Case Study

37

Positions Filled

5 years

Timeline

6.55%

Average % equivalent of first-year salary
(vs. 25% fees charged by traditional recruiters)

Tesser, an environmental branding agency for the nation’s largest restaurant chains, occupied a niche industry that exists between architecture and graphic design. Given the narrow focus of the space, hiring the right people was challenging. Peggy Shell, founder of Creative Alignments, had been an employee at Tesser, leading all of their HR and recruiting for 4 years. When she chose to leave her position, she continued the same functions as an independent contract recruiter for another 8 years. Tesser had such faith in Peggy’s ability to deliver for them, that when she founded Creative Alignments with the same hourly billing model she had used in her work with them for 8 years, Tessser jumped on as her first client. They saw how much more effective CA would be than other recruiting options in their industry.

 

Over the years, CA hired nearly every role for Tesser other than the CEO. From the head of sales and creative directors, to project managers and graphic designers, and everything in between, CA built the people side of their business. CA took the place of an HR Director, providing a deeper level of consulting beyond filing roles as well.

 

When Tesser was acquired by a large food company, CA continued to work with them. In 2019,  Tesser changed the structure of their company to solely provide design work for their parent company and CA was their go-to partner to help some of Tesser’s long-standing employees with outplacement help.

“At one point, when we visited Tesser’s San Francisco offices, we looked around the room and realized that CA had helped them hire each one of their employees. It was like a reunion.”

Peggy Shell, founder & CEO of Creative Alignments, & former Tesser employee and contract recruiter.