Talent scouting and recruitment

Technology alone will not transform agriculture. It is people with passion who drive change. Today’s leadership teams are different from the teams of the past. They’re far more diverse, digital, and dynamic and often virtual. But while teams face new hurdles, their success still hinges on a core set of fundamentals. At AgKnowledge, we believe in people and empower them. We connect you with exceptional external R&D leaders in our network with the aim to bring diverse and committed talents to your R&D leadership team.

How we work

We work very differently from traditional recruiters. Instead of spending time rewriting job descriptions or building lengthy screening processes, we use an agile and highly personal talent-scouting approach. We search within our network to identify strong candidates, reach out directly, and encourage them to apply. By focusing on targeted talent scouting in “Seeds and Traits R&D” we aim to create a smaller but better-qualified applicant pool, increasing the likelihood of a successful hire. This approach consistently results in higher-quality, more motivated, and more diverse applicants.

Our values

Fairness and transparency guide our process. This includes documenting objective selection criteria, clearly explaining selection decisions, and providing constructive feedback to unsuccessful candidates who interview. The process is one of open competition and should welcome a diverse range of talented applicants. Throughout the process, we are there as well for each candidate —helping ensure that every applicant has a positive and respectful experience.

Pay it forward A personal story about how I ended up with a large and supportive network

I care deeply about creating leadership environments where everyone feels included—no matter their gender, age, background, orientation, abilities, or where they come from. Because of that, as consultant, but also when I was a global R&D head in a multinational, I always kept ‘an hour’ available for mentoring. I support friends and former colleagues with training ideas, career development, resumes, motivation letters, or simply exploring new opportunities inside or outside their current roles.

Since the COVID lockdown and the wave of career transitions that followed, I’ve worked with a couple people every week. I never charge for this—my only request is that they “pay it forward” by helping somebody else in their network. Supporting people in their career development is especially important to me, as it’s a small but meaningful way to help build more diverse leadership teams and therefore more inclusive and effective organisations.

Why do I do it? I love meeting and connecting with people and I learn from every conversation. Moreover, staying connected has helped me build a strong talent network —an asset that also strengthens my consulting and advisory work.