Neemar Search | Annual Letter 2023

Dear Clients and Candidates,

This marks the first annual letter to our candidates, clients, and the housing community. It has been a thoughtful process as I reflect and attempt to summarise 2023 for Neemar Search. My overriding feeling is gratitude – I have been overwhelmed by the level of support and guidance that myself & Neemar Search have received over the past nine months, and so I want to start this open letter with a thank you.  

Many define 2023 as a challenging year with macroeconomics continuing to hover over our sector, putting a strain on teams and organisations. Whilst challenging times often expose weakness, they do, however, reveal the strong perseverance that always exists within your teams, and encourage a sense of community that helps us all to move forward.  

In May 2023, I asked myself one question ‘How can Neemar Search approach recruitment differently and truly make a difference? While we have seen some of our most challenging times, the housing sector continues to evolve and adapt, and therefore to keep up with the sector’s pace, it was clear to me that the search industry had to do the same. Some may think they’ve heard it before; however, we are on a mission to disrupt traditional recruitment through meaningful partnerships whilst also being a force for good at the same time. If I could try and summarise 2023, my key highlights are; 

• Creating & hosting our community networks.
• Building value-add partnerships and holding ourselves accountable for exceptional service. 
• Partnering with the world’s first crowdfunding platform for the homeless community. 

I do believe we are already living and demonstrating our value of being ‘A Force for Good’.  

Executive Community Programmes & Outreach

We take great pride in building communities and from that our NS/Community and Elevate Programmes were created. 

NS/Community is a forum for some of the sector’s leading Executives to share best practices and discuss challenges in a safe space with like-minded Executives. Since May, we are proud to have hosted over 25 virtual forums, with over 100 leaders from across the sector. 

To complement these communities, our first cohort of the Elevate Programme is well underway with eleven Executives taking part in our nine-month programme designed to accelerate the growth of Senior Leaders in the sector to prepare them for their first Chief Executive role. The Elevate Programme allows leaders to fast-track their learning and development under the mentorship of established Chief Executives, receiving guidance, tools, and resources to succeed. 

Whilst these programmes have been designed to encourage developing Executives to step out of their comfort zone, and learn new skills, I have also practiced this myself with the introduction of our monthly podcast; The Housing Collective. 

In a 121-style, I have had the pleasure of hosting interviews with Chief Executives across our sector, delving into key sector challenges, exploring their journeys, and discussing valuable leadership lessons. 

If you would like to join The Housing Collective newsletter click here. Or listen, on Spotify. 

Value-add Partnerships 

As we set out in 2023, we set a clear purpose; ‘to change lives by creating opportunities for people to reach their full potential’ to find, connect, and support the best leaders in the industry. However, a purpose lacks any real substance without a vision, and ours will always be clear; we want to change the way the industry views Executive Search. 

One of our guiding principles is to be change-makers, to be a team that disrupts and innovates the traditional means of recruitment through value-added partnerships.  We are truly dedicated to continuous improvement as we believe that by focusing on the ‘how’ rather than the ‘what’, helps our clients and candidates feel supported, valued, and inspired. 

How we will always hold ourselves accountable for the service we strive to deliver is by continually measuring our impact through Net Promoter Scores (NPS). NPS is one of our core business metrics, providing us with data to reflect our impact and mission; and to change the way the industry views Executive Search. 

In comparison to the industry average of +64, I am pleased to share that our candidate NPS currently stands at +87, with our client NPS at +100. 

The launch of ClientiD 

When speaking with leaders in my network, there was a recurring challenge that they had during a search process in that a search partner struggled to effectively show off the two most important aspects of their organisation – their people and their culture.

With that in mind, we launched ClientiD; a platform for prospective candidates to get a more meaningful window into the organisations that we represent. 

Building a ClientiD, not only provides candidates with valuable insights into an Association’s team and culture but also highlights other notable aspects of the Association that candidates wouldn’t usually get by simply undertaking desk-based research.

ClientiD has seen early success with Anchor, who gave us full access to its leadership team and were able to give an honest account of a career at Anchor to attract the best and most diverse candidate pool.  

We are proud of the feedback from candidates so far from our ClientID, and very much look forward to broadening our client partnerships via this platform in 2024. 

Our Partnership with Beam 

Before I set up Neemar Search, one of my key priorities was scoping out how we could give back to the community – a principle I am particularly passionate about. From day 1, we have partnered with Alex Stephany and the team at Beam; a social enterprise that supports some of the most disadvantaged people in our society into quality jobs and homes. Our purpose was, and remains, to change lives through creating opportunities for people to reach their full potential. Through our work together this year, we have donated over £10,000 to Beam to tackle homelessness through career opportunities. We look forward to continuing our partnership into 2024. 

You can learn more about Beam here. 

Moving Forward into 2024 

My intention in sharing our journey with you so far isn’t to necessarily showcase the initiatives that we have launched but to emphasise how important it is to us that staying ahead of the market changes and building honest and meaningful partnerships, will truly allow us to support and provide an exceptional service to you.  

 I also want to thank all of you who have engaged, supported, and inspired us. You have enabled us to accomplish more than we thought possible at such an early stage in our journey. Not only this, but you have also helped and encouraged us to create an impact where it matters most. All of this gives us the motivation to push forward into 2024 with positivity and confidence that together we can drive change.  

As we enter the festive season, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2024.

- Tom Neely, Founder, Neemar Search.