Finding the right leader - Navigate reveals secret of success

A new Principal for Warwickshire College

Navigate is proud to reveal its part in the choice of outstanding FE leader Mariane Cavalli to take the top job at Warwickshire College.

Mariane is currently chief executive and principal at Croydon College, where she has led the college from being in the bottom 8% to the top 25% nationally, and won several awards for innovative, work-related provision for its large cohort of 14-16 year old learners.

Navigate is noted for its innovative approach to executive recruitment and has a strong track record in the search and selection of leaders in the education sector. We were chosen by Warwickshire College when their principal, Ioan Morgan CBE, announced his retirement after 12 successful years at the helm of one of the top FE institutions in the UK.

Led by Mike Galloway, an experienced former FE principal himself, Navigate’s team of senior advisers devised a search strategy following a thorough briefing with the college governors.

“Trust is at the core of what we do, " says Mike. “This is a top post in the FE sector - finding the right person to succeed an outstanding leader like Ioan was not going to be easy.  So we maintained close contact with the college throughout the process, providing weekly feedback to the board.” 

“We also made sure that our team of FE specialists were involved at every stage of the search and recruitment process."

He added,” It was essential that we built trust with candidates for the post. For such a senior job, it was clear that several candidates would be those with a significant track record as principals in other colleges – so a very high level of confidentiality was required.”

“Furthermore, candidate care is very high on our list of priorities,” said Mike. “We have a very experienced HR professional who is a key point of contact for potential candidates. They are given all the information they need, advice on practical issues such as relocation and for the final selection process, which took place over two days at an off-campus location, we had a team onsite  to ensure the process ran smoothly. .”

“We are delighted that Warwickshire College has an outstanding new leader,” he added. “The board has been a model of clarity and professionalism throughout. It’s been a pleasure to work with them.”

---

For further information about this assignment, please contact Mike Galloway, Senior FE Consultant on 0844 800 5300 or email mike.galloway@navigategroup.co.uk

Notes:

1. Navigate Group is a specialist leadership consultancy bringing a fresh and creative approach to finding, recruiting and developing leaders in education and children’s services for schools, colleges, local authorities and government agencies. Navigate provides the permanent and consultant leadership needed to deliver improvements in education and children’s services through school improvement, recruiting headteachers and college principals, supporting children’s services, developing leaders and providing flexible leadership capacity.

2. Warwickshire College is a large college of Further and Higher Education and is spread across the counties of Warwickshire and Worcestershire with 6 campuses in Leamington, Rugby, Moreton Morrell, Pershore, Henley-in-Arden and Trident.

The College is part of the 157 Group of Colleges which represents the larger more successful colleges, with Ioan Morgan CBE being the first Chairman of the group. Under his leadership the College also gained Beacon status for its work with employers nationally, providing public recognition of the excellence and innovation of its work in this area. The principal also sits on the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.