How a Head found, recruited and kept a brilliant Development Director

As Head of a school, Stephen's vision was to widen access and provide more bursary places. Even though there was an alumni relations team in situ, no one was directly responsible for fundraising. Stephen knew from speaking with his school’s community that there was an appetite to support a more wide-reaching bursary programme. He just needed the right person to work alongside him to launch the fundraising programme.

Stephen needed a trusted sounding board to help him find the best candidate for the job at hand. As this would be a close working relationship, I spent time getting to know how Stephen liked to work and what was most important to him in his working relationships.

Together we developed the recruitment strategy:

• where to advertise
• what to include in the job spec
• what to ask at interview.

As a result, Stephen appointed a Director of Development.

To help the new Director of Development acclimatise to the school culture, I provided support with executive coaching for the first 12 months in post. The coaching and development programme helped the Director of Development to:

• adjust to a new culture and context
• stride through the inevitable early setbacks
• embrace the school’s fundraising priorities head-on.