Management on Demand allows to immediately start an interim management assignment with the option to turn the interim management mission into permanent recruitment.

A successful mission

7 months after the arrival of the CEO Worldwide’s vetted Interim Manager Eric Caen, who became President of the board and CEO of Glowria after two months:

• The turnover increased by 20% to reach 7 Millions
• All employees of the company could stay with the company
• The company stopped its loss bringing activity in Germany (DVD Germany) and intensified its commercial efforts in France (DVD France and VoD as White Label product)
• The shareholders of Glowria secured their investment and are now shareholders of Netgem based on a valorisation of 18 Millions.

Glowria, the French number one online video rental and video on demand (VoD) provider used CEO Worldwide’s Management on Demand service in January 2007. The company was looking for a manager capable to bring it back on track to profitability. The company suffered from a growing gap between the business plan and its realisation and a loss of confidence between the management in place and the investors.

Glowria’s shareholders and the board decided to get external help and to entrust the company to an interim manager with the clear mission to turn the company around or to close it. The company got out of the crisis within seven months, thanks to the knowledge of the interim could stay with the company manager and without the need to lay off staff. On 6th December 2007 the company has been valued at 18 Millions and plans to create new jobs in 2008.

Let’s take a look at the seven months in 2007 that changed the perspective of the development of the company.

To find the “right man” for the job within 6 weeks: CEO Worldwide’s mission

In the beginning of 2007, Glowria was facing a major crisis jeopardizing its survival. The financial situation was serious and the company did not get encouraging results for a long time. The shareholders got worried and decided to act as quickly as possible. Thus it was necessary to put a manager in place that was capable to turn the situation around. Confronted with the problem to find an experienced manager who perfectly knows this type of situation in a very short time frame, the shareholders contacted CEO Worldwide as only their solution Management on Demand matched this request.

CEO Worldwide, international executive recruitment specialist, offers a solution for this type of problem and allows company directors, shareholders or investors to choose top manager profiles from a manager pool with over 28100 experienced candidates available for temporary or permanent recruitments.

In January 2007 CEO Worldwide has been asked to search a manager who is familiar with the sector of Glowria’s activity and able to manage a delicate interim assignment. Within five days CEO Worldwide presented Glowria a selection of available candidates that responded to the searched profile of which three got selected. Interviews started on February 5 . After the final decision has been taken by the directors and shareholders, Eric Caen started his mission on March 15.

Eric Caen, who was chosen to take up this mission to assist the management in place, had the ideal profile to respond to Glowria’s problem: programmer, autodidact and brilliant entrepreneur, he founded the video games company Titus Interactive at the age of 19 in 1985. In 2000, he reached rank 3 in Europe and rank 7 worldwide with over 700 staff and a turnover of more than 175M compared to 6M in 1996. He was nominated entrepreneur of the year in France in 1998.

The challenge: a situation of “shut down or double” and a very short timeframe for manoeuvre

Upon his arrival, the situation at Glowria was as follows:

• Turnover stagnating at 5,8 M
• High losses and significant need of cash flow
• De-motivated staff
• Worried partners

Eric Caen was totally aware of the challenge he was facing and particularly conscious of the timing attached to the turnaround mission. There were only two possibilities for Glowria: recover or close.

In this advanced crisis situation, any error regarding the choice of finance or prioritisation could have been fatal to the company.

Eric Caen started the job on 15 March 2007. He had very little time to propose a turnaround plan. He had to submit his strategy to rescue the company taking into account the four sites in France and Germany before May 2007. Thus he needed to get acquainted with the company settings surrounded by staff who were de-motivated by the situation and either defiant or even hostile towards his arrival and the mission he was confided with. He equally had to undertake a valuation of the qualifications and the potential of the employees.

The way of change: a user manual

In seven months, Glowria realised a real commercial and financial turnaround. To achieve this change, Eric Caen had to manage in parallel several major projects, such as to raise funds, to immediately develop sales and to restructure the company.

Within the framework of the rescue plan, an interim manager is often seen as someone who comes to downsize staff. Eric Caen though saw the value of his internal resources, efficient staff but not working as a team. The team needed a leader to unite and channel these energies. From April onwards Glowria shows again the dynamics of constructive work. The shareholders took notice of Eric Caen’s action plan at the end of April.

His strategy to turn the company around:

• Structure, Convince, Motivate
• To get back into a positive mode of growth
• Take the best possible start: show yourself organised, firm and decided
• Install a relationship of trust with the staff, inform them, reassure them to find a consensus for the company
• Re-motivate all the company resources to get back a dynamic of immediate commercial results

Success Story: A company value of 18 millions Euros

Once the turnaround plan has been accepted, it was up to Eric Caen to get the company out of its difficult financial situation. Nominated CEO in May 2007 with the share holders’ support to implement his recommendations, Eric Caen renews the cooperation with many partners and in particular with the company Netgem, a supplier of innovative technological solutions complementary to Glowria’s offer.

In June, Eric Caen closes a strategic partnership with Netgem to create business leads. Uniting their competences permitted both companies to expand their commercial perimeter. Glowria succeeded to sign agreements with four new major partners over the summer, amongst them SFR and Allocine.

Towards the end of summer, Netgem proposed the shareholders of Glowria an exchange of shares. Eric Caen, reinforced by his experience and the first positive results of his strategy sees this buy out opportunity as a chance for Glowria to regain a stable source of finance and commercial development.

He had to convince Glowria’s shareholders of the benefits to join a solid company that is quoted on the stock exchange, such as Netgem.

In December 2007, both parties finalised the transaction. Glowria has been valued at 18 millions. A success officially confirmed by the announcement of the takeover of Glowria by Netgem on 6th December 2007.

Executive recruitment is an odd business. The industry serves some of the most exciting, innovative and technologically advanced companies in the world. And yet headhunters stubbornly refuse to adopt widely available technology that could significantly enhance their service.

There are numerous areas executive recruiters can improve upon, but none have quite the same potential to revolutionize the market as video conferencing.

The best businesses start with the client. How can they make their lives easier? How can they make a service quicker and more flexible? How do they make it more cost-effective?

For executive recruitment, video interviewing answers all of the above.

Online video facilitates a greater number of immersion sessions and interviews; it’s faster, cheaper and more thorough (at the sourcing stage) than face-to-face meetings.

So what’s holding the industry back?

Face-to-face interviews don’t guarantee ROI

There is still too much reliance on face-to-face interviews, among clients and recruiters alike.

It’s not surprising, really. They’re the intuitive option. But it’s easy to fall prey to subjective reasoning, rather than pragmatic decision making.

Successful businesses are accustomed to choosing investments or products that offer the highest return. They do this by limiting emotional factors, assessing the evidence and making rational decisions; is paying the highest price for the perceived ‘best’ product really always the optimal solution? Or can another solution meet your requirements for a fraction of the price?

Video conferencing enables you to ‘look candidates in the eye’ and put them on the spot – offering most of the advantages of face-to-face meetings at a fraction of the cost. This is particularly valuable when managing cross-border placements.

Remote interviews are not necessarily a direct replacement, but a compelling additional tool that can streamline and reinforce the process up until the final round of face-to-face interviews.

Interviews should be supported by a stringent vetting process

Handshakes only recognize deals; they shouldn’t seal them. Charisma can often trump competence and holes can appear when the interview performance is a distant memory.

Video conferencing enables recruiters to assess far more candidates – in greater detail – and for clients to review many more than they would face-to-face in the same time, not least on the same budget.

It also allows candidates to communicate their personalities and experience, while sharing engaging content and thought leadership that can prove their credentials.

Overcoming perception around video conferencing to focus on value

Video interviews allow employers to refine a broad talent pool and progress only the very best potential candidates to the final round. When considered objectively, the only real barrier to widespread implementation is perception; the world of executive recruitment is still fixated on tradition, at the expense of evolution.

Clients and recruiters alike are ready for a change in mindset as well as technology. For all but the highest level, most politically influenced appointments, video meets or exceeds the needs of businesses and candidates and should form a key component of the process.

It’s time to critically assess the objections, realize the opportunity and reap the rewards.