Gilman Partners Selected by Total Quality Logistics to Lead CHRO Search

January 22, 2021 – Executive search firm Gilman Partners has been retained by Total Quality Logistics (TQL) to lead its search for a new chief human resources officer. Executive recruiter Chuck Aardema is leading the assignment. The incoming leader will be responsible for the strategic direction of HR, ensuring all initiatives are aligned with business objectives. This includes consulting with business leaders at all levels to build the talent and level of accountability required to continuously achieve profitable results. Operational responsibilities will include employee relations, succession planning, diversity and inclusion initiatives, HRIS, compensation and benefits, HR compliance and payroll. In addition to these responsibilities, the CHRO will consult with business leaders to improve recruiting, training, and retention.

Candidates should have experience leading HR and building a world class organization in a high-volume business and tenacious sales culture. They should have more than 10 years of executive leadership in HR with 15- 20-plus years of overall business experience. In addition, candidates need to have proven talent of developing scalable strategies for total reward plans, employee relations, payroll, and HRIS for a large organization as well as adept experience working with business leaders to develop collaborative solutions to business and organizational needs.

The successful candidate will:

Drive results – exhibit a high sense of urgency.
Collaborative and influential – proactively build ongoing partnerships with key sales leaders to help enable and support growth.
Develop people – have a clear understanding of team capabilities and potential to develop organizational bench strength.
Humility – put success of company and team above his/her own personal success, servant leader.
Integrity – embody and practice unquestionable ethics.
Work ethic – in a 24/7 environment, extremely committed to the success of the organization and willing to do what is necessary to achieve objectives.

Total Quality Logistics is a multi-billion-dollar leader in the third-party logistics industry. The company went from a Cincinnati, OH start-up to the second largest freight brokerage firm in the nation with over 5,000 employees operating in 53 markets.

Stick Rate

Gilman Partners serves clients throughout the Midwest from its Cincinnati headquarters and its office in Chicago. Many of its client companies are family owned or privately held. Of the senior leaders placed by Gilman Partners, 96 percent are still with the same organization three years later, according to the latest statistics provided by the firm. Tom Gilman, who has been building senior leadership teams at leading regional and national organizations for more than 40 years, serves as CEO.

“Our clients already trust us to find and place top leaders who can have an immediate and lasting impact on their organizations,” said Mr. Gilman. “Since we have a deep understanding of their organizational culture and the types of leaders who will drive their success, the addition of the talent advisory practice is a natural extension of the leadership continuum. Hiring great leaders is a key first step, but helping them develop to their fullest potential is an investment that always pays dividends.”

CHRO Recruiting in the News

Hunt Scanlon Media has tracked a number of CHRO search assignments over the past month. Here’s a sampling taken from the company’s daily newswire archives:

HR executive search and management consulting firm accelHRate placed Meghan Henson as CHRO of Avantor in Radnor, PA. The search was led by CEO Kim Shanahan and managing partner Kelly McPherson. “Meghan is a strategic leader who brings extensive global experience to Avantor’s impressive leadership team made up of executives from other well-respective Fortune 500 companies,” said Ms. Shanahan. “She has joined a company whose mission is important to all of us – to set science in motion to create a better world. This includes working on critical solutions helping life science companies detect, research and fast-track treatments for the COVID-19 and related diseases.”

Chicago-based Hanold Associates HR & Diversity Executive Search has been selected to find the next senior vice president, CHRO for American Airlines Group, a plum assignment for the recruiting firm as 2021 kicks off. The mandate is being led by Jason Hanold, CEO and managing partner, and Keri Gavin, partner and global D&I practice sector leader. “Leading an HR team of 300 people, the new CHRO will have the opportunity to profoundly impact American Airlines today, as well as its cultural flight route forward,” said the search firm in a statement. “The organization’s leaders are seizing the opportunity sparked by challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to build and improve upon existing infrastructure. Throughout the pandemic, American Airlines has worked to support its team members, and the CHRO will develop key relationships with CEO Doug Parker and the rest of the executive leadership team to strategically facilitate the return of furloughed employees.” The role will include at least two direct reports.

New York City-based executive search Miller Black Associates recently placed Sandra Beckett as CHRO of CITY Furniture in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Joanna Miller led the assignment. “This was an attractive opportunity for a number of HR professionals because of the quality, reputation and culture of the company, as well as their growth trajectory, so the client was able to be quite selective,” said Ms. Miller. “Although CITY Furniture is not a heavy manufacturer, they wanted someone who had been trained in progressive manufacturing systems such as Toyota Way, Lean/Six Sigma and other related methodologies.”

The Christopher Group (TCG) has been retained by the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) to lead the organization’s chief human resources officer search. Founder and CEO Thomas Christopher, recruiting manager Kristen Pace and senior operations manager Matthew Duda are leading the assignment. “The Christopher Group is pleased and honored to launch our second chief human resources officer search for a leading national trade association,” said Mr. Christopher. “This is a very dynamic and exciting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. whose members include 10 of the largest hotel chains in the world.”

Los Angeles-based Shelli Herman and Associates just placed Maurice Wiggins as the first chief human resources officer of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Shelli Herman, president of the recruitment firm, led the assignment along with her associate, Krista Haley. “With this hire, our client was really looking for someone who put people and culture first,” said Ms. Herman. “The Whitney Museum has a long and robust history of hiring and mentoring great people who are deeply passionate about the work and enormously committed to mission.”