Rapid Hiring, Lasting Impact: Transforming Cushman & Wakefield’s Operational Leadership Function

At Sanderson, the idea of partnership truly is at the heart of everything we do. We love taking the time to really get to know our clients, understand their businesses and then work side by side with them to unravel their challenges and reach their recruitment goals.

Across all our offices and regions, we get that no client is the same and that each challenge requires close collaboration and its own unique talent solution, and we recently had a great example of this up in our Manchester office, when one of our Outsource UK clients, now part of Sanderson Group, came to us for help.

Our client, Cushman & Wakefield, a global commercial real estate services leader, reached out to our team in Manchester to help fill a number of key change and transformation hires across their Operational Leadership team. We got under the skin of their business becoming an extension of their team and managed to successful (and quickly) achieve all their hiring goals. Read on to discover exactly how…

What was the challenge?

Cushman & Wakefield had reviewed their existing operational structure in 2021 and identified the need to create a more customer-focused Operational Management Team.

To support this transformation, they needed to make several key leadership hires within their Operational Leadership function. These appointments would play a critical role in driving change and shaping the future direction of the business.

What was the solution?

The Sanderson Manchester team took the time to understand what wasn’t working within the client’s existing workforce and how these new hires could support organisational change. We facilitated in-depth job briefing sessions with key hiring stakeholders across the business to gain a clear understanding of requirements and expectations.

To support an effective hiring process, we also provided market intelligence and salary benchmarking data, alongside a bespoke video interviewing solution. Candidates were required to answer pre-set questions based on role-specific and behavioural scenarios, enabling hiring managers to make more informed hiring decisions.

Throughout the recruitment campaign, we conducted weekly recruitment review meetings with stakeholders to ensure SLAs and KPIs were met and that a seamless recruitment process was maintained.

What was the result?

Over just a four-week period, we acted as an extension of their internal teams to successfully deliver six Operational Manager hires, helping the client build the customer-focused leadership team they envisioned.

This success was achieved through building a strong understanding of the organisation, embedding ourselves within the business, identifying key challenges and delivering tailored recruitment solutions that met their transformation objectives.

Key outcomes included:

• 6 Operational Manager hires delivered
• Project completed within 4 weeks
• Bespoke assessment and interview process implemented
• Strong stakeholder engagement throughout
• Excellent client feedback and satisfaction
• Recruitment strategy aligned to wider business transformation goals

“This was a significant period of transformation and growth for our business, but the Outsource (now part of Sanderson’s) teams ability to quickly understand our role requirements, provide suitable candidates in a timely fashion and react to our sometimes-changing needs was commendable.

This together with your ability to manage candidates effectively has ensured the successful delivery of personnel during a challenging period in the market.

You have demonstrated the ability to deliver against a broad range of requirements which coupled with your understanding of Real Estate has proved invaluable.” – Head of Client Finance Operations at Cushman & Wakefield

Could we help you achieve similar outcomes?

We love working closely with our clients to achieve the hiring goals that will set their business up for the future. At Sanderson, we’ll always work with you to look at the most innovative ways to add further value to your hiring project.

If you would like to explore how we might be able to help you with your next hiring programme, please do download a copy of our Sanderson Manchester Brochure to learn more about our team in Manchester, and don’t hesitate to get in touch to chat next steps.