Owner Wanted a Better Match for Needs & Culture

A $10 million contracting business that designs and installs building automation solutions sought assistance replacing their Controller who was leaving. The owner wanted someone who could grow into the CFO role and who he could trust guiding the financial side of the business freeing him to focus on strategy and operations.

Challenges

• The incumbent controller was good with spreadsheets but lacked an accounting background. This lead to improper application of Percentage of Completion accounting and a large year-end adjustment to Work in Process inventory.
• The company did not know how to evaluate their young accounting manager relative to his potential or how he could fit in the future accounting department.
• The company had made a recent acquisition that needed to be integrated into their accounting processes.
• The company used Great Plains Accounting System but it had only been partially implemented.
• The company had recently implemented the Balanced Scorecard Performance Measurement System and wanted someone familiar with the required reporting.
• The owner wanted a financial person who was comfortable communicating financial information to the sales, engineering and project management teams.

Solution

• One of Lauber Business Partners, Inc. experienced professionals met with the accounting manager and provided feedback to the owner on his current level and future potential.
• Lauber Business Partners, Inc. was engaged to do a controller search.
• Lauber Business Partners, Inc. worked with the company to develop a detailed profile of the ideal candidate. The profile included the items listed above as well as others. When complete, this profile was approved by the company and served as the basis of the search.
• Candidates matching the profile were sourced and presented.
• Lauber Business Partners, Inc. provided a detailed Ranking Grid for the company to use as they interviewed the candidates. This tool enabled the various interviewers to compare notes and effectively debrief.
• A candidate with considerable construction industry experience was selected. This candidate viewed as having high upward potential matched the company’s culture for high integrity and work ethic and had the communication skills that were important for this job.
• The facilitated the offer process and provided suggestions for effective on-boarding.

What this meant to company

• The company was able to hire their CFO of the future.
• Great Plains has been fully implemented and the CFO is able to use the system to hold the sales, engineering and project management teams accountable.
• A new cost focused pricing model has been implemented.
• The owner was able to achieve his goal of being able to focus on the operations and strategy side of the business.

The value of a Lauber Business Partner Search Process

• Lauber Business Partners is able to utilize their financial management expertise to help owners understand what skill level and behavioral characteristics will bring the most value to their business.
• A profile driven process is used to ensure all candidates presented match with the clients unique needs.
• Being able to focus only on qualified candidates saves valuable management time.