By Rich Bond
Over the years I did a lot of recruiting for Nestle Waters, which was a great client, as their sales grew from $1 billion to $4 billion.
I recruited a fellow for their Allentown, Pennsylvania, plant and distribution facility. He was a star.
But he eventually, he was deemed “unpromotable” because he was unwilling to move to the headquarters in Connecticut. The price of a home in Conn. was two to three times more than what they were in Penn.
A year ago, this fellow switched to a smaller, local, fast-growing private food company with sales of $1.5 billion. He got a promotion, didn’t need to move, and is much happier.
He recently reached out to me to help him recruit and retain a Plant Controller for his company’s largest plant in South Central Michigan. The facility is in the midst of a five-year project to double the throughput of the plant.
The upshot is that we all benefitted from my contact’s move to a smaller, growing company.
In the meantime, Nestle sold their water business to a private equity firm. And many employees are now jumping ship to work for growing, smaller, privately owned businesses. (Becoming bigger fish in a smaller pond.)
I you are looking to change jobs, I would love to talk to you, particularly if you are open to working for a smaller company. richard.bond@bondandcompany.com.
