Plug&Play in the Automotive Independent Aftermarket (IAM); Time to unplug?

Written by Bernhard Glaninger, Senior Consultant AIMS Switzerland

The real search for talent in the automotive IAM is changing into a much broader search across multiple industries.

Hiring Managers and Executive Search Consultants all know, or at least believe we know, how our markets are changing in the IAM.

But do we really?

How often is talent recruited from one company only to face a similar challenge in another?  Who should do the work necessary to evaluate the right candidate? The company on its own? Or should it be in co-operation with an independent specialist?

Today’s IAM organizations undergo constant change, consolidation is accelerating and formerly independent companies grow to become huge structures. This does not only apply to wholesalers or spare part manufacturers, but also to International Trading Groups (ITGs), which are also under great pressure to transform themselves.

How does the distribution of a spare part work in the IAM? Yesterday, today and in 5 years-time? What are the next steps/advances in the digitalization of our industry? How much overlap will there really be between the IAM and the OE aftermarket? What will be the size of the IAM in view of the developments in the direction of electric and autonomous vehicles? We should take the time to find answers to these questions and not simply continue as before, pushing the problem away.

We find that our IAM clients increasingly ask us to source talent also outside their core industry, for example in the Media and Technology and Energy sectors. At the same time, players from these industries are requiring talent from the Automotive Industry, including the IAM. This to fulfil the needs and demands for the new mobility solutions and the providers in automotive. Ideas are changing: the pure professional IAM manager with deep knowledge and experience in his field is still important, but is feeling the pressure from talent out who can bring the necessary innovation drive, and these candidates are often grown in alternate industries.

For candidates who are looking for new challenges and who want to move into the IAM, possibilities are abound.

At AIMS International, we are at the forefront of this drive for change. Thanks to our global presence and consequent organization in industry practice groups with deep knowledge of specific areas such as the IAM, we are in a position to assist our clients in this process, seeking the right talent for them both inside and outside the IAM. Our Consultants are discreet, work with objectivity, total independence and in compliance with corporate governance best practices.

The time for Plug&Play is over. We can no longer take the easy way out and only rely on our personal contact network to recruit the talent needed for tomorrow.

Written by Bernhard Glaninger, Senior Consultant AIMS Switzerland

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