Storytime with Penny Sadler  , Business Partner Top Management at STRAMMER

You might think of this as a surprise, but after receiving my degree in French and German, and travelling the world, I wanted to specialise in wine buying! But then I received a call from a recruitment company looking for someone with an international mindset who had the language skills to work with clients across Europe. I accepted and started working in this field. Since then, I’ve never left it. I love it, it’s varied and no two days are ever the same!

After 15 years at Spencer Stuart and seven years at Korn Ferry as a Senior Client Partner specialised in international executive search for the life sciences industry, I joined STRAMMER in July of 2017. I work as a business partner in Top Management where I get the opportunity to work with many different people every day; I find my energy from talking with my clients and candidates. These people have a passion for life sciences; what they do and the products they make is about saving people’s lives and this is what makes them so fascinating to speak and listen to. I’ve seen people’s journeys from being managers many years back to progress to become incredible CEOs, some of whom I have helped get that vital next step up in their career. This is so rewarding and makes me passionate about what I do.

From working as a search consultant for many years, I can say that the most important aspect of this job is to understand your client’ business and their needs. Hiring the right talent is crucial to business success so clients want a partner they can trust to access the best candidates in the market who will not only be able to do the job but fit the company culture. Listening is essential: to understand exactly what your client is looking for and to match this to a candidate’s aspirations. In this way, strong relationships are built both with clients and candidates.

Both the client and the candidate experience throughout a search is important to me. Many successful candidates on my searches have become my clients and tell me: “this was a very professional experience working with you Penny, I want the people I hire to go through the same process!”. How we treat our candidates, not only reflects on me as a search consultant, but also the clients who we are representing. It is important that client’s have trust in us as ambassadors for them in the market.

Working in this sector for twenty years now, I can tell you that the search industry has transformed enormously. With the introduction of the internet, social media and the professionalisation of talent acquisition both internally and externally, it is so important for search consultants to demonstrate the value we add. Today this means not only industry specialisation to truly understand our clients but also our expertise in candidate assessment, both through experience and cutting edge assessment technology to find the perfect candidate who will make a difference.

STRAMMER has brought all these elements together which is why I joined them back in July to help build the Top Management business internationally. As a small company, we have the agility and speed to respond quickly to client’s needs combined with the industry expertise to be trusted partners to our clients. With former industry leaders heading up our coaching and leadership development business, we are uniquely placed in the life sciences sector to provide Full Talent Solutions® to our clients. I love the team-oriented culture and being with colleagues who share my passion for the life sciences sector. It’s a great place to work!