Background
Markel, a Fortune 500 global insurance company, needed skilled professionals to support its growing international workplace operations. The company asked Maxwell Stephens to fill two positions: a Workplace & Facilities Manager and a Workplace Analyst. Both roles were integral to improving workplace experience and operational efficiency, and to keeping the workplace function aligned with business goals.
The Challenge
Finding candidates with the right mix of technical expertise, strategic thinking and cultural fit was the central difficulty, and the two roles pulled in different directions.
- The Workplace & Facilities Manager needed a strong background in facilities management and vendor coordination: someone who could run the operational side of an international workplace function and manage the suppliers behind it.
- The Workplace Analyst required strong data analytics and technology integration capability. Workplace analyst roles are still relatively new in facilities teams, and the people who do them well often come from data or technology backgrounds rather than traditional FM, so they rarely surface through conventional facilities recruitment channels.
Recruiting the two together also raised the bar. The manager and the analyst would need to work as a pair, one delivering the operation and the other measuring and improving it, so the appointments had to be complementary rather than simply individually strong.
Our Approach
Drawing on our industry knowledge and professional network, Maxwell Stephens ran a targeted recruitment process for both roles:
- Market research and outreach. We researched the market to identify professionals with the necessary skills and industry experience, then combined direct headhunting with proactive candidate engagement to reach people who were not actively looking.
- Candidate evaluation. Our screening confirmed that candidates had the required technical skills and could also work within Markel's culture and strategic objectives. For the analyst role in particular, that meant testing analytical ability directly rather than inferring it from job titles.
- A tailored selection process. We worked closely with Markel to refine the job descriptions so that expectations and competencies were clear before interviews began. Structured interviews and assessments then produced a shortlist of candidates who could add value in their respective roles.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens identified and placed well-qualified professionals in both positions.
- The Workplace & Facilities Manager brought extensive experience in operational leadership, vendor management and process optimisation, helping Markel improve workplace efficiency across its international offices.
- The Workplace Analyst brought strong data analytics capability, supporting Markel's goal of using technology to improve workplace operations and cost-effectiveness.
Through a consultative approach, we provided Markel with professionals who met and exceeded the brief, and who contributed to the company's continuing work on its workplace strategy.
Why This Placement Worked
Paired appointments are easier to get wrong than single hires, because the temptation is to run two separate searches and hope the results fit together. Treating the manager and the analyst as one brief, with job descriptions agreed up front, meant each appointment was assessed against the other as well as against its own role.
If you are building or expanding a workplace function — whether the need is an operational lead, an analyst, or both — Maxwell Stephens can help you define the roles and reach candidates from beyond the traditional facilities talent pool. Get in touch with our team.