GENESIS HOUSING GROUP

	I have always been impressed by Noorzaman Rashid's willingness to be personally involved in the recruitment process rather than delegating it
	Anu Vedi, Group Chief Executive, Genesis Housing Group

THE PERFECT APPOINTMENT

Genesis Housing Group is one of the largest and most successful social housing groups in the UK. It manages over 45,000 homes and is going through a period of rapid growth and change as its role in wider community regeneration starts to be better recognised and exploited. Over the next four years it will build around 7000 new homes at a cost of over £1bn, and one of its biggest challenges is to maintain the right balance between strong commercial acumen and its core social objectives.

Genesis used Harvey Nash last year to help it recruit a new finance director.

According to Group Chief Executive Anu Vedi: 'The role of the finance director in any organisation is pivotal, but the amount of change we are experiencing, combined with the fact that our sector has not found it easy to recruit into senior positions, meant that I needed professional help to ensure we recruited the right person. We were looking for someone with not just the right technical and strategic skills, but someone who could help us manage change and growth, and someone who had the right cultural fit with the organisation and the top team.'

Vedi¹s brief to Harvey Nash consultant Noorzaman Rashid was to be open-minded about the search for a new finance director. 'We felt the right person could come from the private, public or not-for-profit sector,' he says.

Vedi and Rashid met several times to discuss the scope of the role, the required skills set, the challenges the organisation faced and the chemistry between the senior executive team. But the assignment also needed to be completed within six weeks. 'The previous incumbent resigned in June and we wanted to try and appoint someone before the school holidays started,' says Vedi.

Focus and good team working between Harvey Nash and Genesis staff led to an offer being made to and accepted by John Lappin, FD at Royal Mail Letters, at the end of July.

'We knew that John was good when we hired him, but he has turned out to be the perfect appointment,' says Vedi.

Vedi had worked with Rashid in the past and has always been impressed by his willingness to be personally involved in the recruitment process. 'That's particularly important with very senior appointments,' he says. Rashid has also helped Genesis appoint a Corporate Services Director, a Diversity Manager, a Health and Safety Manager and a Facilities Manager.