Following the placement of Extern’s new Director of Finance and Corporate Services, 4c Executive caught up with the charity’s CEO, Charlie Mack, to hear his thoughts on the process…

What were the key factors that Extern considered before deciding to partner with 4c Executive?

There were three key factors that led us to working with 4c Executive. Firstly, Extern recognise that 4c take a multifaceted approach to searching the marketplace, fully understanding the Private, Public and Not-for-Profit sectors and as such being able to uncover the best candidate irrespective of industry or sector. Secondly, the Director of Finance and Corporate Services is not a traditional front-line role, and we were able to rely on 4c’s strong reputation in working with leading, commercial businesses across Northern Ireland. Lastly, what struck me about the business was how interested they were in us. They took the time to get to know our complex structure and offering from, the onset, and were truly interested in delivering the highest quality of service and results.

How do you think the process with 4c differed, in comparison to recruiting in-house or working with a recruitment agency?

4c is not a business that have a solution and go looking for a problem, but rather they are a truly bespoke service that listen to their client’s problems and then create the tailored solution. That is what we felt from the very beginning. Their search function sets them apart from the market, with an impressive 73% of their candidates being uncovered via search, rather than more traditional routes such as advertised response. Extern are driven in our mission of ‘Changing Lives Every Day’ and to do so we must surround ourselves with the best talent – we felt a benefit of 4c approaching the best to highlight this exciting opportunity to them and know that we have attracted the right person for the role.

What do you feel are the synergies that exist between 4c’s values and Extern’s values?

Extern provide a truly holistic approach when working with service users, to ensure we effectively meet the needs of a wide range of people. We felt this synergy between ourselves and 4c, who we could rely on from the assignment kick-off right through to present day, even though the successful candidate has started in his role. We also pride ourselves on delivering quality, exceeding expectations. The Third Sector can often have a reputation of being third rate, but Extern are driven to be the leading charity both locally and internationally. 4c also reflected this in their dedication to get the absolute best talent, to get ‘under the skin’ of the role and our business and really understand what we needed. 4c didn’t present us with the usual suspects, that would be uncovered if you were to fish in a small and local pool. 4c fishes in the ocean and brought us a whale.

Now that the process is complete, how would you summarise your journey with 4c?

I would summarise it as being a genuine partnership. 4c were able to challenge our thinking effectively, to listen and understand the diversity of our business and to jointly agree key steps throughout the entire process. There was a clear strategy in place, 4c worked to a planned timeline and kept us informed throughout the entire journey. This was all underpinned by professionalism and Gareth Hanna, Search Consultant, was always sincerely interested in seeking out the best person for the role, and so we are fully confident that we have filled the role to the highest standard.