China GM / MD Executive Search
for Mid-Sized US & EU Manufacturers
40 Years in Asia | Retained Search | Personally Led
Have you ever made a regrettable hire in China?
Re-scope your hiring. Partner 1-1 with a 28-year China recruiter, attract tight-fit leaders, and get your China business growing again.
If you've come to this site, you're likely struggling to get your hiring in China right. You're not alone and you're not crazy. It's hard, but we can help.
WE UNDERSTAND THE PAIN AND FRUSTRATION OF TRYING TO GET YOUR CHINA HIRING RIGHT.
You don’t know which recruiter to trust.
The recruiter's process isn't clear. It feels like it's stitched together piecemeal.
Junior staff are executing your search
You feel like candidate resumes are just being thrown at you
Candidates drop out at critical points
You don't get updates, so you never know if your search is stalled or making progress
Offer negotiations turn into nightmares
Your final decision is a forced choice.
In a world of leadership talent scarcity, your hiring approach is critical. The outcome of a traditional search is always a POOR HIRE!
The Solution
THE PALIO
RE-SCOPE STRATEGY
When your hiring approach is the right one, you attract attention, candidates engage, and your choices improve.
That's why we created the THE PALIO RE-SCOPE STRATEGY -- a proven framework that puts nine powerful elements in your toolbox so candidates understand exactly what the challenges are that you are posing, the rewards you are offering for meeting or exceeding those challenges, and how well your role aligns with their desired future.
Each element is designed to lower your risk allowing you to cut through the noise, attract attention, and hire the very best.
With this strategy you'll get:
A new hiring approach that attracts top-tier candidate attention
A process that converts to better hiring choices
A hiring strategy that grows your business
A new super skill that makes you a China Hiring Master
For more than a decade, Palio has helped dozens of businesses in China grow their operations by re-scoping their hiring. Now it's your turn.
TRUSTED BY MID-SIZED MANUFACTURERS [LIKE YOU]
From industrial laser makers to semiconductor companies to silicon photonics disuptors to automated machine tooling providers to T1 & 2 automotive suppliers, dozens of businesses in China and APAC have re-scoped their hiring to achieve superb hiring results, grow faster, turn-around, strengthen their operations.
S H D Abbott, VP, Human Resources
Power Service, Alstom
"excellent work done on our recent senior recruitment exercise…superb candidates…you have materially altered Alstom’s competitive stance in the China market…in a relatively short period and in an open, communicative, and consultative style."
Doug Wright
President & CEO
Source Photonics
"Michael and his team ran a thoughtful and efficient process to understand and respond to our needs, then presented very high quality candidates and followed through to hire. Very good. Standard rates, above-standard quality."
Vlad Hermann
President
VAST Alliance LLC
"Mike has been a trustworthy, reliable and professional. His knowledge of the Chinese market and how the Chinese think proved to be extremely valuable in our efforts to recruit suitable talent. Thanks to Mike’s support, we managed to restructure and build a very capable executive team, one which has grown our business in China.
I recommend Mike and his team at Palio to anyone requiring top quality, dependable and value-for-money management recruitment services."
REAL RE-SCOPING RESULTS
Chief Rep/Sales Director
US Industrial Valve Manufacturer
(high-growth leadership scaling case)
China operation in extended slow-growth mode for over a decade.
Search focused on identifying a leader capable of accelerating growth.
Within two years the business tripled in revenue.
China Chairman
US-German Tier One Auto Supplier
(recover control and reboot culture case)
HQ had lost control of its China JV to a rogue partner and GM.
Search focused on battle-tested new Chairman to wrest back control.
First year: profits up 40%, headcount down, 50%.
Within four years, revenue was up 261%, profits were up by 802%.
Managing Director North Asia
Global Airport Baggage Handling Systems Company
(market recovery leadership case)
Company was poised to withdraw from China.
It had invested five years in China without a single bid win.
They were giving it one final try.
Search focused on recruiting the right "character" to the role.
First bid win within 18 months.
Numerous bids won in tandem.
Seven years later, €45 million annual revenue stream and growing.
Michael Whelan
I’ve helped hundreds of the smartest CEOs, Presidents, and APAC leadership teams across 12 markets hire remarkable leaders. My clients have included Caterpillar, John Deere, Honeywell, Boeing, Siemens, and many more. But witnessing the suffering and carnage caused by regrettable hires at mid-sized companies was what drove me to found Palio.
Here were good, solid companies, smart CEOs, getting wrecked by bad hiring decisions. They didn’t have the resources my larger clients had, so a single hiring mistake would cripple or kill their China businesses.
They needed new tools to succeed, a different approach. So we teamed up and re-scoped. And in the process, they got good at hiring. Together, we proved that mid-sized companies like yours can attract and retain the best leadership in China and Asia. No, it's not easy, but entirely possible.
Today, I’m dedicated to the proposition that my clients never again make a regrettable hire in China. It’s just too costly. And it’s unnecessary. My reward? I get to see my clients with sturdy leadership and thriving China operations, happier than they've ever been.
GET THE PROVEN HIRING STRATEGY THAT HAS WORKED FOR DOZENS OF BUSINESSES LIKE YOURS
I work directly with CEOs and senior leaders who want to re-scope their China hiring and achieve the previously impossible.
My clients will never again make a regrettable hire in China.
In order to ensure that...
I work every aspect of your search.
I don't delegate a thing.
I don’t recycle shortlists.
I don't take any kind of shortcut.
And I don’t run volume processes to save time.
Instead, I make sure...
We understand each other explicitly.
We develop a well-thought-out recruiting plan together.
We have everyone on your team onboard with our hiring plan.
We develop tools together that ensure our success in the market.
We reach deep enough into the market to find the exceptional executives, uniquely suited to and attracted to your role - for intrinsic reasons.
That every candidate you meet i s fully vetted and exceeds your requirements by at least 20% so you have excellent final choices.
I regard your situation as serious, unique, personal, specific, and outcome-driven.
That's why I only take on a single client a month.
And that's why you will be astonished as the guarantees and safeguards I provide.
If China is still strategic for you, and you're determined to get results, re-scope your hiring.
A short, practical discussion is usually enough to see whether my re-scope approach fits your situation. I accept one new client per month. If you have a situation that calls for new leadership in China, and you want to be personally involved in your next China hire, let's start a conversation and see if we're a fit.
Michael Whelan
Founder | CEO
The Palio Group
✉️ michael.whelan@thepaliogroupsa.com
🔗 linkedin.com/in/michaelwhelanchinaapac