Case Study

Rhino-Rack is an Australian automotive manufacturer that supplies a wide range of vehicle storage solutions, accessories, awnings and more to specialist suppliers all across Australia.

After 30 years of successful operations, they were making plans to expand. They had acquired a new working site which had allowed them to completely redesign and reengineer their business, and growth was on the horizon.

This growth was going to require new systems – and new employees who could operate these systems. Rhino-Rack understood that if they wanted to scale their business successfully, they would need to balance senior management and manufacturing teams by creating a high-performing middle tier.

This meant they needed to hire a number of people for a multitude of roles who would buy into their growth vision and help them achieve it.

Rob Guttentag, then-CEO, had worked with Chris Andrews from Stone Recruitment in previous roles and businesses with great results. So, Rob reached out to Chris, hoping Stone Recruitment’s expertise and work ethic could get Rhino-Rack the results they needed.

Getting to work fast

Rhino-Rack engaged Stone to support their transformation into a world class brand, but they also had an immediate need to fill multiple, key positions around the business.

Stone commenced with a multiphased approach, which meant that while building a deep understanding of the Rhino-Rack business and optimising existing processes, they commenced on large scale recruitment initiatives in parallel.

Building a deep business understanding

Finding the right candidate for any job can be challenging. There needs to be clarity not only around the specifics of the role, but that of the business, its culture, its goals and the wider industry. Once these are truly understood, the hiring process can be streamlined and more efficient.

Stone were able to understand the needs of Rhino-Rack by implementing themselves into the business so they could understand the culture and flow of the workplace. This discussion evolved over time. At the same time, they began the heavy lifting of proactive search to build pools of relevant applicants.

Rhino-Rack were looking to hire upwards of 150 people across all departments and needed to feel confident in Stone Recruitment’s ability to find the right people for any role.

“With Stone Recruitment, there was a lot of time spent on building the relationship [and] there’s quite a lot of trust required.” – Rob Guttentag, CEO, Rhino-Rack

Nailing the nuances of recruitment

Keeping the Rhino-Rack’s requirements of growth and longevity in mind, Stone Recruitment used a combination of expertise, resources, and personalised attention to identify and recommend highly qualified candidates for each role.

“Recruitment providers are usually “here’s how we’ve always done it; here’s how we’re going to do it for you.” But that’s not the way we wanted it to work this time.” – Rob Guttentag

Stone focused on three vital elements required for successful recruitment outcomes:

Business integration

Stone Recruitment worked closely with Rhino-Rack to integrate themselves into the business, which proved important in attracting great talent. Establishing trust between recruiter and company is important, and Stone Recruitment’s approach involved investing the time to understand each hiring managers’ business needs as well as how they aligned to the overall growth strategy, before initiating the recruitment process.

Cultivating culture

The significance of workplace culture in the success of a business cannot be overlooked. While hiring skilled and knowledgeable people for a job may seem straightforward, the real challenge lies in identifying candidates who can seamlessly integrate into the existing culture. Stone Recruitment took the time to recruit and shortlist employees who would not only bring value to Rhino-Rack, but whose values and drivers would fit the overall culture of the company.

Language and discussion

Mutual understanding is paramount to a successful partnership, and understanding the language to describe the needs and behaviours of a candidate is an important part of the process. Stone Recruitment engaged in discussions with Rhino-Rack throughout the recruitment to understand the needs and language used to shape the ideal candidate. This formed part of a shared platform and process which enabled growth at scale.

“Language is important because the desired traits of a candidate are hard to pin down. Getting a common language for describing behaviours is really important to us for success.” – Rob Guttentag, Former CEO

Recruitment results leading to successful expansion

Stone Recruitment’s process, plus the open dialogue and constant feedback provided by both organisations throughout the process, resulted in several successful, tangible outcomes for Rhino-Rack.

150+ employees hired – Stone Recruitment managed to hire 150+ employees across all departments including operations, procurement, planning, HR, Marketing, Sales & Manufacturing, engineering, warehouse, finance and customer service.

Doubled revenue – Rhino-Rack were one of the lucky businesses whose opportunities actually rose during the pandemic. Because of the new employees they had brought in, they were able to double their revenue “without causing chaos”.

Successful scalability – The employees that were recruited through the process played a significant role in helping Rhino-Rack successfully scale their business. The team even needed new premises to accommodate all the new employees.

“Most of the candidates they brought into the business were the kind of people who surprised you by how good they were. They came in with added value.” – Rob Guttentag

Stone Recruitment were not just a one-off recruiter – the relationship with Rhino-Rack lasted three years, as Stone supported their ongoing recruitment and growth needs. By being able to understand Rhino-Rack’s needs and business, Stone Recruitment were able to successfully hire multiple candidates over this time, continuing to adapt and succeed with ongoing results.

“I like the way Stone Recruitment work, and they find good people. Best in class experience!” – Rob Guttentag, Former CEO