This is a firsthand account from an executive recruiter detailing how a struggling New York packaging distributor successfully navigated a reputational and operational crisis through radical transparency and strategic leadership hiring.
When a company gets hammered in the media and its reputation takes a beating hiring does not just slow down. It becomes a full blown crisis. Top talent ghosts your calls. Morale inside the building drops like a rock. Even solid operations leaders start looking for the exit. I have watched this play out more times than I care to count.
A few years back the President of a New York City Packaging Distributor reached out to me from his office in Queens, New York. The company distributes packaging films, packaging materials, pressure sensitive packaging tapes, corrugated boxes, folding cartons, and food packaging items to clients across the entire Northeast and beyond. At the time they employed 175 people and generated $85 million in annual revenue.
Their operations manager had quit 3 days earlier after landing a better paying role at a competitor. The timing could not have been worse. The company already carried a damaged reputation from an earlier Covid outbreak that claimed 5 employee lives in late 2020. Workers staged a 3 day strike that made the local New York City television news. Headlines focused on safety lapses and poor communication. The fallout was immediate. Turnover spiked to 35% that year. Employee satisfaction scores fell to an all time low of 42% on internal surveys. Recruiting any new operations leader felt like an uphill battle. The company was NOT doing well after being all over the New York City Local News.
The President laid it all out on our first call. He needed someone who could stabilize daily operations rebuild trust on the floor and drive measurable improvements in safety and efficiency. He knew the reputation issue would scare off most candidates. I told him the truth. This would not be an easy search. We would have to be brutally honest with every prospect about the past while showing them a clear path to a better future. He agreed. I also referred him to a sharp public relations and image management specialist I have worked with for years. He hired that expert the same week.
I got to work immediately. My network in the adhesives, films, and flexible packaging space runs deep after 25 years in this niche. I quickly reached out to 28 proven operations leaders I had placed or spoken with over the previous 5 years. Within 4 days I had 12 strong resumes on my desk. I screened them down to 4 finalists who had real turnaround experience in similar manufacturing environments.
One candidate stood out from the very first conversation. Mike Thompson brought 17 years of operations leadership in the films and packaging industry. He had previously turned around a struggling plant in Pennsylvania where he cut downtime by 28% and improved on time delivery from 76% to 94% in just 14 months. Mike was no stranger to tough cultures. He asked tough questions about the strike the media coverage and the safety changes already in place. I answered every one of them directly. No sugar coated discussions. I explained the company had invested $1.2 million in new ventilation systems daily health protocols and ongoing training. The President had committed to weekly town halls with the entire operations team.
We arranged 3 rounds of interviews over the next 12 days. Mike met the President the plant supervisors and 2 key shift leads. Every conversation stayed transparent. We talked openly about the past challenges and the clear vision for the next 24 months. Mike saw the opportunity to make a real impact and to lead a team that was hungry for positive change. He accepted the offer on day 24 from the day the President first called me.
The results came fast. When they shared the data with me, almost a year later, I was shocked. In Mike’s first 6 months, downtime dropped 25%. Safety incidents fell 40%. On time delivery climbed from 81% to 93%. The operations team stabilized and voluntary turnover in that department dropped from 35% to 11% within 9 months. Productivity gains added roughly $1.8 million to the bottom line in the first full year.
Meanwhile the public relations work paid off over the following 12 months. The company shared regular updates on safety improvements and employee wellness programs through local media and industry publications. Positive stories replaced the old headlines. Employee Net Promoter Scores rose from 42% to 78%. The company attracted 42% more qualified applicants for open roles compared to the previous year.
This search reminded me why I stay in this business. Reputation damage creates real obstacles in business to business and also consumer markets but it never has to be permanent. The right operations leader can turn the page quickly when you pair honesty speed and strong culture fit.
If your company is facing similar hiring headwinds because of past challenges here is the truth; Do not hide the history. Address it head on with every serious candidate. Use your network and a specialist recruiter who knows your exact industry. Move fast once you identify the right person. And invest in fixing the public image at the same time you fix the operations bench.
The companies that do these things well do not just fill seats. They end up rebuilding trust, boost performance ,and position themselves for long term growth.
If you are an operations leader in packaging or films and you want to make a real difference at a company ready to turn the corner send me a note. Or if your organization needs help finding its next star player despite a few bumps in the road reach out.
I have been doing this for more than 25 years. I know what works.