We retained Adam Zak Executive Search to conduct a search for our Senior Vice President of Operations. This was a critical senior executive role that we needed to get right. Adam listened intently to our needs, both in terms of skills and behaviors and also motivations and culture. He conducted a broad and intensive search and delivered a number of excellent candidates, ultimately enabling us to land the right leader. What impressed me the most about Adam was his diligence throughout every step of the process. I have worked with a number of different executive recruiters, and in my mind, Adam went above and beyond the line of duty to ensure success for both Andersen and the candidate.
Jay Lund
Chairman & CEO
Andersen Corporation
Adam Zak has become a relied upon partner for staffing my teams with expertise in Lean and Six Sigma. I prefer working with a firm that understands the unique skill sets for which I am searching. Adam Zak Executive Search can identify and recruit candidates with deep expertise in continuous improvement with more efficiency and effectiveness than a generalist firm.
Matt Parkey
Vice President, Profit Improvement Initiatives, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream;
Vice President Productivity, Coca-Cola
Adam has that rare combination of business acumen, deep knowledge of the lean/six sigma industry, personal touch and a straightforward, honest style that makes him uniquely qualified to identify and match highly skilled professionals to special business opportunities. I would recommend him for the most challenging talent searches.
Nicholas Piscitelli
Amazon, World Wide Director. Amazon Customer Excellence System
I had the opportunity to work with Adam Zak in our search for a Vice President of Continuous Improvement. From our first conversation I knew that Adam was the right person to help us secure the talent we needed. He took the time to understand our business and meet with our senior leadership team, in order to produce candidates that not only met our technical needs but were aligned with our company vision and values as well. Adam’s knowledge of both Lean Transformation and Operational Excellence – and his connections to others in these areas – was invaluable to our search.
Wendy L. Melzer
Vice President Human Resources
Adam Zak is unique in the Lean executive recruiting world. His approach is completely hands-on, completely involved. He takes ownership of every search. Adam has solidified his credentials and reputation over the past 20 years. His name is on the door – Adam Zak Executive Search – and it makes perfect sense because it reflects his personal level of commitment to every search process. Adam has been my headhunter of choice for the last ten years.
Peter Willats
Founder, Kaizen Institute of Europe;
Director, McKinsey Global Manufacturing Practice
We have conducted numerous searches with Adam over the last five years. The searches have crossed industries and functional disciplines. Adam took the time to understand the need and the company culture, positioning him to deliver excellent candidates on each of the searches he has conducted. Our success rate with Adam is 100 percent.
Mark Sullivan
Partner, Lineage Capital; former Partner, Heritage Partners
Our firm selected Adam Zak to conduct an ambitious search for several executives simultaneously. The choice we made was a good one in light of the excellent results we realized, and the speed and efficiency of the searches. Top-notch candidates, expeditious process and professionalism throughout. Adam is a real pro and a pleasure to have on our team!
Larry Wolfe
SVP, Corporate Secretary & Chief Administrative Officer, J.B. Poindexter
Over the past several years I have had the opportunity to call upon Adam Zak for assistance in identifying and securing senior management personnel to fill various needs. We are a mid-sized manufacturing company and our executives are required to be highly strategic, yet able to function at the implementation levels of our organization. Adam has consistently matched skills with needs with 100% acceptable performance. I can honestly report that Adam is the most successful executive search expert I have ever used. In addition, I have referred Adam to a number of other executives who have reported similar results.
James L. Sherbert
President & CEO, Castle Rock Industries
I had worked with Adam Zak on a number of occasions in the past to conduct difficult executive recruiting projects and he never failed to deliver. When we launched a search to identify and recruit our new Vice President, Global Operational Excellence at GIA, Adam was my go-to guy to make this happen. As expected, Adam not only met the challenge, he blew right past our expectations and presented the ideal candidate for this position in less than three weeks. Adam works to a higher personal and professional standard than any other executive recruiter I’ve encountered, and he just simply gets the job done.
Mark Nechita
Vice President Global Human Resources; COO-designate, GIA (Gemological Institute of America); Vice President Human Resources, Solae
Adam, from the outset of our engagement, I found it a refreshing change to read your position specification for the president’s role. Your brief was creatively written in a way that immediately caught my eye and piqued my interest. This was clearly not one of the usual cut-and-paste postings that are often the norm.
As a senior executive candidate, I found it quite an eye-opener to realize that, in contrast to your approach, other firms typically employ junior “researchers” who quite often make the decision as to whether or not I might even “qualify” to speak to an actual recruiter. Often those first-round interviews came about – or perhaps did not – as the result of a simplistic electronic selection process which did nothing more than “score” me solely on the basis of keywords in my resume.
But our first discussion was encouragingly different, as I soon realized that I was dealing with a fellow executive who fully understood and represented the needs of his client, while also respecting and honoring the seniority and expertise of the candidates he was engaging.
As a result of your exceptional responsiveness, your individual attention to your candidates, and your deep understanding of your client’s culture, it became clear to me that you felt very confident of my strong fit for the position. Your efforts and enthusiasm were a key factor in my decision to accept the offer over competing offers I had also been entertaining at the time.
Clearly, you have a unique approach to executive recruitment, and this is a valuable asset not only to your clients, but as well to the candidates you recruit and present on their behalf. I have recommended your firm to a number of colleagues and organizations with whom I’ve worked and built relationships throughout my career and will confidently continue to do so in the future.
Adam, it has been a pleasure working with you. Thank you once again.
Paul A. Valle
President, Silver Line Building Products, an Andersen Company; and former Group President, Saint-Gobain
I was the Executive Vice President of Operations for a large automotive Tier One supplier and looking for a career change. I worked with several different recruiting firms and found that Adam Zak was by far the most thorough and professional recruiter I dealt with. He took the necessary time to clearly understand my skills and abilities to ensure a good match existed before presenting me to his client company. I highly recommend his firm to any organization needing talent acquisition assistance because of my very positive experience with Adam.
Patrick Vogler
VP Manufacturing Operations, Silver Line Building Products, an Andersen Company; and former Executive Vice President, Aisin USA Manufacturing, Inc.
When we needed a new VP of Manufacturing for Bristol Compressors, the first person we called was Adam Zak. Adam’s reputation and track record for recruiting outstanding operations talent is unmatched. Adam was thorough and aggressive, and presented several exceptional candidates for our consideration. The individual we hired is a perfect match for Bristol, an executive with the exact skills, experience and leadership style we wanted.
Marshall Andrews
Chairman, Bristol Compressors International, Inc.; Senior Advisor, Garrison Investment Group
I worked with Adam Zak on several urgent and critical placements and was very favorably impressed. He met all my expectations and even exceeded some by delivering only high quality candidates in a timely and painless fashion. He was instrumental in “closing the deal “because it was apparent he had the respect of the candidates and hiring managers. I would recommend Adam without reservation.
Richard Muto
Vice President, Human Resources, Del Monte Foods
Corus plc engaged Adam Zak to search for two senior specialists in Continuous Improvement/Lean Enterprise – an area where the company recognised it had no home-grown expertise. The choice of recruiter was influenced by the strong reputation Adam Zak Executive Search had established in this field, and Corus’ desire to spread the net internationally. In all respects our hopes were fulfilled and we achieved an excellent outcome – both on the skills profile of the successful candidates and their cultural fit within the organisation.
Adam’s approach was thoroughly professional; taking time to understand exact client requirements at the outset and then maintaining a regular rapport at key stages to finesse the tactical approach. Candidate screening was perceptive and reliable, enabling us to focus our final selection in the most effective manner possible. The final result has been an unreserved success.
David John
HR Director, Corus Group plc (now Tata Corus) London, England
I have used Adam Zak for a number of executive searches in multiple disciplines. His firm has delivered, and exceeded my expectations on every placement. Adam is easy to work with, provides current information regarding search status and provides outstanding candidates who deliver results. He does all of this with a sense of urgency. What more could you ask? I highly recommend Adam Zak to obtain talent that will make a difference in your organization.
Gary Berndt
Chief Operating Officer, Babcock Power, Inc.; Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Andersen Corporation
We retained Adam Zak to conduct a critical Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Operations search for our company. Not only did he recruit a top-flight individual into the firm, but he also delivered on what he promised. He was diligent in the process, stayed in communication, and was, as his candidates, always prepared.
Christopher Gleeson
Chairman, GenMark Diagnostics, Inc. and former President & CEO, Ventana Medical Systems