Batory Foods – Chief Information Technology Officer

client success story

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COMPANY OVERVIEW

  • Food-Only Ingredients Distributor
  • 360 U.S. Based Employees
  • 41 Year History
  • Family Owned
  • $850 Million Annual Revenue

At a pivotal juncture in Batory Foods’ strategic business plan, the company collaborated with Ropella to advance its objectives. Batory Foods recognized a need for a Chief Information Technology Officer who was capable of setting the technical vision and leading technological development through a time of aggressive business transformation. Ideally, this individual would be a known player in the Food, Beverage, or Nutraceutical Ingredients Industry with a background in software development, information technology, or a related field. Most importantly, this new CITO must be a disruptive and future forward-thinking change agent with proven leadership, team-building, and management skills.

THE CHALLENGE

A challenge facing many tight knit organizations, Batory Foods’ executive leadership team anticipated internal resistance during this period or rapid technological development without achieving buy-in from the majority of stake holders within the organization. The leadership team knew that it would take a transformational leader with the ability to build strong interpersonal relationships with peers and senior management to gain acceptance and instill excitement for the new technological and process improvements needed to support the company’s rapid growth and future vision. Limited on time, they could not risk hiring someone with a legacy or “status quo” background that would stunt the growth of the organization.

THE SOLUTION
Through the execution of Roplla’s SMART Search System a national search was conducted to uncover, engage, recruit, and assess a well developed slate of Chief Technology Officers with a track record of driving large scale organizational improvements. Equally important, these executives’ careers were centered around the food, beverage, and nutraceutical ingredients industries who possessed an intimate knowledge of the technological challenges facing pioneers in those industries.

DELIVERABLES
OPPORTUNITY MARKETING PIECE
Custom created for Batory Foods, the Opportunity Marketing Piece was used to attract passive (employed and not looking) candidates from a select group of highly targeted companies. The Opportunity Marketing Piece enabled Ropella’s Executive Search Consultants to present a world class overview of Batory Foods, the unique challenges facing the new CITO, and the incredible opportunity to join a close knit, fast growing organization.

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DELIVERABLES
SKILL SURVEY
Custom created for Batory Foods, the skills survey equipped our Executive Search Consultants to effectively gather information from a large pool of candidates. Helping us identify and select for submission only the most qualified A-players.

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DELIVERABLES
SCORECARD
Ropella thoughtfully scored all candidates as we moved through the screening and interview process using a custom-created Scorecard. The Scorecard took into account each candidate’s skills and experience, cultural dynamic, management style, compensation, and relocation fit.

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DELIVERABLES
COMPENSATION COMPARISON CALCULATOR
Our proprietary Compensation Comparison Calculator merges the variety of complex compensation factors into one document. This allows for easy comparison of current and competing offers to ensure our client doesn’t lose the perfect candidate to any competitor.

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Results Delivered

Ropella identified 35 target companies and engaged with more than 200+ prospects nationally on behalf of Batory Foods. From there we submitted 15 candidates, 10 of which were interviewed.

8 Business Days To
Qualified Candidates
63 Business Days
Speed to Placement

With multiple A-player candidates interviewed, the leadership team at Batory Foods expressed that they could have hired any of the top three candidates with a strong likelihood of long-term success. To make the final selection, they used behavioral-based interview questions and Hogan assessments administered by Ropella to make the right hire.

Ropella provided a very strong slate of candidates for our Chief Information Technology search. The search was extremely well organized, the assessment support very helpful and at the end of the search we enthusiastically made a great hire. Early signs with Bob are extremely positive and his strong collaboration and interpersonal style are connecting well with the organization. We would expect him to create the right leadership and results impact, which we told Ropella was our primary goal.

Vince Pinneri​
President
Batory Foods

Thank you for your patience with us during our most recent search. We appreciated your understanding and endurance in identifying our ideal candidate. Not once did you, or your team, disengage or try to persuade us to settle. That is a true partnership! Only two weeks into the new placement, it was well worth the wait. We have enjoyed thoroughly working with you and the Ropella team and look forward to future opportunities working together.

Amy Filarski
Human Resources Director
Exotic Automation & Supply

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