Designer and Manufacturer of Space Systems and Hardware)
CriticalKnowledge has demonstrated to us a capability to produce exceptional results for a particularly challenging situation. They develop a genuine and thorough understanding of the operational issues around the role in question at a level that allows them to deliver to the precise operational demands of a given situation.
Based on our experience, CriticalKnowledge really understands retail.
In this case, our need was complex, multi-faceted and urgent, and the required individual needed to be able to contribute immediately to our ability to effectively lead and manage significant processes, systems and organization changes within our merchandising and buying team.
We felt that this was not a situation where a standard recruitment approach would have been effective in getting us what we required. CriticalKnowledge does things very differently and that may be what allowed them to exceed our expectations for this search. Moreover, they were able to meet this need on a compressed timeline so they “pulled out all the stops” to help us get what we needed, when we needed it.
CriticalKnowledge is to be commended for their expertise and for their commitment to delivering at the highest level.
– Executive Vice President, Merchandising, HDS Retail North America (Leading Global Fortune 500 Retailer)
We engaged Critical Knowledge to undertake specialized searches for a CEO and a Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing for a major new subsidiary that provides satellite based AIS data for the maritime industry; initiatives that were central to the company’s future growth objectives.
As a former executive, returning to lead the recruitment of the senior management team for the subsidiary, I needed to bring in a firm that could work closely with us at an operating level to define strategic talent issues and source qualified candidates to meet our needs.
CriticalKnowledge was chosen over other high profile alternatives for this critical work. We made this decision because CK demonstrated a unique understanding of the fundamental nature of the business . They did not disappoint.
CK engaged in a sophisticated process that took them deeply into the operational , technical and strategic nature of the roles in question. They approached the work at a significantly deeper level: They were not only concerned with key skills and experience, but also with determining at a core level the operating components that drove success in a given role and they used that knowledge to identify, evaluate and define talent.
These searches were, in all senses, global in nature. Through this process, CK reached out across the world to investigate the talent market. Ultimately, the results CK achieved were exceptional.
I continue to be impressed with CK’s ability to access great talent anywhere. They demonstrated high integrity and tireless efforts in the context of what were, at times, difficult circumstances. I genuinely enjoyed working with them and will do so again in the future. I would give them my highest recommendation. They are truly expert in what they do.
– Senior HR Consulting Executive, exactEarth Ltd. (Global Satellite Data Services Company)
I would strongly recommend organizations work with CriticalKnowledge, especially in difficult situations where they require highly specialized skills and have no good options. We needed an expert at planning and coordinating an overall head office move, from the initial search of a new location to preparing for the new layout and the move itself.
They were able to deliver when no one else could. They spent time with us to clearly define and understand our needs, which allowed them to bring in the appropriate talent with an out-of-the-box solution. They are neither a traditional search firm nor a consulting firm, but fall somewhere in between.
When you need specialized talent in difficult situations, I would suggest you contact them. They have demonstrated the capability of generating results in a way not a lot of traditional alternatives can.
– Executive Vice President, Lagardère Services and Chief Financial Officer, HDS Retail (Leading Global Fortune 500 Retailer)