Gradiant Case Study
Getting Gradiant's Geniuses
Headhunting for a cleantech company


Ravichandran Selvaraj
Managing Director, Gradiant
"I highly recommend Talhive for its excellent talent services. Talhiveās team has been outstanding in helping us find top talent for our organization. They have a deep understanding of our requirements and have consistently delivered high-quality candidates while remaining extremely responsive throughout the recruitment process."
The Story
Gradiant India, a prominent player in the clean tech and clean water industry headquartered in the USA, sought to expand its engineering and non-technical teams for its Chennai office in India.
The Challenge
Due to its unique niche and large organizational structure, it required a personalized solution for its hiring needs. Gradiant was unable to close on their few leadership roles for months.
Limited Talent Pool
As the cleantech energy industry is still in the nascent stages in India, there are only a handful of companies that specialize in developing innovative solutions for water and wastewater treatment. Consequently, locating the ideal candidate for Gradiantās engineering roles proved challenging due to the very exclusive pool of qualified talent available.
Confidentiality
For its Head of Projects role, Gradiant wanted to maintain confidentiality throughout the search process, as the cleantech industry is very small and it wanted to ensure that its growth was not made public yet. Due to this confidentiality clause, Talhive was unable to fully inform relevantly candidates about the organization until authorized by Gradiant’s leadership team, which led to a the slowdown in the hiring process
Delayed Process
There was a delay in receiving feedback from Gradiant’s leadership team, who were based across multiple locations globally, and this prolonged the interview process. The time difference in communicating feedback and determining the next steps added to the delay.
Talhiveās Solution
To address the limited talent pool, Gradiant broadened its search to other regions in India and explored other platforms to reach a larger pool of qualified candidates who were willing to relocate to Chennai. This helped identify potential candidates who may not be actively seeking employment but are open to exploring new opportunities.
While maintaining confidentiality was crucial for Gradiant, the hiring process was streamlined by providing authorized information about the organization. Talhiveās Headhunters ensured that the relevant candidates were fully informed about the opportunity and made an informed decision.
To mitigate the delay in receiving feedback from Gradiantās leadership team, a system of efficient communication was established. This included regular follow-ups, establishing timelines, and a designated point of contact to ensure that the hiring process remained on track.
The Outcome
The retained partnership with Gradiant, which began in December 2022, allowed Talhive to address these challenges effectively.
Within just 30 days, the leadership position for a Project Head was successfully filled, and Talhive is now helping Gradiant’s leadership team establish its engineering department by finding a qualified Project Engineer.
With Talhive’s assistance, Gradiant was able to build its project leadership team for its India based office, overcoming the aforementioned challenges. As a result of the trust established through this process, Talhive continues to work with Gradiant to expand its sales and marketing team.