Background.
Adam Clarke had completed an apprenticeship in Health and Safety and was looking for a new position in the industry. Working alongside Shirley Parsons, he was placed in his second Health and Safety Consultant role. In 2018, due to a change in family circumstances, Adam was looking for a niche position which complimented his family commitments and involved less travelling. Thinking that this would prove difficult in a Consultancy role, Adam started to explore different career options.
Shirley Parsons had already been working with Praxis42,a national leading compliance organisation, for several years helping them fill numerous placements and they were currently looking for a new operations manager.
Implementation.
Having placed Adam previously and understanding he was looking for a new role, Shirley Parsons approached him with the position at Praxis42.
Although hesitant at first, once the position and niche candidate profile were explained fully, Adam realised this could be the perfect match for his prior experience and current circumstances. They were specifically looking for someone who was a practitioner, had strategic and consultancy experience, commercial awareness, and the ability to travel to their Headquarters; all of which fitted his requirements.
The successful placement was made thanks to Shirley Parsons understanding Adam’s aspirations, motivations and values.
Director of Talent Consultancy Shona Paterson said:
“I presented Adam to our client because I knew it was such a good fit. We had been working with Praxis for a long time and I knew what they were looking for. Likewise, I had worked with Adam previously and really understood what he wanted. I couldn’t believe how closely both parties values matched and knew it would be a successful placement.”
Outcome and Benefits.
Adam Clarke has been the Managing Director Consultancy at Praxis42 for the last five years. As a result of the success he had as a candidate, and the long-standing relationship between Shirley Parsons and Praxis42, he now uses their talent consultancy services for his team.
To date, he has used them to fill six field-based consultant roles which needed candidates with specific geographical locations and expertise.
He says:
“For us as a company, it’s all about talent retention. We generally tend to employ those who are newer into their health and safety journey and then train them up so they are multi-skilled and can work across all sections of our business, i.e., fire and safety. That’s why Shirley Parsons work perfectly for us. They really take time to understand our business and what we’re looking for. No matter where in the country we need suitable candidates, they present them to us and quite often we get a good selection to choose from.”
Shirley Parsons has also been able to provide Praxis42 with temporary candidates, with two currently in placements.
“Our clients come to us with a position but unsure of the type of person they need. We then write up the criteria and go to Shirley Parsons who source the best match for the role. There was one which was an extremely niche position in nuclear power and the candidate put forward was a perfect fit.”
Paxis42 were one of the first organisations to use MAPP, Shirley Parsons HSEQ profiling tool. The whole consultancy team were involved in the initial testing stages of MAPP back in 2021.
Adam said:
“It was a really useful activity to do as a team. Everyone appreciated the feedback they received and gave me a better understanding of learning styles, career goals, and how people operate and communicate.”
“With Shirley Parsons, the whole service we receive is brilliant. Even if we're not looking for someone at a particular time, they’re always on the lookout and let us know if they have a perfect match for our company. Everybody there I have interacted with over the last 9 years have been incredibly professional and welcoming, even at networking events.
“It’s also important that they are actively trying to do things that can help the profession and add real value. We need more people entering the health, safety, and environmental industry and by working together we can create these opportunities.
“I would like to thank them for their help in my career development and look forward to continuing working with them as a client in the future.”