Since 1997
Where CAES began
CAES was established in 1997 as a unique, highly specialized third-party retained search recruitment organization. Our approach was shaped by our own business backgrounds, and by a simple observation: "typical" recruitment methods were inconsistent, and often didn't work.
As business people ourselves, we saw an opportunity to do it better. We adopted a simple philosophy: give clients the level of service we'd expect from our own suppliers. In recruitment, that meant proactively finding managers and staff who would actually perform.
Our ongoing commitment to growth and development has enabled the refinement of our approach and the expansion of our services.
We're all about performance
Because our clients relied on us to find truly talented, hard-to-find people, we needed to build a recruitment approach that succeeded consistently, not occasionally. That approach set us apart early on, and over time made us an industry leader in recruitment methodology.
What mattered most wasn't just filling a role. It was making sure our candidates performed to expectations, and stayed and grew with the organization. For us, real success meant our candidates became long-term members of our clients' teams.
The non-technical edge
A core part of our approach comes from understanding that both technical and non-technical skills have to match the role, the manager, the team, and the broader culture for performance to hold up over time. That understanding is what pushed us to develop real expertise in assessing and evaluating people's non-technical performance capabilities — a discipline that now sits at the center of everything we do.
How we've evolved
Naturally, our understanding of non-technical skills and performance carried over into new services. We've grown well beyond specialized, performance-focused recruiting. Today, we help client organizations strengthen people performance at every level — sharper external hiring and internal promotion decisions, stronger team performance, and deeper managerial and leadership capability. Where technical skill development is also needed, we connect clients to our network of technically focused associates.
Over the years, we've extended that same expertise to individuals pursuing their own career goals — whether that's building performance capability, developing leadership and managerial skills, or shaping a progressive career strategy and presenting it clearly to the people making hiring decisions. The goal is always the same: help our candidates move forward into the careers they actually want.
Our role has always been to help great candidates and great clients find each other. That's when great things happen.
