ON Partners Recruits CHRO for Creation Technologies

October 20, 2022 – ON Partners’ Lenny Vairo recently helped recruit Karoline Lariviere as the new chief human resources officer of Creation Technologies, a Boston-based end-to-end, scalable global electronic manufacturing services provider. “We are delighted to welcome a highly experienced leader like Karoline to Creation,” said Stephen P. DeFalco, chairman and CEO of Creation Technologies. “Her expertise in business transformation, growth plans, retention, culture, and change management will be extremely beneficial to the company.”

Ms. Lariviere brings over 20 years of leadership experience including global business and HR strategy planning and implementation in the technology and healthcare industries. She joins Creation from Fresenius Medical Care where she was senior vice president of human resources.

In her new position, Ms. Lariviere will be responsible for leading Creation’s global human resources organization. “I am excited to be joining Creation to support their continued growth,” said Ms. Lariviere. “I look forward to working with the team to build HR strategies aligned with the business, drive talent and performance management programs, and extend the exciting elements of the Creation culture.”

Creation Technologies provides total electronics product lifecycle solutions including turnkey design, rapid prototyping, manufacturing and fulfillment to its customers around the world. The company of over 4,000 people operates 14 manufacturing locations, two design centers and a rapid prototyping center in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and China.

Top-Ranked Recruiters

With a primary focus on technology, consumer, industrial, and the life science sectors, ON Partners recruits C-level and board talent for public and private companies, as well as venture capital and private equity firms. Founded in 2006, the firm’s consultants work from offices in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Menlo Park, CA; Minneapolis, MN; San Francisco; and New York. ON Partners is one of the fastest growing search firms and this year is ranked as one of the Top 20 recruiting platforms in the nation by Hunt Scanlon Media.

Related: ON Partners Recruits CFO for Bushel

Mr. Vairo has 25-plus years in retained executive search recruiting CEO, C-level and senior executives across a range of industry sectors including technology and enterprise, industrial, and life sciences. He has experience in private equity and public companies.

CHROs Stepping Up in Challenging Times

A recent survey of 230 CHROs by Emilie Petrone, managing partner of Korn Ferry’s Princeton, NJ office and a member of the firm’s human resources practice, explored how they are at the heart of today’s challenging work environment and how the pandemic is impacting their function. “The coronavirus challenge has put HR leaders front and center as they navigate everything from employee safety to personnel changes,” said the report. “These issues have brought to light the importance for HR organizations to continuously adjust and create a culture of trust and transparency. Indeed, the survey showed nearly a quarter of CHROs said their top priority was to create a culture of trust and transparency, followed by 21 percent who said they want to break down hierarchies and drive more agility.”

Ms. Petrone said that right now HR leaders are tasked with a massive strategic workforce planning balancing act. “They’re responsible for business viability and critical talent pipelines, organizational health and employee brand, both internally and externally,” she said. “They have to ensure ongoing engagement and performance while also managing the experience of employees who are not going to be part of the organization’s future. That’s a significant push and pull.”

Changing Needs

The survey found that nearly half of CHROs (45 percent) think talent shortage and talent fit will have the greatest influence on their priorities going forward, and the pandemic has only reemphasized that thinking. While it’s too early to tell exactly how today’s business environment will affect long-term hiring trends, HR officers are already rethinking what their companies will need. “What we might have been looking for in leaders six months ago in a strong economy may be really different from what we need for the next 12, 24, or 36 months,” said Ms. Petrone, “Re-prioritized internal capabilities and redeploying the right leaders to the right roles will be critical.”

Upskilling current talent could become a much bigger priority for HR leaders in the future. According to the survey, 37 percent of the CHROs said upskilling the current workforce was the primary strategy for enabling success.

The global health crisis has shown that the future of work has invariably altered remote working, said the Korn Ferry report. Thirty percent of CHROs said leveraging digital tools was also key to employees’ success. While certain corporate cultures will prevail in needing people in the office, many HR leaders are already rethinking what collaboration and innovation look like in a post-pandemic digital era. “Shared workspaces and team space may not be viable, historic business models may need to transform, and the way work gets done and decisions get made, will be more critical to business success than ever before,” Ms. Petrone said.

Related: ON Partners Recruits Chief People Officer for O’Reilly Media

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media