Delivering an Executive Search to strengthen people strategy and organisational transformation for a leading Australian business school
The Brief
Future Leadership was engaged by a leading postgraduate business school in Victoria to appoint a Chief People and Culture Officer during a period of organisational transformation and operating model change.
Candidate Net Promoter Score
Future Leadership combines truly personalised relationships with innovative technology solutions to ensure an approachable and efficient process for all our Net Promoter Score across clients, successful candidates and unsuccessful candidates is well above industry standard.
Candidates supported every year
We maintain genuine relationships with past candidates and continue to support them with leadership solutions long term, after they land their role.
Senior Women Appointed since 2002
Over half of the executive search assignments undertaken by our team have resulted in the appointment of outstanding female or LGBTQI+ leaders to high profile roles.
Candidate Retention Rate for 12 months since 2002
Our thorough briefing process and ability to engage passive candidates mean that we go to great lengths to find the right person for the role – long term!
The Process
Future Leadership undertook a comprehensive executive search process tailored to the organisation’s governance structure, transformation agenda and higher education context.
Key steps included:
- Briefing and Strategy Development: Engaged with senior leaders to clarify strategic priorities, cultural expectations and the capability profile required to lead people strategy through operating model transformation.
- Targeted Candidate Search: Conducted a national search using executive networks and targeted advertising to identify candidates with deep people leadership experience across complex, regulated environments.
- Candidate Assessment: Shortlisted candidates were assessed against strategic people leadership, transformation capability, governance experience and stakeholder influence in matrixed environments.
- Final Evaluation: Final candidates demonstrated their approach to workforce strategy, culture and organisational capability, aligned to the school’s strategic and financial objectives.
Strategy and Purpose
Leads transformational processes, motivates teams, and influences commitment to a shared purpose that individuals and the workforce will require to enable sustained organisational success. Builds and promotes a culture underpinning the vision, purpose and values the organisation aspires to achieve.
Culture and Engagement
Engages stakeholders inclusively with sensitivity and regard for diversity and facilitates a psychologically safe environment for social or cultural differences affecting behaviour.
Governance and Compliance
Establishing, championing and measuring the effectiveness of an organisation’s regulatory and reporting systems.. Delivering value for diverse stakeholders through governance, strategy, risk management and appropriate targets and metrics.
Organisational Capability
Anticipates future workplace skills and requirements and builds capability across the organisation. Pro-actively seeks opportunities to develop other people’s talent and career pathways and takes appropriate action to address skill gaps in others.
Commercial Acumen
Provides a deep understanding of relevant industry, marketplace and business drivers as applicable to the organisation. Leverages the application of commercial tools and frameworks to manage opportunities, conflicts and trade offs. Able to focus on customer service requirements and acts proactively to raise the customer experience.
The Outcome
The search resulted in the appointment of a highly experienced Chief People and Culture Officer with over two decades of senior people leadership experience across education and large, complex organisations.
The successful candidate brought strong commercial acumen, transformation expertise and governance capability, enabling the organisation to modernise its People and Culture function, align workforce strategy with financial sustainability and lift leadership capability across the institution. Their appointment supported significant operating model redesign, strengthened performance and remuneration frameworks and delivered measurable improvements in organisational effectiveness.