Founded by CEO Stephanie Rodenkirchen, Lotus Search Group Ltd. is a licensed, remote professional and executive search firm with a consulting model – and with a difference.
Entrepreneurial and with a long-range vision, Rodenkirchen saw a unique opening in the recruitment and consulting market. In addition to bringing together employes with employers, she layered her business model with fractional HR services and a focus on small to medium-sized organizations, who typically overlook professional recruitment firms due to size and resource constraints. She didn’t stop there. To fit today’s progressive workplace and lifestyle demands, Rodenkirchen included in the model functionalities to address the vital balance among career success, family obligations and retaining autonomy.
“It was a recipe for success,” she shares of how the vision all came together. “The Lotus Group model was designed to be different from the traditional contingent approach – prioritizing higher success rates, longer guarantees and stronger client relationships with three distinct divisions and various specialists. Our team provides integrated workforce solutions that scale with client needs. Whether it’s executive or professional search, fractional or project based HR, compensation assessments, investigations or high-volume industrial recruitment, we have our clients covered and become an extension of your team.”
Rodenkirchen conceptualized Lotus Group in 2019. By 2021 the company was fully established and a new HR Consulting division was launched, serving clients across the nation with a team of 11 contractors.
The pace didn’t slow down. In 2022, Lotus Group was pleased to achieve a 98 per cent professional/executive placement success rate and 87 per cent year-over-year client retention. Bolstered by this success, Lotus Group expanded operations beyond Edmonton into B.C., Calgary and Red Deer, while transitioning from contractors to employees.
Business growth means the need for expanded physical resources, so as the team neared 20 members, Rodenkirchen transitioned operations from remote to in-office space in 2023. That was also the year she launched The Lotus Group’s Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and joined the Women Presidents Organization.
In just a few short years, Lotus Group has achieved milestone after milestone. Today, with more than 20 engaged team members, the Group has surpassed 500 skilled labour and industrial placements, placed hundreds of leaders nationwide, completed thousands of hours of HR and fractional support projects and has achieved Women Business Enterprise (WBE) certification through WBE Canada.
Rodenkirchen notes, “Our certification as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) is one of which I’m especially proud. It connects us to a strong network of women entrepreneurs and organizations intentionally supporting supplier diversity in Canada.”
Through it all, Rodenkirchen grounds the company with this foundational value: elevated service.
“Our services are elevated because they are exclusive, intentional and rooted in process. We don’t chase transactions – we focus on outcomes aligned with each client’s long-term goals. With a proven process, strong guarantees and a highly specialized team, we deliver results that last.”
These elevated services are backed by exclusive, long-term relationships with clients, with the goal of elevating organizations with tailored solutions to drive engagement and business outcomes.
“We empower clients by giving them confidence in their people’s solutions. Whether through leadership placements, HR strategies or workforce solutions, we reduce risk, strengthen retention and build sustainable organizational success,” Rodenkirchen confirms.
Having conceptualized the idea just before the main impacts of COVID, then seeing successful growth of her vision through the resulting rapid paradigm shifts in the workplace, Rodenkirchen sees that, “Companies now recognize that success isn’t just about filling roles – it’s about creating environments where people can thrive.”
To fuel this, she maintains an exclusive model that prioritizes quality over volume and builds trust through collaboration, even as Lotus Group continues to grow and expand its geographic footprint.
“Our greatest challenge is also our greatest opportunity,” she shares. “We choose to work selectively and exclusively with our clients – meaning we do not take on contingency or transactional projects. In an industry traditionally dominated by contingent models, much of our work involves educating clients and candidates about the benefits of our approach: a proven process, higher success rates, longer guarantees and stronger relationships. While the sales cycle can be longer, the results are deeper, more sustainable and built on trust. Learning the art of saying ‘no’ to misaligned opportunities ensures we consistently deliver the results our clients deserve.
“Many don’t realize how exclusive we are. We intentionally work with a select group of clients to ensure deep, lasting partnerships rather than spreading ourselves thin across transactional opportunities.
Seeing the team be so passionate about their roles and seeing the effect The Lotus Group has on clients motivates Rodenkirchen daily.
“The most rewarding part is seeing the impact of our work and the synergy our team creates for one another – whether it’s a client thriving with a new leader, a candidate landing a career-defining role or an HR implementation shaping a client’s people practices. Watching organizations evolve, elevate and thrive because of our trusted work is incredibly fulfilling.”
Lotus Group is just as passionate about giving back to the community as it is about elevating clients’ brands. The team is proud to have supported SportCentral as Champions Club Members and corporate sponsors for three consecutive years, helping youth access sports through equipment.
“We also support the Inflamed Brain Alliance, Canada’s PANS/PANDAS charity and regularly contribute to initiatives such as Horse Power for Hope, benefiting the Kids with Cancer Society,” Rodenkirchen adds. “Our team members actively serve on community boards, including my own role as a board member with SportCentral. We are associate members of the Acheson Business Association and the Edmonton Construction Association and we proudly support organizations such as Pilgrims Hospice and Alberta AdaptAbilities.”
With gratitude, Rodenkirchen thanks her team members, who she says embody Lotus Group’s values daily.
“Without their commitment, Lotus Group would not be what it is today.”
She continues, “I’d also like to acknowledge our trusted advisors, Andrew from At the Helm and Kirsten from Indigo and Root, who have guided us in embracing philosophies that support our vision. Finally, our clients and candidates, who inspire and trust us daily, are at the heart of everything we do. The privilege of elevating their organizations through search, HR and industrial recruitment is one we never take lightly.”
The company is young and continues to grow fast, with even more exciting developments on the horizon. Rodenkirchen and her team are actively deepening their exclusive partnerships across Canada and scaling their model with clients nationwide.
“We are focused. Our commitment remains clear: to become Canada’s most trusted provider of search and HR,” Rodenkirchen concludes. “We are just as invested in your success as you are. We see potential you may not yet see. When you work with Lotus Group, you gain a long-term partner who will protect, strengthen and elevate your people solutions, mitigate risk and help you deeply support and engage your most valuable asset – your people.”
Suite 350 – 14055 West Block Drive
Edmonton, Alberta T5N 1L8 Canada
info@lotus-group.ca
(587) 735-1646
