In the News: Casey Huebsch, Founder and President
South End Partners President and Founder, Casey Huebsch was recently interviewed by Canadian business magazine, Made in CA. He discussed the inspiration behind South End Partners, our mission and secret sauce, as well as plans for growth.
South End Partners is a leading Canadian recruitment and HR consulting firm that partners with brands across North America to help them find the right leaders for the right opportunities.
Since I founded South End Partners in 2016, our firm has been trusted by hundreds of clients of all sizes and in all industries, from emerging start-ups to high-growth global organizations, to source their next leader and help them understand how to motivate and maximize their teams’ results.
Using our proprietary, industry-leading behavioural assessment tools and technology, we identify leaders who deliver results and are aligned with our clients’ organizational values.
We are experts in direct search recruitment and people. We are also business leaders who understand our clients’ industries and market trends.
Tell us about yourself?
Before founding South End Partners, I spent nearly 20 years in corporate sales and operations in Canada and the U.S. I successfully built numerous greenfield businesses and developed award high-performing teams.
This is where my passion for helping companies hire more effectively began.
In 2016, I saw an opportunity to launch a firm that could truly partner with companies across sectors and help them plan and execute their talent strategies. Since then, our team has grown into one of the premier boutique firms in Toronto, partnering with clients across sectors and sizes, from emerging start-ups to established global brands.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
I would tell myself to keep growing and innovating.
A couple of years ago, the entire world was reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, and every single business was affected. It was a scary and uncertain time to be a business owner. For the recruiting and HR industry, particularly, the last few years have seen a roller coaster in labour and market conditions and also a tremendous amount of innovation and transformation in how people work and hire, which has been exciting to be part of.
One of our core values at South End Partners is continuous learning and innovation in how we work. In the early days of the pandemic, our team used the slow period to continue to grow our skills and knowledge. We also spent time continuing to build our network by coaching and connecting with candidates.
We also continued to invest significantly in the technology and data insights that help us provide unparalleled results for our clients. We were quick to embrace the changing market and client demands in how we work, and that has been important to our growth over the last couple of years. It has positioned us well to be able to take advantage of opportunities and changes in the market today and into the future.
What problem does your business solve?
We help our clients find the right leaders for their organizations.
We leverage the best AI and behaviour assessment tools in the industry to help our clients hire objectively and effectively, avoiding subjective (and costly) HR mistakes and mis-hires. We provide a bespoke solution for every role we work on, one that is focused on each client’s specific business needs and corporate values.
We are experts in recruitment and people. We are also business leaders who understand industry and market trends, and that’s what helps us build long-term relationships with our clients and help them reach their strategic HR goals.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
I was inspired to build South End Partners as a hiring manager building numerous businesses. I saw an opportunity for a deeper, more strategic offering in the market focused on using data and technology to make better hiring decisions.
What is your magic sauce?
Our magic sauce is our ability to build deep relationships with every client and candidate.
Our goal is always to build a long-term partnership with every organization we work with. When we start a new project, we aim to quickly understand a client’s culture, their pain points, and what’s keeping them awake at night. Our goal is to embed ourselves into their work and be seen as an extension of their HR team.
We go deep into understanding their why so that we can truly be a strategic hiring partner. We are then able to brand and market their opportunities to qualified candidates who align with their values and who can make an immediate and lasting impact on their organization.
Our deep relationships have helped us build award-winning teams for our clients, dramatically reduce their turnover, and significantly lower recruiting costs.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
In five years, South End Partners will be a leading full-service, technology-forward, global HR and recruitment consulting firm.
Our goal is to continue to grow our expertise and our team and to continue to diversify and innovate our service offering. Importantly, this means continuing to invest in our people and ensuring we have a passionate, high-performing team of recruiting professionals who are committed to excellence in everything we do.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
No doubt, building and growing a business during a global pandemic – it’s not for the faint of heart but has made us stronger and more innovative as a result.
How can people get involved?
Partner with us for your recruitment and HR needs!
We work with companies across industries and sizes. Our services start with recruitment and encompass a full suite of HR consulting services. Reach out to us anytime to see how we can help you: info@southendpartners.com
Made in CA is an online Canadian business magazine whose goal is to focus on Canadian small businesses that show positive signs of innovation, growth, and management. www.madeinca.ca