Case Study: Building Materials Corporation

Go Back to Searchlight Q1 2013

 

The Right Candidate at the Right Time to Lead BMC Dallas/Fort Worth

bmc logoIn the Western U.S., the building supply and materials market was booming in late 2012—especially in Texas, where the economy had taken less of a hit than the rest of the nation. The Boise-based building supply and service company BMC was making a strong comeback after rebuilding from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2010 and transitioning from public to private ownership. But in Dallas/Fort Worth, sales were flat, despite the growing market. Teams had been operating in silos, at a time when it was important for business units to come together and optimize returns.

The company decided to look for a new Dallas/Fort Worth market leader with extensive experience in building supply and materials, but also with the leadership and team-building skills to reorganize the 350-person DFW team, realign the sales function and pull everyone together behind a common strategy.

Impressed by Pearson Partners International’s knowledge of the building materials and supply industry, especially in the Dallas market, BMC retained the firm in late August 2012 to begin the search for a new market manager. Within days, Pearson Partners delivered the first six candidates. BMC quickly narrowed the field to the top three, and after using Pearson Partners’ assessment services to ensure a good fit between the candidates and the organization, BMC extended an offer in late September to Mike Mendlik, who was working in the same role for a nearby competitor. He started work at BMC October 1, 2012.

“It’s working out terrific,” Mendlik said. “I have been blessed with a great team and am lucky to have people with a lot of experience and a great culture surrounding me. In my six months here, we have separated the HR and safety departments and recruited a safety manager. We’re giving people more responsibility. The people are here, the culture is here, we just need to give people what they need to achieve success in the field. We’re setting up the market to achieve a significant increase in sales going forward.”

Although he had not been looking for a career change, Mendlik was drawn by BMC’s hands-on approach to management at the market level, and the fact that he would have a single manager to work with when he needed answers. Having been recruited to a new job once before, he was impressed with Pearson Partners’ professionalism and open communication.

“Mike is awesome, and we are so happy with him,” said Stephanie Erickson, BMC’s vice president of human resources. “We were lucky to be able to attract him from one of our No. 1 competitors, and he saw the growth opportunities here at BMC. He knows the market well and he was the most seasoned candidate we met. He treats everyone with respect. He has jumped in and partnered with senior management, and manages very well up and down the organization. He is a change agent, and that’s what we needed.”

Throughout the search process, Erickson was impressed with Pearson Partners’ professionalism and responsiveness, as well as the firm’s familiarity with the players in the industry, all of which contributed to the completion of a successful search in just one month.

“We have retained Pearson Partners to fill another market manager position in the Pacific Northwest because they did such a good job in Dallas,” Erickson said. “We enjoyed our experience with them and will stick with them. They made our job a lot easier.”

Read other examples of how Pearson Partners helps clients build world-class leadership teams.

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