Company Name

Bush Brothers & Company (Bush's Beans)

Search Job Title

Operations Area Manager

Client Profile

Bush Brothers & Company, best known for its Bush's Beans brand, is a family-owned food manufacturer specializing in canned beans and related food products. With a long history in the food industry and a nationally recognized consumer brand, the company operates manufacturing facilities that support its retail and foodservice customers.

The company's Augusta, Wisconsin, manufacturing operation requires experienced production leadership to maintain high standards for food safety, quality, operational efficiency, and employee development.

Role Objectives & Challenges

SCM Talent Group was approached by Bush's Beans to help them find an Operations Area Manager for its manufacturing facility in small town of Augusta, Wisconsin. A hands-on leader was required to oversee and lead a production team of 50 professionals. Other aspectes involved working to improve safety, quality, productivity, equipment reliability, and operational performance.

Bush's sought a leader with strong soft skills who excelled at developing and coaching front-line employees. They needed someone who could enhance accountability practices while also bringing on continuous improvement initiatives. The idea Operations Area Manager candidate would multi task well enough to balance day-to-day manufacturing execution with the interpersonal skills necessary to lead teams in a collaborative, feedback-driven environment.

A primary challenge in recruiting for this position was geography. Augusta is a small, rural Wisconsin community with a population of just more than 1300 people. The location narrowed an already thin candidate pool of experienced manufacturing leaders within a reasonable distance for commuting. Despite having a competitive compensation package and position profile, finding candidates with the right experience willing to work in the area provided a lot of challenges to Bush's and other recruiting firms, alike.

The company's comprehensive interview process presented an additional consideration. While thorough candidate evaluation was important, a lengthy selection process could increase the risk of losing qualified candidates to competing opportunities.

The position had already received considerable recruiting attention from other search firms but remained unfilled. SCM Talent Group was brought in to take a fresh approach, identify qualified professionals who had not been successfully engaged through previous efforts, and ultimately help secure the right candidate.

Our Approach to Solve the Search

A geographically focused sourcing strategy kicked off the search for Bush's Operations Area Manager. SCM Talent Group's recruiters assigned to this case looked throughout the Midwest to source candidates who fit the experiential model while possessing necessary soft skills Bush's required to grow with the company. As has been mentioned prior, their thorough vetting process is designed to weed out less dedicated candidates. Those who make it through the entirety of the exhaustive interview process imply dedication and a willingness to pursue internal career growth within the company. Bush's extremely high level of retention reflects success in these practices, which greatly helped the process of sourcing the slate of candidates.

Experience and operational knowledge of food production environments became a focal point of the search. Food producers, including cheese manufacturing and other related operations became places from which to source within a 200 mile radius of Augusta. Shelf-stable and nonperishable food manufacturing where candidates had to have a familiarity with production efficiency, food safety, quality control, and the operational requires of a high volume manufacturing facility also was emphasized during the search.

The further into the search, the more prevalent it became to balance both technical qualifications and leadership capabilities. Bush's reuquired a manager who understood manufacturing operations but could also develop employees, communicate well, and develop credibility with production teams. The ideal candidate needed to mesh with both front line operators and leadership, which is not always easy to find.

The recruiting team ultimately identified a candidate working as an Operations Manager for another food manufacturing company approximately two hours from Augusta. He started his career on the front lines of food production and had worked his way up through the ranks. This career progression was particularly relevant to Bush's emphasis on employee development and hands-on operational leadership. The candidate checked all the boxes of managerial leadership, technical experience and knowledge, and a natural ability to fit in with both his direct reports and his managerial peers.

SCM Talent Group worked with Bush's internal talent acquisition team and logistics leadership throughout the process to evaluate the candidate's experience, management approach, and suitability for the organization.

The Hire & Results

Bush's Beans selected an experienced food manufacturing Operations Manager whose technical background, leadership style, and geographic proximity aligned with the company's requirements.

The successful candidate brought firsthand production experience and a demonstrated progression into manufacturing leadership. His understanding of operational processes, combined with strong communication and interpersonal skills, made him well suited to Bush's collaborative management environment.

The company's established brand and reputation were also important factors in attracting the candidate to the opportunity. Despite the geographic challenges associated with the Augusta location, SCM Talent Group identified a qualified professional within the broader regional labor market who was interested in advancing his career with Bush's.

SCM Talent Group successfully completed the placement despite the challenges of a rural location, an extensive interview process, and competition from other recruiting resources. The result was especially meaningful given the considerable recruiting activity that had already taken place around the position.

This placed provided a much needed enhanced to Bush's midwestern leadership team. As an experienced manufacturing leader fully capable of supporting production performance, continuous improvement, and employee development, the Augusta facility has been upgraded with much needed talent. This was also done with the hopes of career growth, as expressed by the candidate, thus further developing the leadership pipeline within Bush's Beans.

SCM Talent Group's ability to expand beyond a limited local candidate pool, leverage industry-specific recruiting expertise, and identify qualified leaders for difficult-to-fill manufacturing positions resulted in an immediate leadership upgrade for a remote manufacturing facility with hopes of further advancement and growth within the Bush Brothers & Company pipeline. The successful candidate was highly complimentary of SCM Talent Group's work, proclaiming a superior grasp of the industry while providing clear and consistent communications, level setting, and expectation management throughout the entire process.