Kathleen Huybreckx

Key figures of the collaboration

About  Aurora 

Aurora is a family business that has been around for more than 90 years, experiencing many changes. 

Aurora was founded in 1935 in Turnhout offering traditional school books. In 1960, the company moved to to a larger factory in Beerse. With its ever expanding range of school and office supplies, Aurora steadily grew into the most important manufacturer of stationery products in the Benelux.

With the rise of digitization, Aurora's mission is to enhance lifelong learning by developing products and solutions that are proven to make knowledge transfer easier, more enjoyable and more sustainable. Research shows that paper-based learning enhances concentration, deepens information processing and improves retention.

The Challenge

Sales roles are always critical for any business, specially for Aurora who operates in a tough market where digitization is a key threat to the use of paper products.

Following the retirement of one Key Account Manager, Aurora decided to revise its sales team roles: the challenge was therefore to recruit people who would combine both Account and Customer Success Management responsibilities.

Other role requirements were hard to match. Beyond being totally bilingual, the roles required a valid experience in dealing with retail and wholesale which involves handling tough negotiations. 

The solution

Profile Group's senior recruiter took a thorough approach ensuring a fast and qualitative recruitment of 2 new Acccount Managers

1. a long intake was organized with both the HR manager and the Sales manager in order to understand the Sales team challenges, the roles and their requirements. The company's Employer Value Proposition was also discussed and clearly aligned.
2. an optimized job advert was carefully written.
3. a recruitment campaign was launched covering all job boards to ensure a national coverage.
4. a total sourcing appraoch as passive candidates were also approached.
5. a very strict screening process was essential to ensure great candidate quality
6. a direct and ongoing communication with the recruiting manager enabled a faster selection and decision process

The results