An alternative angle
With a wealth of experience in the research and marketing field, Charley Stoney now brings her expertise to the Alternatives Group. She spoke to ShelfLife about her new position, the opportunities it holds and the fresh thinking and energy she intends to bring in order to achieve the goal of tripling the size of the business within three years
Print15 October 2014
You have just taken up a new role with Alternatives. Can you tell us a little bit about the company and your new role?
My appointment as group managing director has come at a critical time in the company’s growth plans. Alternatives started life in 2000 as major innovators in the sourcing of marketing talent. Today, almost 15 years later, the Alternatives Group has become a multi-faceted business providing flexible talent solutions across the marketing, commercial and executive disciplines. My role is to drive this growth through the three key divisions. These are Alternatives Resourcing which brings businesses the best marketing, digital and commercial talent – from Ireland and abroad;Alternatives Managed Teams – to provide the skills and expertise to source and manage teams across a range of commercial disciplines and Alternatives Elect (alternativeselect.ie) which is the new global executive search arm of the Alternatives Group.
What do you hope to bring to the role?
I hope I bring fresh thinking, energy and bravery so that we achieve our plans to triple the size of the business in three years and take advantage of our excellent reputation in this time of recovery. In relation to my specific experience, I’m expanding our reach within the FMCG and retail sectors, particularly within the commercial disciplines including key account management, category management, trade relations and senior sales related roles. I fully understand the challenges in the sector and can provide an insightful view of the talent required to tackle these issues and achieve commercial success.
Alternatives has launched Executive Search over the past six months. What exactly does this entail?
Alternatives Elect (alternativeselect.ie) is the global executive search arm of the Alternatives Group. Elect consults across all disciplines at the most senior, C-suite level – with both international and Irish-owned businesses. Alternatives Elect can deliver a fresh pool of leadership talent that is diverse and inspiring, drawn from a truly global stage.
Our unique trinity model brings together our Dublin team of specialist search consultants; our exclusive network of research hubs from around the world and our advisory panel who are made up of some of Ireland’s top business thinkers. This enables us to deliver the very best results and deep insight into the leadership challenge facing companies operating on a global platform.
Our ethos of Leadership Taken Personally means that we build a deep understanding of your brand, your business ambitions and your values. We recognise the personal nature of the hiring process and our ethos is to provide a service that is supportive to both clients and candidates alike.
It is well documented that the recruitment industry suffered badly during the recession. How has Alternatives weathered the storm and how are you planning to future proof the business?
I’m happy to say that the business has grown 30% year-on-year for the past two years, albeit that yes, we did suffer during the recession. Our recent Market & Salary Survey, undertaken in collaboration with the Marketing Institute of Ireland is the most comprehensive survey of its kind undertaken with a staggering 1,237 respondents and shows a positive trend for increased employment across over 22 sectors surveyed. The results have been extremely interesting, over two-thirds of businesses stated that their companies were hiring again. Employee confidence is up with the retail sector scoring highest in terms of role security. In terms of company performance, 80% of retail companies reported that they were doing better than one year ago and over 60% of the FMCG companies surveyed reported the same.
What is the best piece of advice you were ever given?
My father taught me through his own actions to be genuinely interested in people and to treat, with warmth and respect, everyone you come across, whether in business, or queuing for coffee. Demonstrating daily empathy of everyone’s humanity and receiving acknowledgment of that in return is one of life’s most rewarding aspects.
Who do you find inspiring in Irish business and why?
For me, it’s my network of friends I have made throughout my career and my life in general, who are leaders in their field across so many sectors in so many disciplines that I have privileged access to gurus in every subject and for every occasion!
How do you motivate yourself and how do you motivate those who work for you?
I try to focus on the little things so as to motivate myself by achieving small successes and to reward others in the same way. Most people have big goals and ambitions they would like to achieve but these can seem very far away when you’re in the midst of daily operations. So, a simple acknowledgment of the small, everyday things goes a long way towards helping the wellbeing of an organisation. We have a lovely tradition in Alternatives of collating our weekly “highs” every Friday. All the team contribute to this weekly email and it not only serves as a great summary of the week’s events but is also a platform for thanking those who have contributed to those highs.
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