Search #4 by Jose Martins

Search The Global Executive Talent Quarterly from the AESC Volume Volume 44

Cyber Security What Boards Are Looking For To Handle Threats

Record Breaking Year for the Executive Search and Leadership Consulting Profession “The Age Of The Generalist Is Over”: Exclusive Interview With Odgers Berndtson Canada’s Chairman

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The Global Executive Talent Quarterly from the AESC Volume 4

Board of Directors

Jason Johnson, Chair Partner, CTPartners - Sydney

Thomas Daniels, Vice-Chair

Partner, Spencer Stuart - New York

Krista Walochik, Treasurer President, Talengo - Madrid

Dinesh Mirchandani, Treasurer

Table of Contents

Boyden - Mumbai

Karen Greenbaum, Ex-officio

AESC, President & CEO - New York

Ineke Arts, Board Member

Partner, Hoffman & Associates, Brussels, Belgium

Nairouz Bader, Board Member Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Vision Executive Search - Dubai Paul Benson, Board Member Senior Client Partner, Korn Ferry International - London Kate Bullis, Board Member

Managing Partner, SEBA International - San Francisco

Anton Derlyatka, Board Member Senior Partner & Managing Partner of Talent Equity Ventures, Ward Howell - Moscow Thomas J. Fuller, Board Member

Managing Partner, Epsen Fuller | IMD - New Jersey

James Hickman, Board Member

Managing Director, Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc. - New Delhi

Alan J. Kaplan, Board Member

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kaplan Partners - Wynnewood, US

Denys Monteiro, Board Member Chief Executive Officer & Partner, Fesa Global Executive Search Transforming Leadership - Sao Paulo Steve Mullinjer, Board Member Regional Managing Partner, Heidrick & Struggles - Beijing

Aidan Kennedy, Ex-officio

Partner, Saxton Bampfylde - London

Editorial Team

Senior Manager, Media and Publications

Managing Director, Marketing

Senior Designer

Joe Chappell

Record Breaking Year For Executive Search and Leadership Consulting Profession

Executive Compensation

Total Compensation On The Rise For Most Executives, According To BlueSteps Research

In Profile

Carl Lovas, Chairman of Odgers Berndtson Canada, describes how the firm’s recent restructuring has made them stronger than ever

10 CEO-for-a-Day Stories

The President and CEO of Purolator describes his experience during the CEO X1 Day program

12 Cyber Security

Ahead of his appearance at the AESC’s Global Conference in April, Joe Nocera, Partner at PwC, describes what boards are looking for to meet their cyber security needs

14 Recommended Read

Herminia Ibarra, the Cora Chaired Professor of Leadership and Learning, Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD and AESC Global Advisory Board Member, discusses her new book

16 Executive Search in the Cloud

President & CEO

Karen Greenbaum

Quarterly Report

Ben Ashwell Don Hailer

The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants www.aesc.org

David Grundy, CEO of Invenias, reflects on the opportunities Cloud technology brings for executive search firms

18 Out of Office

Debra Jerome, Chief Human Resources Officer at Witt/Kieffer, has been practicing National Karate – including Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kickboxing and other martial arts – since 2008

Quarterly Report

Record Breaking Year For Executive Search and Leadership Consulting Profession

014 Annual executive search and leadership consulting industry trend data, just released by the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants, revealed a 10.7% annual rise in global revenues and estimated industry revenues of $11.7 billion worldwide in 2014. Annual revenue growth from 2013 to 2014 was supported by a 2.5% rise in the volume of new executive searches started in 2014 over the previous year as well as an increase in the value of individual search assignments, rising 2.9% in 2014 over 2013. Similarly, the average revenue per consultant increased by 11% during 2014.

f the major industries surveyed in the AESCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2014 annual report, Industrial continued to hold the largest share of worldwide senior executive search and leadership consulting activity with 25.3% of the 2014 market, followed by Financial Services with 20.5% of new searches started, and then Consumer Products (17.9%), Technology (15.3%), and Life Sciences/Healthcare (13.2%).

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orth America remained the largest market for executive search and leadership consulting in 2014 with a 43% share, followed by EMEA at 33.4%. Asia Pacific followed in 2014 regional market share with 17.3% and then Latin America at 6.3%.

AESC President and CEO, Karen Greenbaum, commented: “Businesses understand that their most important asset is their people. Top talent creates the link between strategy and execution. This research shows that businesses also value executive search and leadership consultants as trusted advisors for their talent needs. The AESC represents the gold standard for our profession and it is clear that the integrity and knowledge of our members is appreciated by their clients.”

AESC Global Chair, Jason Johnson, commented: “I am delighted to see the global executive search and leadership consulting industry experiencing such a strong growth phase and posting the largest ever worldwide revenue of $11.7 billion. The industry is in good health with both a rise in the volume of searches and a rise in the average fee per search. Importantly, while we continue to see growth in the North American market, we are seeing increasing use of executive search and leadership consulting firms in other markets – particularly many of the emerging markets – as the governance environment within those markets evolves. I am optimistic about the future of the profession and looking forward to an even better year in 2015.”

Thomas T. Daniels, Senior Director & Partner, Spencer Stuart and AESC Vice-Chair and Chair of the AESC Council of the Americas, commented: “It is encouraging to see the strong performance of the profession worldwide. The growth of the industry to record levels reflects the importance that the best organizations in the world are partnering with executive search firms, which bring fresh perspectives and insights about talent, succession planning, executive assessment and leadership advisory services.”

Krista Walochik, President of Talengo and Chair of the AESC Council of Europe, Israel & Africa, commented: “As Europe pulls out of recession, strategic issues for business leaders facing growth include managing organizational risk through leadership succession planning, creating management bench strength, and proactively acquiring scarce skill sets (e.g. Digital experts) to stay ahead of the curve.” Walcochik went on to say: “Concurrently, Diversity on management and supervisory boards is now a key priority in Europe, not only due to increasing regulatory pressure, but also to the ever increasing flow of cross-border investments, the globalization of markets, and the war for talent in an ageing market. The advisory services provided by our AESC member firms are increasingly in demand to provide sustainable solutions to these challenges across the region.”

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Executive Compensation

Total Compensation On The Rise For Most Executives, According To BlueSteps Research

lmost half (44%) of executives at the CEO/President level experienced a rise in total compensation in the last fiscal year, according to the 2014 BlueSteps Executive Compensation Report, released by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC). Of those CEOs who experienced an increase in total compensation, 37% received +11% or higher growth in the last fiscal year. The greatest percentage of respondents at this level (45.6%) earned annual base salaries in the $251-400K bracket. The significant spread between those who received the greatest increase in total compensation and those who remained flat or decreased is likely to be an indicator that “pay for performance” is working in terms of both cash compensation and long-term incentives. The last year was also positive for executives at the director and EVP/ SVP/VP levels, as two-thirds of both groups received an increase in total compensation (66% and 65% respectively). The AESC and BlueSteps conducted the survey from October 2014 to November 2014 and gathered 907

responses from senior-level executives in manufacturing/industrial, technology/ telecoms, healthcare/life sciences, consumer/retail and other sectors worldwide. Additional findings of the report include: amount (45.6%) ա Aof significant CEOs made base salaries of $251-400K, while the rest of the C-suite (64.7%) earned $151-300K--$100K less than the CEOs.

gender pay gap begins ա The to develop at the $250K base

salary level and above, due to fewer women being represented in C-suite positions.

incentives were an ա Long-term important motivating factor to

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most executives, with 60.5% stating that they believe longterm incentives have motivated them to stay at their current company longer, until these incentives mature.

Karen Greenbaum, AESC President & CEO, says: “This survey shows that total compensation is on the rise for most executives. It is interesting to note that executive search revenues grew by 8.6% year-on-year during quarter three, indicating increased demand for top level talent, according to the AESC’s latest ‘State of the Industry’ statistics. There is no doubt that, as businesses are now in growth mode, top talent is highly valued and sought after. For many organizations, executive search is the solution to their talent concerns and the profession is responding. “This report also suggests that the gender pay gap isn’t noticeable until the $250K+ level, where fewer women are represented in the data. Organizations risk losing top talent to their competition if they don’t clearly demonstrate that they value diversity and inclusion at all levels of the organization. The AESC is proud to be partnering with the 30% Club to work towards greater diversity on the board and across the C-suite.”

In Profile

“The Age of the Generalist is Over” Carl Lovas, Chairman of Odgers Berndtson Canada, describes how the firm’s recent restructuring has made them stronger than ever

“H

ow do you differentiate yourself in a world where technology and social media are threatening your business?” asks Carl Lovas, Chairman of Odgers Berndtson Canada. This is the question on the lips of many of the AESC’s members – global and boutique firms. Although the relevance at senior level can still be questioned, social media sites like LinkedIn create a perception that clients can identify candidates without an executive search firm, while the Global Financial crisis created an economic environment where this had to be put to the test. Some commentators have gone so far to suggest that social media marks the beginning of the end for executive search. But while the executive search profession has faced a degree of disintermediation from these factors, firms like Odgers Berndtson in Canada are still posting record figures. Lovas explains that business was up 40% last year, making 2014 one of the most profitable years in their history. “We’ve gone into 2015 with extraordinary momentum,” he says.

“The Age of the Generalist Is Pretty Much Over”

Odgers Berndtson is a centrallyowned global firm, with a presence in

27 countries. It believes that its local expertise provides executive search partners who are more attuned to their clients’ specific regional needs, while benefiting from the brand and reach of a global firm. Lovas explains that the firm has shifted its mindset to becoming industry, as well as geographic, specialists. “Executive search and the professional services sector is changing. The age of the generalist is pretty much over. Clients are no longer prepared to pay for articulate, bright people to show up and say they’ll fix the business. They expect someone to show up with indepth knowledge and start adding value in the first minute. You do that by adding deep sector expertise. We knew we had to integrate.” To succeed with this plan, Odgers Berndtson Canada has marked the last 14 months with numerous milestones: launching three new practice areas (a CFO practice, a board recruitment practice and a mining practice), opening two brand new offices in Western Canada and, acquiring Renaud Foster to build a presence in Ottawa, while expanding their leadership assessment and executive interim practices nationwide. Lovas explains that implementing a strategy focused on industry and functional specialists “was like taking the brakes off – all of a sudden we started to gallop. Not only has our business increased dramatically in terms of fi-

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nancial results, but also the quality and level of the work we’re doing.”

Winning Hearts and Minds

Lovas is a realist who is attuned to the changes taking place in the executive search profession. He believes that the value proposition for executive search firms has changed in recent years, resulting in search firms having to fight harder to win business. “Understanding what makes a great CFO, understanding why a CFO is a great fit for an organization, and getting that CFO to return your calls is a key differentiator,” Lovas says. In order to position themselves as sector and industry specialists, Odgers Berndtson has launched a range of new initiatives that, collectively, seem to speak to the hearts and minds of their

clients. It has just announced its partnership with Rotman School of Management, Canada’s number one business school according to the Financial Times, on a new five-day leadership course for CFOs. The firm and the business school worked with leading CFOs, CEOs and audit chairs to design a course that will help participants develop the core skills that are central to individual and team success in the finance function. Furthermore, the firm has rolled out its leadership assessment services across the country, as part of Odgers Berndtson’s national and global strategy to develop stronger relationships with their clients. “My thinking has always been that executive search was handicapped as a one product business,” Lovas says. “Even the largest organizations can have long periods of time where they don’t have a significant executive search. A broader service offering allows you to stay relevant and engaged with clients between searches. And assessment leads to better search work. If you’re better at assessing talent, you will do better search work and clients will put you in a different league.” Lovas explains animatedly that he was recently approached by one of Canada’s largest banks. They had appreciated the firm’s assessment techniques so much that they asked Odgers Berndtson to provide the same service for all internal promotions. “Can you imagine the benefit that has?” he asks. “We’re always at the table!”

CEO For One Day

Perhaps the most high profile program Odgers Berndtson has launched in Canada in the last two years is the CEO X1 Day scheme. Garnering national news coverage and slots on morning television, the program pairs students in

5 stages of assessment for CEO for a day Step 1

Several hundred candidates submit an online application, including their GPA and their resume.

Step 2

Candidates complete an online assessment, specifically designed for their age group.

Step 3

Candidates are asked to participate in telephone interviews.

Step 4

60 semi-finalists are invited to Odgers Berndtson offices for speed interviewing with partners, group interviews, and to receive the results of their online assessment.

Step 5

21 finalists are selected to participate.

third and fourth year university with 20 CEOs at some of the largest companies in Canada – including GE, Aon Hewitt, and Hugo Boss. The students are put through a rigorous assessment, which Lovas claims rivals the intensity of an executive-level assessment (see boxout), to evaluate their suitability for the program and their fit with the participating CEOs. The winning candidates then spend a full day with their selected CEO to experience leadership first-hand, which, Lovas explains, is as valuable to the CEO as it is to the student. “CEOs are very interested in how to

make their organization friendlier to the generation entering the workforce so that they can attract the best,” he says. “This program gives them an insight into what’s on the minds of the top talent coming out of universities.” So what is on their minds? Is this next generation likely to be as disruptive to management structures as has been reported? “When you look at the top 10% of any generation, they have much more in common with each other,” Lovas says. “You’ll hear it said that Generation Y is more interested in work/ life balance, but when you’re looking at the potential leaders in that generation, they’re as driven and engaged as leaders always have been.” With CEO X1 Day, Odgers Berndtson has created a program that positions them as experts in leadership, strengthens relationships with CEOs at some of the largest companies in Canada, serves society by investing in the future generation of leaders, and garners public interest. “It is unique to us,” says Lovas, “and every time I say that I pinch myself.” So it seems that 2014 was the year that Odgers Berndtson Canada’s strategy kicked in, after five years of planning. By looking at themselves, understanding what they provided and then comparing that to what clients were asking for, they were able to reposition themselves as specialists without losing their geographic spread across the country. By accompanying this with a kind of charm offensive, the firm has found a way to differentiate itself from the recent technological advances and from competition in Canada.

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CEO-for-a-Day Stories

Meet Patrick Nangle The President and CEO of Purolator describes his experience during the CEO X1 Day program What persuaded you to get involved in the program? I was honored to be asked. One of the catalysts for me is that I have children at this age who have just finished their undergraduate studies. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a challenge coming out in this economy and getting started in a career. But it is also a responsibility for all of us to prepare the next generation of leadership. I had a similar experience when I was getting started in business â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I was hired by an individual because I wanted to do international business. He sent me to Europe and told me to get involved in a range of experiences and programs because he would need me in ten years. I had the good luck throughout my career of reporting to quite senior business leaders and people that I could learn from. What you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t learn about in classrooms is people issues. You learn a lot of that through observations and discussions. What lessons did you learn from the experience? We spent the day together and the chemistry was very good. We had a lot of time where there were people around us, in employee and management meetings, but also a fair amount of one to one time. I was so impressed by the questions that Jing [his partner for the day] asked, the

insightfulness that she had. She asked me a lot about leadership and interpersonal things â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the importance of people management versus just focusing on numbers. I asked her how to attract bright young people like her and she brought some great ideas. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve actually launched a management development program for university graduates, with Jing as the first participant. She has been on board since April and I actually continue to mentor her. We have a space that is highly confidential and I offer her a chance to talk about anything that she wants. How important do you think programs like this are for capturing the imagination of the generation currently finishing fulltime education? My confidence in the next generation was really reconfirmed after this experience. You read about this generation hav-

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve launched a management development program for university graduates Yith ,ing as the ÄŞrst participant.

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ing significantly different expectations, but I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find that at all. In our organization we have a lot of young people employed and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re helping to transform the business right now. The younger generation is just as dug in and involved and interested as anybody else. In looking into Jing, I really saw a lot of characteristics I see in myself: a desire for an international career, to make a difference, to do something that counts, and to be focused on experience, rather than position or title at this stage of her career. The commitment that Odgers Berndtson has demonstrated to youth and future leaders is highly commendable. Â&#x201E;

Charu Jaiswal, paired with Elyse Allan, President and CEO, GE Canada What interested you about the program? I knew I wanted to get into business and I thought it would be really eye opening and exciting to shadow a CEO. I don’t normally have that exposure. I thought it would be a great opportunity. Who were you paired with and what were your highlights? I was paired with Elyse Allan of GE. It was really exciting and valuable to hear her perspective as a female CEO at a high tech company. I was interested in her philosophy of how to be a successful woman. I got a lot of great one on one time with Elyse. I got to accompany her to a client lunch and it was really interesting to see her in action. A large part of what a

CEO does is try to sell business and to see how that is done was really interesting. Being an executive and CEO is a lot about relationship building. The things that I really remember are the softer skills that you don’t read about in Harvard Business Review. For example, I asked her how she makes sure that GE stays innovative and she said that one of the most important things to her is making sure there is an environment where people aren’t scared to voice their opinions. What are you doing now? The Odgers Berndtson experience taught

me to follow my dreams and one of those is to be a leader. I have a Studio Y Fellowship at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto and I’m trying to build a startup. Drones are increasingly being used in agriculture and we’re creating software to help farmers monitor the health of their crops.

Kaiz Alarakyia, paired with Nitin Kawale, former CEO of Cisco Canada, and current President, Enterprise Business Unit of Rogers Communication

What interested you about the program? I wanted to understand the qualities necessary for a CEO, and then to shadow a CEO to truly understand what it takes every day to succeed. I realized that most CEO’s don’t fail because of the long term strategy or problems within the leadership team. If there was a problem with the company, it most likely stemmed from execution of this vision. I thought it would be really interesting to see how a successful CEO handles execution and the day to day management of a large corporation.

What were your highlights? My three biggest lessons were: The People Factor: I learned how critical ‘the people factor’ plays into leadership and its direct effect on employee engagement and organizational performance. I believe almost all leaders today don’t fully recognize that they really need to care about what happens when employees go home at the end of the day. With this learning, I hope to lead in a way that respects the individual, and often this comes down to the little things like coaching and mentorship that help to develop, motivate and retain people. No Coasting Allowed: Another great takeaway from spending time with Nitin was learning how to lead a company that is already performing at its peak. Nitin refuses to coast on the success of his organization but instead placed emphasis and priority on pushing Cisco to grow and develop even further, be an even greater company. This

refusal to the status quo really speaks to me and I am very inspired by his dedication to this goal. Interacting with others: Another key learning was to see Nitin interact with his employees. He treated everyone with respect and gave them his full attention regardless of their levels or roles within the company. His willingness to really listen to their ideas and what they had to say impressed me immensely. What are you doing now and how has this experience shaped your vision of leadership and your own development? I will be completing my education at Western University and beginning work at a management consulting firm in Toronto. I hope to learn more about the problems companies face and develop a good understanding of key success factors in a business before leading my own company.

Volume Four | Search - The AESC Quarterly | 11

Cyber Security

Proactive Damage Limitation Ahead of his appearance at the AESC’s Global Conference in April, Joe Nocera, Partner at PwC, describes what boards are looking for to meet their cyber security needs How well equipped are the world’s largest companies to handle the threat of cyber security breaches today? I think if we’ve learned one thing over the last two years, it is not a matter of ‘if’, it is a matter of ‘when’. Even the most sophisticated companies are still subject to breaches. This is the reality that we live in. We have a very complex ecosystem of technology, of business partners, of customers and of employees. It is very easy for a sufficiently motivated individual to find a weakness somewhere in that chain. We’ve seen a real shift and a movement from trying to prevent something from happening to being prepared when it does so that you minimize the total damage. How frequently are cyber security breaches happening? They are literally happening all the time – there are hundreds of breaches that never make the news. The FBI reported that they were involved in over 3,000 cyber security breaches in the US last year. There are different degrees of magnitude obviously, but in our business we see, in any given day, probably 10-15 large breaches that we’re helping clients deal through. Very large organizations are probably in a constant state of breach, where they’re managing an individual server or system that has been compromised. What the best firms are able to do is they’re able to contain the damage so that it doesn’t become widespread.

How quickly have boards reacted to the threat of cyber security breaches? We see them keenly interested in this. After the Target breach last year we saw more and more boards getting engaged in this discussion. If you’re a major Fortune Global 2000 technology company it is almost impossible that your board hasn’t asked a question around cyber security. If you’re a Financial Services regulated organization, the regulators have come out with guidance that mandates the board takes this on as a topic. Virtually every client we have, the board is taking this on as a topic and getting briefed on a regular basis. What skills does it take for someone to thrive in a leadership role overseeing cyber security? It is a very difficult role to fill right now. It requires a number of skills and experiences that are difficult to find in a single individual. You certainly need technical acumen that somebody who has grown up in the networking, internet, technology space has. They have to understand bits and bytes and fairly technical concepts. At the same time it is really important that the person is able to communicate and engage with the business. This is fundamentally a risk management discussion. What are the types of bad things that can impact our competitive position? What is our tolerance for certain bad things to happen? Having those plain English business

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discussions is really critical and being able to frame the problem in a way that you can get your senior executives engaged in it is a really critical success factor. The third factor the individual needs is the ability to consume and process intelligence–often somebody from the intelligence community, for instance someone who has come from the FBI, the CIA or GCHQ. Many of the same skills and techniques that our government uses to track down physical criminals can be used to track down criminals online. Do you see cyber security becoming its own function in time? We see it best integrated with the legal, risk and compliance function. We believe that the firms that do this best elevate it outside of IT and integrate it into their broader crisis management capabilities. In your opinion, how well placed are executive search firms to handle the increased demand for executives with cyber security knowledge? Executive search firms certainly have the access and there is the market opportunity there. There are far fewer qualified candidates than there are positions and needs. The challenge for the search firms is to really get knowledgeable in the space, to understand the character traits and experiences that clients are looking for in these types of roles, and to understand what the attributes are that make somebody successful.

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loud!” You only have to read the technology or business news (served up of course over the internet straight to the news app on your smartphone) to realise that Cloud – (the latest collective noun for all things, technology based delivered to you over the internet) is hailed as the future model for everything from internet shopping to the software you run your business on. As a profession that’s watched its own customers undergo transformation and disruption from technology based change (and generally found the executives to lead it) executive search firms are relatively early in the cycle of bringing technology from a back office role to a more central and fundamental position in the business. But times are changing and every year that passes brings another wave of clients, candidates, and staff who think digital

16 10 || Search Search -- The The AESC AESC Quarterly Quarterly || Volume SummerFour 2014

Executive Search in the Cloud David Grundy, CEO of Invenias, reflects on the opportunities Cloud technology brings for executive search firms

first, and firms increasingly need to be asking themselves what business relevance and value could the Cloud bring to them. At its most basic level, Cloud, like all new technology paradigms, should allow a firm to reduce its costs. This may not be revolutionary, but costs matter, especially in down turns, and on a like-for-like basis a small to medium business is unlikely to be able to purchase and operate IT infrastructure as cost-effectively as a Cloud service provider, with its ability to deliver to and support vast numbers of users from a shared platform and support team. In addition Cloud providers can offer elastic pricing which, put simply, allows you to align your costs up and down with the business staffing levels. Executive search has been enhanced by technology. Therefore, having a system unavailable for a few

hours is serious, a few days is critical, and permanent loss of data can put the entire firm at risk. Larger firms can afford the specialist knowledge and skills to run an infrastructure which assures highly secure, available and recoverable environments, but many small and mid-sized firms cannot. Cloud presents the opportunity to address these issues, and build resilience and protection into the business. While the office remains a central hub for the operations of most search firms, internet and Cloud based applications are enabling a shift to more agile, flexible and mobile working. With Cloud applications people can start their day working at the office, continue to access data en route to, or at, a client meeting and then continue working from home at the close of a day. People want to connect to the Cloud using the device that works the way they do: at home and in the office this is invariably a laptop or desktop computer, but on the move laptops tend to be complemented by tablets and smart phones. Perhaps the most fascinating, and in the longer term most important aspect of Cloud is its potential to evolve the way a firm thinks about the communication and relationships with its clients, candidates and other people in the professional and private network that underpins much of the firm’s value. Connecting these people directly to the firm, capturing their valuable insight and data that can be shared and leveraged, whilst delivering valuable information and

About David Grundy

David Grundy, CEO & co-founder of Invenias, is ideally placed to comment on technology trends and their impact on the executive search industry having had 20 years of experience working in the software industry, plus direct experience of working in executive search as a co-founder of Erevena, a London based executive search firm focused on the technology sector. The lack of suitable technology in the market drove him to co-found Invenias, the world’s fastest growing provider of technology for executive search.

tools back to these stakeholders allows a digital engagement and relationship to compliment the direct and personal engagement, not replace it. For some firms these changes seem far off, and for others it’s already happening. Of course, critics suggest that Cloud will cost you more, bring risks of data security, service failure and vendor lock-in, and require staff to be office based. Furthermore, some people argue that client and candidate engagement should always be through direct contact. While these points are valid, they are also helpful as considerations in the way you might evaluate and select Cloud vendors to ensure concerns are addressed, leaving you free to focus on the opportunities Cloud can bring. Perhaps the most commonly raised objection to Cloud is based on a misunderstanding that Cloud

means losing the valuable and highly productive native desktop environment and native apps and being forced to run your business life in a browser. Many people in search firms see their desktop and tablet apps such as Outlook as essential tools of the trade. Of course many of these firms are already connecting their Outlook to Cloud based Exchange services rather than run Exchange themselves. This is a great example of how Cloud has evolved to a pragmatic platform that allows you to leverage its benefits without giving up all the power and value of your smart devices with local applications. Cloud clearly has the potential to reduce costs, manage technology risks, enable a mobile and agile workforce and evolve the way you interact with clients and candidates. If the risks are addressed through vendor selection, and the Cloud model deployed is a good fit for your overall business needs, then Cloud is not only relevant, but holds great promise to deliver real value for executive search firms.

To find out more about how AESC Members have benefited from using the Invenias Cloud applications for Executive Search, click here to view our recent testimonial booklet.

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Debra Jerome, Chief Human Resources Officer at Witt/Kieffer, has been practicing National Karate – including Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kickboxing and other martial arts – since 2008. Here she describes how this hobby has enriched her personal and professional life. What made you want to get involved in martial arts? Martial arts is all about focus, which is also a much needed skill set in the business world. I had enrolled my oldest son, who was 5-years-old at the time, in karate class to improve his focus. I was sitting in the lobby watching class one day and Master Mazzola suggested I sign up too. The first week I attended two classes and every inch of my body - from head to toe - was sore because of the intense workout. But I really liked the pace of the class and the benefits from such an intense workout. It was easy to stay involved as I started to make other adult friends, who were also trying karate for the first time. It felt like a win-win for me. Looking back, I am so happy I decided to jump in and try something new. In my role as CHRO at Witt/Kieffer, I encourage my colleagues to do the same. New experiences, talents, influences can end up being extremely rewarding and make a positive impact on career development and success. Getting involved in a cause or starting a hobby can be gratifying personally, and in turn, professionally. Are there any achievements that you are particularly proud of? On my journey to earn my first degree black belt, I was within two months of receiving my letter to be invited to test for my black belt. I was in class practicing

kicks, and I went up to throw a tornado kick and landed wrong. I didn’t realize it for a few weeks, but after a visit to the doctor I found out that I’d torn my ACL in my right knee. I had surgery and then went through months of physical therapy. I was out of karate approximately nine months between surgery and rehabilitation. I wasn’t sure that I would make it to graduation, but karate taught me discipline and perseverance. I had come too far to give up now! On the night of the exam, when my black belt was tied around my waist, I felt something different: a huge sense of accomplishment. This past June (2014), I became a second degree black belt and again that feeling rushed back. My determination and perseverance paid off, and I am very proud of that accomplishment. In what ways has martial arts enhanced your career/improved your quality of life? The physical rewards of martial arts are visible, and the focus, discipline and sense of accomplishment have helped in all aspects of my life – including professionally.

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When life becomes more challenging, I think about the journey to earning my black belt and the obstacles I had to overcome. I think about how difficult it was to bounce back from my torn ACL, and at times very painful. I remember the mental drive I had in those periods and then translate it to my career and responsibility to run the HR of the firm through significant growth. The ethereal work/life balance is achieved as I keep sharp focus on my family, which includes my two young sons active in sports all year round. Thanks to my commitment to National Karate, I’ve become more fearless in all that I do. Now, I embrace the bumps in the road as learning experiences, and I know to never give up. Each day is a chance to learn something new and to positively impact someone else.

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