The Challenge

Ahlstrom, a global leader in fibre-based specialty materials headquartered in Helsinki with a €3.3 billion turnover, faced a challenge in strengthening its Treasury & Risk department. The Finnish treasury recruitment market proved to be particularly challenging, marked by minimal movement. Initially, Ahlstrom’s internal team attempted to fill the Energy & Commodity Risk Controller vacancy through direct outreach and a LinkedIn advert.

Our Solution

Recognising the complexity of the task, the Group Treasurer & Chief Risk Officer engaged our services due to our longstanding relationship with him personally and our expertise in targeting passive candidates. Working on a contained and exclusive basis, we collaborated closely with Ahlstrom to refine the job description, ensuring a deep understanding of the company’s needs. Leveraging our extensive network, we presented a carefully curated shortlist for review.

The Result

Efficiently navigating the recruitment process, an offer was swiftly presented and accepted by an experienced Commodities Specialist, a passive candidate with a decade-long tenure in her previous company. The connection our candidate felt with the Group Treasurer & Chief Risk Officer, the role, and Ahlstrom underscored the success of our approach in identifying and engaging top-tier talent who simply don’t respond to direct LinkedIn approaches and they aren’t actively seeking new toles BUT they are seeking their next career move through us – simply speaking that’s why we are here and it’s the service we offer.

Conclusion

Our recruitment methodology, grounded in a comprehensive understanding of our client’s needs and a focus on passive talent, yielded success. Following the successful placement, Ahlstrom instructed on two further treasury roles as they knew we knew them, we understood their culture and most importantly they trusted us to find the ‘right’ candidate fit for them.

They knew that we would source candidates who were not those actively seeking a quick exit from their current group, but we would access the passive talent pool of treasury professionals who wanted to step into their next career enhancing role.

Both the Group Treasurer & Chief Risk Officer and the Talent Acquisition team recognised our ability to connect with top talent in the region, solidifying our position as a strategic partner from the initial stages of recruitment to completion.