Dietrich De Roeck (NPA #8538) of Global Expat Recruiting in Bali, Indonesia, and Edwin Tiah (NPA #8452) of Elitez Pte Ltd in Singapore, have each made their firm’s first split placement in NPAworldwide.
Edwin placed Dietrich’s candidate, a Finance Director in the Hospitality Industry in the United Kingdom.
Dietrich explains how this deal solidified his decision to stay in NPA: "We joined NPA in January 2019 and during the entire course of 2019 me and my team worked on numerous assignments with several NPA partners, both as importer and as exporter. When I then had to be in Singapore in August '19 for few client meetings, I took the opportunity to go to meet up with Edwin, whom we were at that time working on an assignment with. Edwin was the second NPA partner I had the chance of meeting face-to-face and it felt like we clicked instantly. Yes, the fact that he in his office poured us a whisky on the rocks at 9am in the morning, might have contributed to that! Edwin is a very likeable person, we had a great chat, and I was impressed with his office set-up. Edwin and I met again during the Hong Kong conference, which helped to further strengthen our bond.
"Now, I must be very honest, when the crisis hit, and having been in NPA over a year, having really tried hard and invested lots of time and energy on various assignments without any success, when going into full-on cost control mode, I was strongly playing with the idea of quitting the network. While many people tried convincing me to stay, in March I was already in communications with Kelsea to start the resignation process. Then at about the same time as Edwin came knocking on my door with this role, NPA announced that it would waive the membership fee for 1 month. So, I thought, 'Ok, let's hold on for at least 1 more month and see what will happen with this search.'
"And although we work the Hospitality niche, this wasn't an easy search for us, as it was the first time ever we worked on an assignment in Europe (we specialize in Asia Pacific). My team and I went full-in as we really wanted to make this work.
"From all my dealings with Edwin, I can truly say that he is a great partner to work with. He is very open in his communications, shares every single detail he has on the assignment. What I also really like about him is that he doesn't sugarcoat things, he states the facts as they are, including the bad and the ugly! He has close contact with his clients and can get quick answers from his contact persons. Apart from information he puts out on Matchmaker, we always have a detailed verbal discussion, to make sure we are on the same page as to what the exact requirements are. He provides constant feedback during the process and we regularly crack a joke.
"This placement has been a true milestone for our company, as it was not only our first split within the network, it was the first placement we ever made in Europe, and more importantly, it has covered our NPA membership for years to come, and therefore has helped me to make the decision, to not leave the network, not now during unprecedented crisis, not ever! Thank you Edwin, my team and I very much enjoyed working together with you on this split, and we look forward to more splits to come! I also would like to take this opportunity; to thank Dave, Carola, Kelsea, Marcia, Taufik, Dicky, and anybody else I might be forgetting, for convincing me to stay within the network. THANK YOU!"
Edwin added: "Dietrich is not someone unfamiliar to me, we worked on a deal last year but didn't manage to close it. I had a pleasant experience working along with him and his team, especially Dayu. He came into my mind immediately when the client awarded me the placement of a hospitality group base in London. Even based in Bali, he is very confident and honest in the daily handling of the search presenting the profile. This is not an easy-going client knowing it is a HK base group, Dietrich was very patient and calm during the last stage offering having a few uncomfortable changes from the client budget. He is very skillful with the candidate to negotiate down and close this deal... Kudos to him... more to come I have dealing with him..."
What a perfect example of a great trading partnership - transparency and honesty, effective feedback, and regular communication! Congrats Dietrich and Edwin, and so happy you decided to remain an member of NPA Dietrich! Here's to many more NPA placements for you both!