Case Studies

Successful Multi-Department Recruitment for a Professional Association in a competitive market

Written by membership bespoke | Mar 28, 2024 3:02:15 PM

Highlighting the importance of clear communication and strong relationships in achieving successful recruitment outcomes.

The IPFA is the global professional association for the infrastructure and energy financing industry. They are a small team with a culture of growth and development. They like to hire people who are passionate about learning and development.

Membership Bespoke has a long-term relationship with the IPFA and has recruited over a third of its existing workforce. Over the last year, they needed us to recruit a Marketing Manager to cover maternity leave, a Membership Co-ordinator, and an Events & Marketing Assistant.

The Marketing Manager role needed an experienced person for maternity cover, while the Membership Co-ordinator and Events & Marketing Assistant roles were suitable for recent graduates who would be willing to develop and learn. All the new staff would need to fit with the organisational culture of getting things done as part of a highly collaborative team.

Our client – ipfa

IPFA is the global professional association for the infrastructure and energy financing industry.

As an independent, not-for-profit organisation, they connect and promote the collective interests of their public & private sector members, including the industry’s leading investors, lenders, advisors, developers, sponsors, and government institutions.

They have over 600 member organisations who make up their global network, including governments, multilateral agencies, and private sector companies.

Our brief

We supported the IPFA to seek talented candidates with a passion for learning and development for the following roles:

  • Marketing Manager – Providing maternity cover, with a solid track record in similar environments who could step straight-in to run the team and be able to innovate in the delivery of ongoing projects.
  • Membership Co-ordinator – Taking complete ownership of membership administration, so it was essential that this person had relevant experience, was meticulously organised and was confident engaging with senior staff from member organisations.
  • Events & Marketing Assistant – Required an outgoing collaborative marketing specialist who also had experience of organising events. They needed someone who was a multi-tasking maestro, a born communicator and an ad-hoc problem solver.

IPFA is a very forward-thinking organisation, for example it is one of the first organisations to have moved to a 4-day working week. It is a small supportive team, and they are passionate and committed to supporting their members. They needed candidates who were extremely capable, with the character to succeed and the drive to deliver.

Our solution

These roles were about much more than finding people with the right skills and experience. Our deep understanding of the culture at IPFA gave us the insight to identify personal characteristics that were likely to succeed.

To find the right candidates we undertook a proactive search and interrogation of our databases. We have over 15,500 candidates on our database of qualified professionals with experience in the membership sector. We undertook a targeted advertising strategy to graduates who demonstrated the potential required to be successful. We pivoted and adapted our searches based on client feedback throughout the process.

We put in place a comprehensive and proven recruitment process and worked closely with the client to communicate our progress. We took a highly iterative approach with IPFA, seeking and processing detailed feedback to ensure our interview process uncovered applicants who would be assets to IPFA.

Our results

Each role had a two-stage virtual interview process, and we kept candidates and IPFA management abreast of developments at each turn.

We made the three placements in only five weeks from start to finish. The feedback we have received from the IPFA has been excellent and the successful applicants have told us how much they are enjoying their new roles and working with the team.

Daisy Brooker, Chief Executive of IPFA said “I really value the exceptionally comprehensive approach taken by Membership Bespoke. The clear lines of communication mean that at any point in time we know the progress of each role.

“They understand our culture and instinctively know who has the potential to fit into IPFA and have what’s needed to provide the support required by our members.

“I really like to take-on people who are highly motivated to learn and develop, and Membership Bespoke has an uncanny knack of providing us with candidates who are compelled to absorb information and grow.”

 

Contact us to discover how we can provide you with the best-fit talent for your team, department, or organisation.