search-consult Issue 29

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2007 / ISSUE 29

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The International Executive Search Magazine Published by Dillistone Systems

ASIA: The Rise of a New Powerhouse HR Interview: Investing in Premium Talent is Paramount at The Hartford The Executive Search Practitioner Conference Review The Value of People Decisions Executive Search and Data Privacy Laws

COMING UP IN FUTURE ISSUES:

www.search-consult.com Corporate Governance

HR Interview

Focus on China

TRANSEARCH 25th Anniversary

SUBSCRIBE ON-LINE

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The Global Search Market is estimated at $10bn Unlike most industries the best known names only account for one third of this figure Which suggests that clients and candidates alike still appreciate the benefits of an individual, knowledgeable and wholly personal approach

which is why we’ve formed

A brand new initiative between

Christopher Beale Associates and Independent Direction – bringing forty years of senior search experience to the express task of meeting executive and non-executive Board requirements at home and overseas.

Call Christopher Beale or Corinne Ingram on +44 (0)20 7796 7701 For a standard of service you thought no longer existed

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search-consult MANAGING DIRECTOR Jason Starr jason@search-consult.com EDITORIAL Pilar Gumucio editorial@search-consult.com PRODUCTION Margaret Jaouadi margaret@search-consult.com

ADVERTISING/SUBSCRIPTIONS/REPRINTS UK and Europe North and South America South East Asia and Australia Yann Le Leyour enquiries@search-consult.com or log on to www.search-consult.com

search-consult.com Third Floor, 50-52 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4LB, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7749 6102 Fax: +44 (0)20 7729 6108 www.search-consult.com

For manuscript/ photographic submissions, please e-mail our Editorial department or write to the address above to obtain author/ photographic guidelines.

search-consult is published quarterly by Dillistone Systems Limited, Third Floor, 50-52 Paul Street, London EC2A 4LB for US$96 per year. Periodical Postage PENDING at Jamaica, NY. POSTMASTER: Send change of address changes to Dillistone Systems Inc., 50 Harrison Street, Suite 201A, Hoboken, NJ 07030 and printed by Mr. Bloom Ltd, Sopot, Poland, www.mrbloom.com.pl.

All statements, opinions, and expressions are the sole responsibility of the authors and the Publishers reserve the right to amend/alter articles as necessary. The Publishers cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage, however caused, of any materials supplied.

Any materials supplied may not always be returned.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any format without prior written consent of the Publishers.

© Copyrights 2007 Dillistone Systems Ltd

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search-consult is delighted to introduce Joseph Daniel McCool, a prolific writer, speaker and independent consultant on executive-level recruiting best practices, search firm strategy, and corporate management succession as our new columnist.

Joe is currently writing a book about the global business of senior management recruiting and its impact on corporate performance, culture and profits. He is the former longtime editor of Kennedy’s Executive Recruiter News and its International Directory of Executive Recruiters, and his views about executive search have appeared in The Economist, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and other media around the world.

LET’S PUT THIS DEBATE TO REST Throughout the nearly decade-long course of my writing and research on the global executive search consulting business, one persistent debate has frustrated executive recruiters like no other.

It is one that often dredges up corporate leaders’ memories of their worst search firm engagements and paints the very best ‘search consultants’ with the same broad, disapproving strokes intended for the most unscrupulous ‘headhunters.’ And it’s a debate that, unfortunately, speaks to the lack of innovation in the search business and lingering corporate misconceptions about the reality and potential of leadership recruitment.

It is the lingering debate over whether search consultants are indeed trusted strategic consultants to management, or simply transaction-minded hired guns or “vendors” who broker a specific, albeit complex process for their corporate clients.

This contentious debate has been going on for years. Today, it only fuels increasingly transactional, Purchasing-and-Procurement-oriented views about the value of executive search consulting. It doesn’t help that, as has been documented in some surveys, only about 50 percent of corporate consumers of executive search consulting are fully satisfied with the results.

Knowing how many HR executives feel about those in the highly fragmented business of executive search, I believe the consultant or vendor debate will persist long into the future unless search consultants break up the status quo.

So how to do that? For starters, search consultants must recreate the experience for clients and candidates alike. Let’s consider the traditional fee model. Wouldn’t a monthly retainer against which search assignments and strategic counsel are ultimately reconciled help to mute the transactional versus strategic debate? In fact, corporate interests in workforce planning and talent pipeline development may eventually prompt a move away from the pay-per-search approach to engaging the world’s top executive recruiters.

Experience also tells me that clients prefer fixed fees. And diverse candidate slates. And consistent results.

One person who understood the value of executive search consulting and its real potential was Jim Kennedy, the founder of Kennedy Information, Inc. and Publisher Emeritus of Executive Recruiter News who became known to many as the “conscience of the executive search profession.” Jim died November 3 at his home in New Hampshire.

He was 82.

His influential newsletter made him a legendary figure in search, and he was regarded as the “conscience of the profession” in large part because of his vigorous support of professionalism and his acerbic confrontations of misrepresentation and conflict of interest. So let’s invent the future of executive search. We’ll make Jim Kennedy proud.

Joseph Daniel McCool jdmccool@adelphia.net ISSUE 29 2007 search-consult

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Edward W Kelley & Partners:

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Creating New Global Force

By Pilar Gumucio

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he executive search industry is becoming increasingly more competitive as clients’ demands are simultaneously intensifying and expanding.

Nevertheless, the same key players have managed to dominate the industry for the last three decades, depicting how difficult it really is to contest. Can a new player really effectively compete? The challenges are numerous, but so are the rewards, especially for a firm that can balance its global and traditional heritage with its innovative service offerings.

Edward W Kelley & Partners is a firm that has emerged at the start of last year, aspiring to be a new global force in the executive search industry. Ed Kelley, an internationally recognized executive search and management consulting professional, who is the CEO of the newly created firm, met with search-consult to discuss how the new firm was created and how he envisions its future.

Kelley admitted that he was not looking to get back into search. However, after meeting with Henner Klein - the CEO of A.T. Kearney Inc. - he soon realized that the opportunity was too attractive to turn down.

He explained how A.T. Kearney Inc. was looking to spin off the executive search unit since “it was not synergistic with its consulting business.”

A.T. Kearney Executive Search, which had been established in 1946, had a global footprint which made it a very appealing firm.

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SETTING THE FOUNDATIONS After various discussions Kelley led the management buyout, convinced this was a perfect opportunity to create a brand new firm. He described how “the newly created company would be based on A.T. Kearney Executive Search’s global footprint, but it would also include other acquisitions, or quality people, that we could attract.”

The founder of the new firm admitted that initially this could represent a challenge since some may not fully understand the new set of dynamics. However, once the foundations were set and people were informed of what the new firm would consist of and what the strategies were, he was optimistic that clients and candidates would soon see the appeal.

Obviously there has been a “good long history of working with A.T. Kearney and that will continue. Both firms will still continue to share offices in many locations such as London, New York, Paris, Düsseldorf and Tokyo. They will also provide us with certain systems support, so there will be a continuing association going forward,” stated Kelley.

What is important to highlight, he noted, is that with the spin-off, the new firm has become completely independent. “What was essentially acquired was the people, who have now become internal shareholders of this new firm.”

As a business that focuses on human capital, Kelley insisted that one of the advantages his company offers is “that all members of our executive committee have

extensive international experience. They bring unique strengths and a presence in key markets that enable us to serve our clients locally and globally while helping us to achieve our growth goals. Without a doubt, we have the most internationally experienced and focused executive team among the major search firms. This team will be enhanced even further as our firm continues to grow.”

WHAT IS IN A NAME? The name of the company has also changed. “We needed a name that would function well universally across the wide variety of cultures where we currently do business, as well as in new markets,” explained Kelley.

“The process of acquiring a new brand meant that we had to create a legal entity, see if the name was available as a website, and determine whether it could be trademarked. In some countries we even had to obtain licenses. All of these issues, obviously, take months to address.”

Within the time limit they had available, a re-branding consultant noted that their best option was to name the new firm after the founder, as most of the reputable search firms had done in the past.

Kelley reported how “the executive committee accepted this proposal, making sure that & Partners was added to the founder’s name to communicate our culture, our unique position in the market as well as our commitment to our clients and candidates.”

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WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HAVE IN STORE? For this fiscal year, the company expects revenues to reach about 60 million dollars, which means approximately 40 percent growth over 2005. This figure is commendable, especially when you take into consideration that the company is still in a process of integration.

“The model we are developing is a fully integrated, global entity, combined with a highly personalized and partnership-oriented approach,” reported Kelley.

He added: “We have an aggressive growth strategy, but our goal is always to be the best rather than the biggest.”

Within the first few months Edward W Kelley & Partners has already opened new offices in Boston (United States), Calgary (Canada), Sydney and San Francisco and Melbourne (Australia), Moscow (Russia), Vienna (Austria), Helsinki (Finland) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates). The firm started with 50 partners in January and it expects to have close to 350 by their first anniversary.

As a business that concentrates on executive search, Kelley insisted that at this stage it is vital that the company put the emphasis on acquiring people more than offices.

“We are not focused on acquiring close scale businesses, but going out and acquiring the best new talent available. Many look like acquisitions, but technically they haven’t been.”

FOCUSING ON EMERGING MARKETS One of the key elements of the firm’s strategy is to enhance its international capability by expanding its global footprint and increasing the company’s strength in key emerging markets.

Although the company aims to maintain a strong presence in developed markets such as the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Australia, it also will focus on areas such as greater China, India and Russia.

“We are beginning to see that more of the growth is no longer based in the home markets of the developed countries, but outside. Therefore, we need to have resources in other markets so we can expect

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Another area the company is specializing in is board consulting and evaluation. The founder of Edward W Kelley & Partners said the firm wants to advise boards on composition and succession. The firm also wants to provide coaching to new internal board members as well as provide board appraisal systems.

Edward W Kelley

to take advantage of our client relationships,” he elaborated.

The company is also targeting specific practice segments, concentrating on: Business and Professional Services, Consumer Products and Retail, Education, Government and Not-for-Profit, Financial Services, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Industrial Markets, and Technology.

ENHANCING SERVICE OFFERINGS Kelley reported how executive search is the company’s main focus, and the firm is currently exploring ways that it can enhance its service offerings. Assessment, for instance, is an area in which Edward W Kelley & Partners is heavily involved, believing that it can offer clients a unique option.

This is because “there is a very standardized and systematic approach to doing the assessment. It is very understandable and readable from the recipient of the assessment as well as the client. In fact, we are assessing not just the candidate but the whole management team.

Our clients can get a better picture of what is occurring in their organization, and we can obtain a better match that is based not just on the position description but the cultural fit as well.”

“From a managerial/administrative standpoint,” added Kelley, “the assessment stands up. You can use psychometric and organizational psychology tests to verify, and it can be adapted to different markets.”

A VALUABLE EXPERIENCE “The addition of these locations, segments and services furthers our goal of reshaping the search industry with a model, capabilities and talent that match the contemporary needs of clients,” said Kelley.

“We stand ready to help meet the accelerating demand in critical markets and industries, and – above all – help companies grow.”

Edward W Kelley & Partners may be a new firm; but at the same time, it offers clients 60 years of valuable experience in identifying and attracting world-class talent.

“Everything about our firm ensures that our clients receive the right solutions. Our focus on deep client relationships allows us the freedom, access and resources to provide them with the best talent solutions available in the marketplace,” remarked Kelley.

He concluded: “Our industry is growing rapidly and clients are expecting more from their executive search partners. At Edward W Kelley & Partners we are committed to building a firm that is greater than the sum of its parts, a firm that will provide clients with a real alternative to what is currently available in the marketplace, and a firm that has both a global and local perspective.”

Ed Kelley has more than 30 years of international experience in the consulting and executive search industry. He worked for Korn/Ferry for 15 years, most recently as President for Europe, as well as serving on its board of directors. At Korn/Ferry, he was responsible for taking the firm into the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, Russia, Turkey, the Middle East and India. During his tenure at Korn/Ferry, Mr. Kelley also led the merger of Carré Orban & Partners, at the time the largest merger in the search industry. Prior to this, he served for 10 years as an international partner with Booz Allen Hamilton. He has extensive international professional experience in Western & Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, South East Asia and India.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.ewkp.com

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The Hartford:

Investing

isParamount

Premium Talent T l

By Pilar Gumucio

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hristine Bilotti-Peterson, Vice President Executive and Strategic Staffing at The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., spoke to searchconsult, explaining that the firm’s longstanding success is dependent on the talent it hires.

She proudly described how executives are attracted to the firm because of the company’s strong brand, very solid balance sheet, and an extremely reputable longstanding history that has gained the trust of its clients, the loyalty of its employees and the respect of its competitors.

The Hartford, founded in 1810, is one the largest investment and insurance companies based in the United States. It also has offices in Japan, Brazil, Ireland and England. With nearly 30,000 employees and $27.1 billion in 2005 revenues, it is ranked 78 in the Fortune 100 list. After nearly 200 years in business, the financial services company is known for its financial strength and stability, superior customer service, and continued operational excellence.

Being able to offer clients such a diverse product range is vital, but the leadership of The Hartford strongly believes that the company’s main asset is its people. As a result, The Hartford has to be very rigorous in the selection of “intelligent, forward thinking individuals, who drive for success and have the technical savvy as well as are

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personal savvy to lead the people in their teams accordingly.”

This success is contingent on making sure that the business and human resources strategies are perfectly aligned. This, obviously, means that The Hartford must have a clear vision of where it is heading and what talent it requires to be able to attain those objectives.

Bilotti-Peterson, who comes from working 15 years in search, explained: “We understand where the leaders want to take our business as we formulate and guide them from an HR component to meet those

Christine Bilotti-Peterson

objectives. I would say the top three goals we focus on are: talent acquisition, development/succession planning and retention”.

MAKING AN INTERNAL INVESTMENT The HR Vice President described how three years ago The Hartford had created an “internal executive search firm-like structure”, consisting of 16 individuals that support the company’s entire executive hiring process. Like her, all the individuals she hired have come from the executive search industry as their first hand experience in executive recruitment has permitted them to effectively search for 90% of the successful applicants themselves.

The remaining 10% of their hiring needs are distributed equally between executive search and a variety of other methods, such as an executive referral program, publishing it on their website and advertising.

Although executive search may appear to be a small portion of how the company hires its top talent, the fact is that it is an essential component, especially when you take into consideration that a mishire can waste invaluable resources and cost the company millions of dollars.

A RIGOROUS EXAMINATION Selecting the right candidate can be very arduous. She described how the candidates

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first go through an in-depth interview process with human resources, then they go through a very thorough interview process with the business and finally they are invited to assist a full day executive assessment with a firm outsourced by The Hartford.

“The assessment consists of numerical thinking and critical thinking questions, a detailed business strategy case that each candidate has to review, analyze and present and then the final part is a thorough interview with a psychologist to understand each candidate’s leadership style,” stated BilottiPeterson.

This is obviously a very rigorous process, but one that has proven instrumental for the selecting the most appropriate candidates while simultaneously helping The Hartford with their onboarding talent so that these successful executives are effective from the very start.

Search providers go through a similar process, although Bilotti-Peterson insisted that they do not go through the assessment process that candidates do. The main criterion used to select their search partners is that “they need to be able to really provide us with strong market intelligence.”

Bilotti-Peterson also demands that their search providers ““really understand the type of talent that we are looking for so that they can bring us the best leaders. For example, for a CFO search we want to know in-depth who all the CFOs are at our major competitors, then we want them to assess that talent. Tell us who the top 5 are in the marketplace, give us an opportunity to interview those top 5 and then help us close the deal.”

Search firms that can consistently assess and attract the right talent will continue to receive repeat business. In fact, BilottiPeterson reviews the company’s preferred provider list regularly, making sure that their search partners always strive to provide them with a high quality service.

Starting this year, she has implemented a process that the HR Vice President expects all her search providers, new and old, to go through. Whether they are a global search firm or a niche boutique, each is expected to sign a contract before the initial search process begins to establish the fee structure that will be incorporated. These search firms

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must also provide The Hartford with the appropriate insurance requirements so that Bilotti-Peterson and her team are confident that the company’s requirements can be met.

A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT “Because my executive team comes from the executive search world we really understand what they do every day, what sort of challenges they come into, how the process works and how important solid research is for a good search,” BilottiPeterson reported.

She insisted that her team is very involved in helping the search provider be successful.

“We don’t feel we are an impediment in the search, we try to be the liaison and make sure that the communication channels are permanently open. We are in this together.”

Sometimes that may signify making sure that the search provider has direct access to the company’s hiring managers. Other times it may refer to asking the search provider for an updated status report, or exchanging ideas on the direction of the research and the target lists.

“There are times when we have weekly status meetings set up, but there are particular searches when I may talk to my search partner 2-3 times a week, and sometimes towards the end of the search 23 times a day to make sure we are moving this process along as fast as we can.”

According to Bilotti-Peterson, having her and her team come from the executive search industry allows them to better assess what their company’s needs really are; probing, asking detailed questions about the progress of the search and filling any holes that may arise. For instance, if a specific company or a particular candidate was not on the original list their expertise would allow them to spot these potential flaws immediately, requesting that the scope of the search include them.

For the HR Vice President of The Hartford, there has to really be “a collaborative brainstorming to make sure we have the right people in play, and then as we began the interview stage of the search we are helping them to prepare the candidates appropriately so that they are well informed when they come inside to meet with our

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leaders. Meanwhile, I am meeting with my senior leaders so that they are properly informed about specific competencies in interviewing each person and see why each candidate really wants to join The Hartford.

In other words, we try to create a win/win situation for all those involved.”

The Hartford also expects its search providers to be upfront with them, especially if they are concerned about something in the process or with a specific candidate.

“For example,” explained Bilotti-Peterson, “recently one of my best search providers - when we were towards the end of a search - approached me and expressed their concerns about the selected candidate.

Rather than simply close the search they preferred to be honest with us, sharing their concerns in terms of their dealings with this individual and additional information that they had heard about him in the marketplace that was not so favourable.” This type of advice is invaluable, demonstrating that they are placing their client’s needs above their own.

“The results speak for themselves,” reported Bilotti-Peterson, as she strongly believes that talent is paramount for the success of a prestigious company like The Hartford. Selecting the right talent is rigorous and must be done meticulously, as selecting the right search provider is equally important to ensure that all the parties involved are successful in creating an effective and enduring partnership.

Before her current position, Christine BilottiPeterson has also held roles at The Hartford as director of field recruiting, HR generalist, strategic staffing manager, and executive staffing consultant.

Prior to joining The Hartford, Bilotti-Peterson operated her own consulting firm, which specialized in executive searches and leadership/organizational development.

Previously, Bilotti-Peterson was a Senior Associate for Leaders Trust, Ceannas, and Horton International consulting on a range of executive search primarily in the Financial Services Industry. She started her career at Korn/Ferry International in their High Technology Practice.

Bilotti-Peterson has an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an undergraduate degree from Central Connecticut State University.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.thehartford.com

ISSUE 29 2007 search-consult

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By Claudio Fernández-Aráoz

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recent issue of The Economist (October 7th – 13th, 2006) had as its cover article a 15-page special report on “The search for talent” (Why it’s getting harder to find).

The indented report emphasizes that the modern economy places an enormous premium on talent, and there is not enough to go around. It highlights the value of “intangible” assets, which have ballooned from 20% of the value of companies in the S&P 500 in 1980 to around 70% today, as well as the various structural factors behind this challenge, including demographics, the collapse of loyalty, and various forms of skills mismatch, from the front lines to the corner office.

All of this shows that the ability to attract, retain and develop talent will be a major challenge in the years to come, as well as a unique opportunity for those able to match them.

While the right people decisions can generate huge value, and even become a key source of competitive advantage under this scenario, we don’t seem to be doing very well.

SUCH POOR PERFORMANCE In the opening paragraph of his wonderful 1985 Harvard Business

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Review article, “How to Make People Decisions,” the late Peter Drucker started by emphasizing their critical importance, by saying: “Executives spend more time on managing people and making people decisions than on anything else – and they should. No other decisions are so long lasting in their consequences or so difficult to unmake.”

Despite the critical importance of people decisions, Drucker estimated that 1/3 of staffing and promotion decisions were outright failures.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz

Over the past few years, the consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton has published excellent research on CEO turnover, documenting both a very high level of turnover, and a large proportion of involuntary turnover.

Interestingly enough, the Booz Allen numbers are very much in line with Drucker’s 20-year old educated guess.

Based on our own research, we have found that even at companies with above average performance and reputation, the wrong individuals are making it to the executive suites, with alarming frequency.

Of course, the hiring of people for top positions will always be difficult and prone to errors. But we strongly believe that the process can be improved substantially if companies are aware of the many pitfalls and have implemented the necessary best practices to avoid them. This article addresses those issues.

A STACKED DECK To understand why companies have such trouble finding top executives, first consider the way in which certain sophisticated skills are distributed across the managerial population.

Specifically, when it comes to complex jobs such as that of a senior executive,

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the distribution of talent is highly skewed. (See exhibit below “A Good Performer is Difficult to Find.”) The implication is that the best executives will perform at a much higher level than that of their peers. In fact, the performance spread grows exponentially with the complexity of the job. Simply put, the more complex the job, the larger the expected difference between top performers and others. The problem is that the odds are against companies finding those outstanding individuals because there are so very few of them around.

Exhibit: A Good Performer is Difficult to Find

Several studies have shown that the more complex the job, the larger the difference between a superior performer and an average one. For example, a routine blue-collar worker who is a standard deviation above the mean would be 20% more productive than the average worker. The figure above shows the typical bell-shaped, normal distribution of performance for simple jobs.

A worker in a more complex job (a life-insurance salesperson, for example) who is one standard deviation above the mean would have a level of performance that is 120% higher than the average.

For jobs of even higher complexity (an account manager of a consulting firm, for instance), one standard deviation could represent an increase on the order of 600% over the average. The figure above illustrates how this performance spread grows exponentially with the complexity of the job.

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The performance spread offers substantial potential rewards. As shown in the figure above, companies that are able to identify and appoint top performers into senior positions will achieve a level of performance several times higher than that of firms with the most frequent executives. Put another way, organizations that hire or promote mediocre executives will suffer greatly from the relative incompetence of those individuals.

THE MANY PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAPS Finding the right person for any job is also hindered by various psychological forces that can easily sabotage the hiring team. As a result, people’s decision-making processes are often impaired by a series of emotional biases, and the higher the stakes (that is, the more senior the appointment), the stronger these forces tend to be.

First, people tend to procrastinate when making these decisions. This is especially true in the absence of a crisis where the tendency is to exaggerate the risks of change and to disregard the opportunity costs of sticking with the status quo. Thus, most boards react late, firing an executive only after the damage is done.

Second, executives frequently believe that the people they hire or promote are more capable than they actually are.

Third, people often make snap judgments, quickly categorizing things, including other people.

Fo u r t h , p e o p l e t e n d t o s e e k information that confirms what they already think, instead of searching for any evidence that might contradict that.

Fifth, people hate to fail, and when they do they will sometimes resort to

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extreme measures to save face. Thus, when executives have backed a particular candidate, they will often discount or even hide any negative findings about that individual.

Sixth, people like to stick with the familiar. All too often the practice of “hiring for fit” is really a mask for looking for what’s comfortable and familiar as opposed to seeking an individual with the best combination of competence and complementarity, which necessarily requires diversity.

Seventh, people fall prey to emotional “anchoring,” judging candidates relative to one other or with respect to someone familiar rather than to the individual needed.

Finally, people often fall into the psychological trap of herding. Even high-powered executives are sometimes hesitant to express an opinion about a candidate that contradicts the views of their colleagues.

A SET OF BEST PRACTICES Remember that the performance spread grows exponentially with the complexity of the job. Because of that, companies that are able to identify and attract the most qualified managers will have a considerable advantage.

In fact, company ’s efforts should accordingly increase exponentially with the seniority and complexity of the job.

Obviously, finding the right people for those corner offices is hardly a simple task, but a set of best practices can help companies avoid many of these common pitfalls: • Define Before Looking: Many firms make the mistake of commencing an executive search before they know what they ’re really looking for.

Instead, successful organizations have the discipline to clearly define what they need before considering any candidates.

• Cast a Wide Net: All too often, companies unnecessarily restrict ISSUE 29 2007 search-consult

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their searches to certain markets, industries or geographic regions.

Because the percentage of candidates who are top performers is tiny, firms should always cast the widest net possible to find those individuals who are truly outstanding.

• Compare Apples with Apples: To shorten any list of candidates, companies need a good benchmarking process. The primary c o n c e r n h e r e i s c o n s i s t e n c y.

Furthermore, internal and external candidates need to be compared on an equal footing. Although the comparison of internal and external individuals is inherently difficult, the process is well worth the effort.

Studies have shown that the best external hires were those selected after several internal candidates were also considered, and the best internal promotions occurred when a large number of external candidates were also evaluated.

• Evaluate Thoroughly: Once a company has arrived at a short list of candidates, two processes will help determine whether each of those individuals are actually as good as they seem. First, the candidates need to be interviewed in-depth using behaviorally-based questioning. Second, a company needs to conduct in-depth reference checks not only with people nominated by the candidate but also with those who have actually observed the individual in relevant situations.

• Filter Biases: The best defense against the many biases that impair the decision-making process is proper groundwork, together with a sound and disciplined decision process. Clearly defining the need in advance, going through the search and evaluation homework, and comparing candidates with the real need.

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• Facilitate the Integration: No amount of effort will help the wrong candidate survive, but the proper preparatory and support work can definitely improve the chances of someone who is right for a position.

The most common mistake that companies make is to assume that good outside executives can fend for themselves. This explains why the vast majority of external hirings are made virtually without any effort to integrate those individuals, for example, by cultivating the necessary internal support for them.

To exacerbate matters, people from the outside are often hired when the management challenges are most d e m a n d i n g . Fu r t h e r m o r e , t h e expectations for those individuals are frequently unrealistic. Studies have shown that immediate performance is typically expected of outsiders, whereas a gradual development time is usually allowed for people who have been promoted internally.

T H E VA L U E O F P E O P L E DECISIONS Research has shown that leadership matters tremendously. In fact, the leader effect on performance is similar to that of the industry effect. In other words, the choice of CEO has as large an impact on profitability as the decision of whether an organization should remain in its current industry or move to another.

In some markets, the leader effect accounts for more than 40% of the variance in performance or value. In such cases, even a medium-sized U.S. company could increase its value by a billion dollars by making better people decisions at the top. That, in a nutshell, is the value of people decisions, and companies would do well to fully appreciate it.

However, capturing that value is not an easy task. In order to achieve it, companies need to be proactive and highly disciplined while applying proven best practices.

They also need to assign their best internal talents to capture and develop talent for the whole organization, since assessing and motivating people is an extremely difficult task, where top performers are several times better than average players. As always, those willing to take the lead will capture the largest portion of the opportunity.

Is the projected talent scarcity, together with the great value of the right people decisions, a unique opportunity for executive search firms?

It certainly will be, but only for those who religiously apply these best practices to them and their clients, and apply, without exception, the highest professional standards.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz is a partner and member of the global executive committee of Egon Zehnder International. He is the global leader of the firm’s intellectual capital development, and has more than 20 years’ experience helping major organizations fill top-level positions around the world. His articles have appeared in the MIT Sloan Management Review, Global Agenda, and the Harvard Business Review, for whom he wrote the bestselling “Hiring Without Firing.”

He is the author of the upcoming book “Great People Decisions”, to be published by Wiley in the summer of 2007.

Egon Zehnder International is one o f t h e l a rg e s t p r i v a t e l y- h e l d executive search firms in the world, with more than 300 consultants located in 62 wholly-owned offices in 39 countries. The firm specializes in senior-level executive search, board consulting and director search, management appraisals, and talent management. www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.egonzehnder.com

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The Largest Search Firms …

• The Hunt-Scanlon Global 25 Search Firms1 between them use FILEFINDER in over 100 locations • The two largest international Executive Search networks, based on the search-consult list2, use FILEFINDER in 25 locations.

The Most Efficient Search Firms …

• The Kennedy Information ERN Top 20 US Search Firm3 with the highest revenue per Partner / Consultant relies on FILEFINDER.

The Highest Regarded Search Firms …

• 3 of the Top 5 Search Firms in Japan use FILEFINDER4 • 3 of the Top 4 Search Firms in Asia (excluding Japan) use FILEFINDER5

The Most Search Firms …

• 8 out of the Top 10 Small Search Firms in the UK, as defined by The Grapevine Magazine6, use FILEFINDER • Each of the search-consult Top 5 Search Firms in Europe2 use FILEFINDER in at least one country.

• 100s of Search Firms in 47 countries across the world use FILEFINDER

...Use FILEFINDER

Why would your business use anything else?

Source: 1 Hunt-Scanlon Advisors’ 17th annual recruiting industry survey, Executive Search Review, March 2006 • 2 search-consult Magazine’s The largest Search Firms in the World annual survey, September 2005 • 3 The Kennedy Information Executive Recruiter News’ annual market analysis, March 2006 • 4 Top 5 search firms in Japan refer to Asiamoney Headhunters Poll, February 2006, P49 • 5 Top 4 search firms in Asia (excluding Japan) refer to Asiamoney Headhunters Poll, February 2006, P48 • 6 Executive Grapevine market share survey 2004 – 2005, The Grapevine Magazine, October 2005

To find out how your business can benefit, book your FREE demonstration TODAY! USA: +1 (201) 653-0013 UK: +44 (0)20 7749 6100 Germany: +49 (0)69 27 40 15 807 Australia/Asia: +61 2 9006 1194 Other Europe: +44 (0)20 7749 6100 sales@dillistone.com www.dillistone.com U S A

U K

G E R M A N Y

A U S T R A L I A

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Executive Search

Practitioner Conference Review:

Delegates From 26 Countries Met in London To Discuss Search Industry

By Pilar Gumucio

W

ere you at the search event of the year? Well, if you missed the latest Executive Search Practitioner Conference, you probably have lost one of the most important affairs of 2006.

Dillistone Systems / search-consult is extremely proud that their inaugural Executive Search Practitioner Conference was an enormous success with the

Nancy Garrison-Jenn

Christopher Beale OBE

Simon Stephenson

attendance of delegates from 26 different countries worldwide. This captivating event took place on the HMS President, moored on London’s River Thames Victoria Embankment.

“The speakers were first rate and it was a welcome opportunity to exchange ideas with other top headhunters in a noncompetitive environment,” remarked Paul Deacon, Managing Director of Deacon Search.

For a number of years, clients and subscribers alike have persistently requested that we organize an international forum of

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search-consult ISSUE 29 2007

this magnitude. “We responded and showed our commitment to helping search move forward as we prepared the first global event that focused exclusively on the needs of the search industry”, commented Jason Starr, Managing Director of Dillistone Systems / search-consult.

After conferring and receiving feedback from various consultants about what they expected at a conference of this calibre, the

Helen Haddon

address those very issues. The comments from the majority of the delegates that attended the conference were overwhelmingly positive.

According to Harris Karaolides, Managing Director of Symvoli - InterSearch Greece, the conference was filled with “exceptional speakers and interesting issues”, finding the day to be “highly informative and enjoyable”.

Caroline Mills

underlining theme was that consultants sought a friendly environment where they could meet with their international counterparts to gain more insight and be able to examine: • how the industry is evolving • where the industry is heading • the challenges this industry is facing • the new services, opportunities and best practices that are arising We were very excited with the line-up of illustrious speakers we had obtained to

Joseph Daniel McCool

Christopher Mill

A NEEDED FORUM Christopher Beale OBE, Chairman of the Institute of Directors from 2001-2006, Founder of Christopher Beale Associates and one of the first rate speakers at the event felt that the executive search industry was in need of an international forum where it could, and successfully did, assess and debate its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities.

“The day proved as relevant to the newcomer from an emerging market as to the seasoned practitioner”.

Joseph McCool, Senior Contributing Editor for ExecuNet and an internationally

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respected writer, speaker and independent consultant on executive recruiting and corporate management succession best practices, flew over from the US just to have this unique opportunity to inspire and to speak to this group of forward-thinking and internationally minded search consultants.

In front of a captivated audience, both experts remarked upon the boom and the vast opportunities that are emerging.

Nevertheless, both warned consultants to reflect upon the fact that more than 75% of placements are still failing within the first 5 years. They suggested that consultants should work more cohesively to improve the industry s standards, develop needed skills and change certain mindsets so that consultants and clients can truly become strategic partners.

Nancy Garrison-Jenn, author of 10 Economist Intelligence Unit publications on The Search Industry, is very optimistic about the search industry’s future as she insisted that there are opportunities for everyone as long as they can provide their clients with real added value.

She encouraged search firms to think about their message, identity and brand behaviour, especially as globalization spreads and new markets emerge. Nancy also remarked how search consultants are being required to have a cross cultural mindset as the top 3 search firms new CEOs have all been selected on this very basis.

ADDED VALUE Simon Stephenson, Co-Chairman of the Executive Research Association, was enthusiastic in sharing his views with the audience. He insisted that consultants need to be innovative and revise the “value chain” so they can focus more on enhancing: their industry knowledge, network of contacts, advice, the ability to anticipate their clients needs and talent mapping.

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This event also served to encourage search consultants to think outside the box.

Helen Haddon, Director of Quality and Process at Odgers Ray & Berndtson, addressed the topic of “how quality is only as good as your weakest link”. She encouraged search consultants to look beyond a successful placement and to concentrate on improving those links - which encompasses people, processes and systems - that could otherwise hamper a positive perception a client or candidate could have.

These top quality presentations continued with Caroline Mills, European Research Coordinator at Edward W Kelley & Partners, who provided tips on how to handle data privacy more effectively as new regulations are coming into effect. She also discussed ways that search firms could better manage the issue of off limits.

A SURPRISE TREAT Christopher Mill, Co-Founder of Penrhyn International, Winner of the Gardner Heidrick Award for Outstanding Contribution to The Search Industry and Former Chair of the International Committee of the Association of Executive Search Consultant, provided an emotional touch by announcing that he would soon retire from the search industry.

The delegates, who appreciated this unique opportunity to gain further insight from this legend, eagerly asked him questions to gain Mill's perspective on how to resolve every day challenges. His invaluable viewpoint helped delegates realize the complexities involved in conducting international searches and the importance of adding real value during this process.

Dillistone Systems / search-consult had organized a surprise treat during lunch, providing the delegates with the opportunity to experience a thrilling speedboat ride along the Thames River.

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Elizabeth Jacques Jones, Director of Prime Partnership, commented: “In terms of delegate quality and participation, relevance of speakers and speech content - together with the fantastic speedboat trip down the river that ensured all lunchtime cobwebs were blown away - this event was head and shoulders above the others.”

Dr Forde May, Managing Director of Forde May Consulting Ltd, remarked: “If you want to keep up to date with developments in the field of Executive Search this conference is a must.”

Jennifer P. Newton, Director of McCourt Newton, noted how “The Executive Search Practitioner Conference was the most relevant I have attended for some time. My two Directors and I came away feeling motivated and inspired.”

Svetlana Sarantseva, Executive Search Consultant at SUNDUS Management Consultancy, commented on how the conference “proved to be rich in content” and “covered comprehensively the hottest topics in the executive search industry”.

She added: “I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and I am looking forward to the next one.”

In fact, many consultants have expressed a need for more of these types of events.

Jason Starr is “delighted with the positive feedback received, urging us to hold more of these types of conferences in London as well as worldwide.”

As a result, we have begun preparations for more conferences this year. Reserve your place early as we promise to make the next one as memorable as this inaugural one.

Dillistone Systems / search-consult is looking forward to seeing you, especially since we are expecting a much higher turnout!

Join search-consult at our 2007 conferences in Hong Kong and London; visit www.search-consult.com/practitioner2007 for more information or fill in the booking form on page16.

ISSUE 29 2007 search-consult

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According to McKinsey’s latest reports, China will require 75,000 globally experienced leaders in the next 10 years. Today, there are only 3,400. Meanwhile in India, demand for talent is increasing exponentially across the board. Growth across Asia continues to escalate the demand for experienced managers, as Western countries struggle to attract and retain this sought after talent. In fact, the AESC reports that throughout Asia the number of searches underway in Q3 2006 was 19.6% up on the previous year, depicting how important Asia is becoming as the latest battlefield in the war for talent.

How can you win this battle? Leaders from both Western and Asian organizations, experts from the Corporate Recruiting/HR Community and prominent Search Consultants will meet to address and thoroughly discuss this underling question at search-consult’s inaugural Asia-Pacific Conference, “Executive Talent in Asia – A Global Perspective on the New Battlefield”.

If your organization competes, or is thinking about competing, in the Asian markets then you need to join speakers from both Asia and the West at one of the World’s finest hotels – The Island Shangri-La, in Hong Kong, on November 6-7, 2007 for this major event.

Day 1 7pm Drinks Reception 8pm Dinner After Dinner Speaker: Tony Tyler, Chief Operating Officer, Cathay Pacific Tony will provide an entertaining perspective on both life as an expat in Asia and on Human Resource Management at Cathay Pacific, a US$6.5 Billion organization with 25,000 people worldwide – and one of Hong Kong’s largest employers.

Day 2 8.00 Welcoming Remarks 8.10 The Value of Retained Executive Search and the Cost of a Bad Executive Hire Joe D. McCool, Writer on Executive Recruitment Linda Downs

Head of Resourcing, HK, China and North East Asia, Standard Chartered Bank

8.55 Executive Talent – The Systemic Approach Peter Wright, VP HR, Refining and Marketing, BP Plc

Peter Haddad

Head of Talent Acquisition, Lenovo

9.40 Networking Break 10.05 Going Global & The Leaders to Take You There Ronnie Tan, Regional Director Asia, DDI

Nancy Garrison-Jenn Writer

10.45 PANEL DISCUSSION - The Needs of the Multinational CHAIR: Nancy Garrison-Jenn Peter Haddad, Head of Talent Acquisition, Lenovo Francis Tong, General Manager Human Resources, Hutchison Port Holdings Linda Downs, Head of Resourcing, North East Asia, Standard Chartered Bank TBC

Cindy High-Fischmann Human Resources Director and Vice President, Greater Asia Region, Eastman Kodak Company

11.45 How Top Executives Get Paid Around The World Roland Ruiz, Head of Compensation, Hay Group Asia (Singapore) 12.30 Networking Lunch Ronnie Tan

Regional Director Asia, DDI

Francis Tong

General Manager, Human Resources, Hutchison Port Holdings

Peter Wright,

VP HR, Refining and Marketing, BP Plc

14.00 PANEL DISCUSSION - Regional Differences in Recruiting CHAIR: Peter Felix, President, AESC Nirmit Parekh – Managing Director, 3P Consultants; Vice Chairman, Executive Recruitment Association, INDIA Annie Yap, CEO of GMP Search International; President, Singapore Staffing Association, SINGAPORE David Reddin, Partner, Reddin Partners Pty AUSTRALIA Addy Lee, Managing Partner, Amrop CHINA Steven McKinney, President, McKinney Consulting, SOUTH KOREA TBC 15.00 PANEL DISCUSSION - Behind Closed Doors CHAIR: Nancie Whitehouse, President, Whitehouse Advisors Michael Murphy, VP Human Resources, Philip Morris Asia Ltd Cindy High-Fischmann, Director and VP Greater Asia Region, Eastman Kodak Corporation Louisa Wong Rousseau, Group Managing Director, Bó Le Associates TBC 16.00 Closing Remarks

Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy, VP Human Resources, Philip Morris Asia Ltd

Roland Ruiz

Head of Compensation, Hay Group Asia (Singapore)

Tony Tyler

Chief Operating Officer, Cathay Pacific

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OPTIONAL WORKSHOPS

Lead Sponsor

Optional workshop 1: Best Practices in Search Firm Management and Branding Leader: Joe McCool

Gold Sponsor

Target: Senior Executives of Executive Search Firms - * LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE * Cost: HK$3,500 / US$475 / GBP250 Date and Venue: 9.30 – 12.30; Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong The increasingly global demands of recruiting world-class executive talent are pressuring executive search firms to elevate performance and expand their capacity to meet corporate clients' shifting senior leadership needs. Join the world's leading analyst, author and consultant on executive search best practices for a provocative half-day workshop focused on ways to win more business, compete more effectively against larger search firms and leverage thought leadership and performance metrics to transform the client experience and build the value of your brand.

Optional workshop 2: The Insider’s Guide to Selecting and Managing Search Firms in the Global Marketplace

Silver Sponsor

Leader: Nancie Whitehouse Target: Users of Executive Search Services - * LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE * Cost: HK$3,500 / US$475 / GBP250 Date and Venue: 1.30 – 4.30; Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong Even the savviest HR professional has selected a search firm for a critical hire, only to find a poorly executed process, lack of communication and disappointing results. Essential for the new and the seasoned corporate Human Resource executive, this dynamic workshop outlines specific best practices and actionable plans for assessing and managing Executive Search firms and Recruiters. Learn from an Expert whose career spans the Corporate, Recruitment and Private Equity sectors about winning strategies.

Optional workshop 3: Asia/Pacific FILEFINDER User Conference

Special Sponsors

Leader: Iain Martin Target: Users of FILEFINDER Executive Search software only – * LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE * Cost: Free to clients with current support contract Time: 1.30 – 4.30, Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong Dillistone Systems is delighted to announce its first regional User Conference for clients in Asia. The User Conference will be hosted by Iain Martin – General Manager Asia/Pacific and it will provide a valuable insight into some of the more advanced features in FILEFINDER, a demonstration of FILEFINDER 8, and a forum for user questions.

Media Sponsors

search-consult has arranged a limited number of discounted rooms with the Island Shangri-La Hotel along with discounted flight tickets with Cathay Pacific. Both of these are likely to sell out first and so we recommend that you book early – and this will also allow you to take advantage of our “Early Bird” Offer for this event (along with other search-consult conferences).

To book your place at the conference, complete and return the booking form on page 16 or visit: www.search-consult.com/asia2007 If you have any queries regarding this or other search-consult events, please send an email to events@search-consult.com

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SEARCH-CONSULT EVENTS 2007 EARLY BIRD BOOKING OFFER If you would like to attend one of our upcoming 2007 conferences at an “early bird” discounted rate, please complete and send this booking form accompanied by payment to the address below; or, if paying by credit card, please FAX it back to +44 (0)20 7729 6108.

Executive Search Events SEARCH-CONSULT.COM 3rd Floor, 50-52 Paul Street, London EC2A 4LB, UK

Group booking discounts available!

Please email events@search-consult.com for a quote.

Yes, I would like to attend the 2nd Executive Search Practitioner Conference – London, October 4, 2007 EARLY BIRD OFFER VALID UNTIL 31 May 2007:..............................................................…. x GBP379 / US$740 / €599 = ............................................……. (number of people attending) (Standard rate: GBP479 / US$899 / €699) + VAT (17.5%) = ............................................…….

* As this event takes place in the UK, all delegates are liable to pay UK VAT.

Total = .............................................…….

Delegate(s) name(s), job title(s) and dietary requirements: .………………………………………………………………………………………….……………............. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Yes, I would like to attend the Executive Talent in Asia – A Global Perspective on the New Battleground Conference – Hong Kong, November 6-7, 2007 EARLY BIRD OFFER VALID UNTIL 31 May 2007:.............................................................. x HK$5,250 / US$700 / GBP375 = ............................................……. (number of people attending) (Standard rate: HK$7,000 / US$950 / GBP500) Delegate(s) name(s), job title(s) and dietary requirements: .………………………………………………………………………………………….……………............. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Optional workshops on 6 November: Joe McCool: The Management of a Search Firm:............................................. x HK$3,500 / US$475 / GBP250 = ............................................……. (number of people attending)

Delegate(s) name(s), job title(s) and dietary requirements: ………………………………………………………………………………………….…………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Nancie Whitehouse: The Insider’s Guide to Selecting and Managing Search Firms in the Global Marketplace....................................x HK$3,500 / US$475 / GBP250 = ............................................……. (number of people attending)

Delegate(s) name(s), job title(s) and dietary requirements:………………………………………………………………………………….……………............. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Total = .............................................…….

Yes, I would like to attend the Executive Search Practitioner Conference in London and Executive Talent in Asia Conference in Hong Kong.

EARLY BIRD OFFER VALID UNTIL 31 May 2007:................................................. x GBP639.37 / US$1249 / €969 / HK$9,749 = ............................................……. (number of people attending) (Standard rate: GBP793.50 / US$1550 / €1199 / HK$12,100) Prices quoted in this category are inclusive of all applicable UK VAT.

Delegate(s) name(s), job title(s) and dietary requirements: .………………………………………………………………………………………….……………............. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

FINAL TOTAL TO PAY = .............................................……. (please indicate the currency you would like to pay in)

I enclose a cheque (made payable to: search-consult ) for the above amount.

Please charge my:

Visa

MasterCard

(please note: we can only accept cheques in GBP drawn on a UK bank)

American Express (GBP or US$ only)

Please invoice me

Card Number: .................................…..............................………….. Exp: .............…............ Security Code: ...................................….........

(Last 3 digits from the signature strip / last 4 digits for AMEX)

Name: .............................................................................................................…………… Company: ...................................................................................................................................…………….

Job Title: ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Address: ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

City/ State/ Zip: .............................................................................. Post Code: .............................................................................. Country: ..............................................................................

Phone: ........................................................................................................ E-mail: .....................................................................................................................................................................................

Signature: .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PLACES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED. PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY BOOKINGS ACCOMPANIED BY PAYMENT ARE VALID. Cancellation policy: Once bookings have been confirmed and payment received, cancellations will be liable for the full fee.

However, delegate replacements may be made at any time until 1 week prior to the event.

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Success... ...is About People Who Lead.

Boyden has been leading for over 60 years, founded with a vision to match top executives with exceptional companies, so each can be successful. Today we continue to lead through innovations that ensure our clients reach their goals now, and in the future.

Allow us to introduce to you the enterprising people of Boyden, and show you how our global experience and personal commitment can help your organization achieve its potential.

Visit us at www.boyden.com to find the Boyden office near you.

|

Europe

Middle East

Africa

|

The Americas

|

Asia

Pacific

|

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ManagingDiversity:

South African

African

Global Advantage

By David Aikins

O

ngoing studies at major Business Schools into effective leadership qualities are increasingly focusing on the ability to manage Diversity as a key differentiator between expected management skills and exceptional leadership talent.

This focus on Diversity Management as a key executive competency is creating a global awareness and appreciation for the qualities of senior management from an unusual part of the world, South Africa.

The ability to manage Diversity goes far beyond the obvious aspects of different racial and cultural groupings and reflects on an ability to provide effective leadership in the context of extreme uncertainty and change on many fronts.

One only has to look at the economic and political landscape impacting on South Africa over the last 15 years to realize that what has emerged today is a cadre of management competence that has had to perform and provide effective leadership throughout a period of unprecedented challenges in many areas.

To emphasize this point, let us highlight 10 such areas of challenge existing over the last 15 years in the South African economic landscape: • A highly volatile and militant trade union environment where the workplace has had to endure political agendas quite separate from normal employer / employee issues.

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search-consult ISSUE 29 2007

• The eventual inclusion in democratic elections of the ANC and other political forces leading to the first all-inclusive democratic elections in the country’s history.

• The transfer of political power to a new black government determined to address and redress the generations of marginalized opportunities for the vast majority of the country’s population.

• The massive exchange rate fluctuations that saw the halving in value of the nation’s currency against the US dollar, UK Sterling and Euro in a dramatically short space of time. The impact of these currency swings that have caused equal measures of joy and hardship, depending on whether one was an export or import sensitive business.

• The introduction of a new and dramatically liberal Constitution which in itself spawned a complete suite of far-reaching legislation affecting employment practices in the country ranging from a new Labour Relations Act, Employment Equity Act and revised access to employee grievance mechanisms heavily weighted in favour of easy access and speedy resolution of transgressions in the arena of employer / employee relations.

• The removal of international sanctions and the immediate opening up of the South African economy to international competition exposed several large, previously protected monopoly type entities to the reality of global

competition for the first time. The imperative survival of becoming globally competitive required dramatic transformation leadership abilities.

• The relatively small and racially restricted skills pool in the country has required accelerated development exposures, fast tracking management development at a pace not achievable for young managers in more established economies. This has necessitated the inclusion of mentoring programmes at all levels of management accountability.

• The introduction of legislation, intent on increasing the economic participation of black-owned business in the mainstream of the economy has further challenged the way in which business is managed and structured.

• The legacy of underinvestment in basic services for the majority of the country’s population has impacted heavily on the national fiscus, depleting funds which would otherwise have been available to support South Africa's mainstream economic activity.

• With fewer than 50% of the population formally employed, and a high incidence of HIV / Aids infection throughout the workforce, exceptional circumstances and exceptional times has led to exceptional demands on management's abilities.

Taking any one of these 10 scenarios would be demanding enough for any senior executive, but putting them all together in a condensed

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period of time, has led to the development of exceptional Diversity Management skills throughout a broad cross section of management talent in South Africa.

It is therefore no surprise to us based in South Africa, to find a growing acceptance and appreciation on the global platform, of South African management talent.

What is of particular interest to those involved in the Executive Search sector is the way in which these environmental issues and challenges have manifested themselves in a set of behavioural coping skills that are highly appropriate and aspirational for the global leaders of modern international organizations.

One only has to look at the effectiveness with which South African companies are tackling new markets outside of their own environments to realize that there is a depth of management competence on a globally competitive platform.

Examples of this are South African entities involved in introducing major industrial initiatives ranging from new gas to oil conversion technologies in the Middle East or establishing major brewing facilities in China.

Given this growing appreciation of home grown competent management talent, equal to anything available elsewhere, it is interesting to note that there is a definite trend to allow the local subsidiaries of multinational corporations to be run by local South Africans.

There are many powerful arguments to support this trend. Some of these have been outlined already as being part of the Managing Diversity challenge, but one also has to look at the real cost of using seconded executive skills to manage local operations. Rarely will they come in with the necessary level of local empathy and understanding to position the local business appropriately.

With a local currency at such a discount to the major currencies of the world, the alternative cost of imported personnel can cause a skew to the equity and parity of local management remuneration structures.

In a young, growing and vibrant economy such as South Africa, the country is exhibiting a rightful sense of national pride in its achievements. This, in turn, is openly questioning why it is necessary to continue with practices from the past that, for some, bear an unpleasant analogy to colonial practices.

In a sense, these new trends are giving credence to a nation that wants to believe in

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David Aikins

itself. If the nation can successfully negotiate itself out of the political and economic doldrums of the past couple of decades, then equally it can take its rightful place on the world stage of progressive economies.

With international economic and sporting sanctions against South Africa a thing of the past, and a first world progressive Constitution acting as the nation’s driving force, there’s a lot of blue sky out there for the captains of South Africa’s economic players.

This new found popularity on the world economic stage is backed up by other significant developments such as the announcement that the next soccer World Cup tournament will be held in South Africa.

The ability of South Africa to successfully host these complex multinational activities bears witness to the fundamental strength in its highlevel project management competencies.

Current local management may have been brought up in a climate of uncertainty and extreme diversity, but the underlying business culture shows a well honed IT, banking and English-speaking business world.

With this backdrop the country’s industry leaders have successfully embraced the challenges of a fledgling democracy and provided the global benchmark on how to reach the high road of consensually agreed negotiation settlements, spanning generations of previously divided opinions and political doctrines.

Having achieved this engrained level of diversity management capability, the future for

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South Africa and its industry leaders is indeed bright, and this brightness of executive talent is not going unnoticed.

The sustainability of this leadership competence appears to be secure, in that the very same environmental issues that have boosted the historically small skills pool to such heights of achievement and exposure are now working equally well for the new breed of industry leader. Since democracy, the focus on skills development and black ownership has catapulted the careers of those individuals who had previously been excluded from playing a significant role in the economy. These industry leaders are now displaying the same diversity management leadership qualities that have now become part and parcel of effective management in the young and vibrant economy of present day South Africa.

For those involved in Search, it is refreshing to see so many new entrants into the gene pool, each able to operate effectively at senior management level. While legislation may have provided the booster cables for this development, it is nevertheless growing the national capacity of competent managers able to operate in a highly fractionized diverse society.

It is pleasing, therefore, to see this behavioural competency aspect of Diversity Management frequently being rated as a critical pre-requisite for the modern global executive.

Here, it would seem, South Africa has the home ground advantage.

David’s early career as an educationalist in Ireland and Zambia paved the way for his entry into HR Group Management roles with Blue Chip multinationals including Anglo American, Bayer, Revlon and AECI. He then moved into management consulting and later joined Deloitte Human Capital and formed part of the management buyout resulting in the formation of the current EMA Partners South Africa. His MA, BA and Higher Diploma in Education, coupled to extensive exposure to ‘best of breed’ HR methodologies has equipped him with a keen appreciation of how to capacitate senior organizational structures.

EMA Partners South Africa is a member of EMA Partners International, a global top ten Executive Search firm currently with 52 offices in 33 countries worldwide. The South African company was established by a global professional services firm in 1994. The firm operates from offices in Johannesburg and Durban.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.ema-partners.co.za

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Executive Search

Data and Privacy Laws W

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e all know that data privacy laws are increasing around the world, but how can you keep abreast of the detail, and make sure you are not breaking the law?

As 2007 begins, there have been some major changes in Europe, so this is a good time to review the regulations, and the way you and your company handle how they affect executive search.

The key development in 2006 was the EU Employment Equality Directive that requires all 25 countries to pass legislation on age discrimination by the end of the year. In the UK, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations came into effect on October 1, bringing us closer to the situation in the United States. It is illegal to discriminate against employees, job seekers and trainees, both old and young, because of their age. So now a graduate is someone with a degree, not someone in their early twenties, and the term “experienced” can only be used in the context of a specific role, not to infer maturity. Be careful to check your candidate reports for anything that could be construed as ageist, for both you and your client will be liable as you are acting as their agents. If your client asks you to discriminate on age grounds, it must be objectively justified, and you should obtain this in writing.

Across the world, Europe is now at the forefront of legislating on privacy. The other countries that have detailed regulations are Japan, Canada, Australia and the United States.

In order to keep on the right side of the law in all these countries, I have drawn up my “Ten Commandments of Data Privacy”.

preference, unless it is relevant to the search and you have the candidate’s explicit consent.

You may monitor age and ethnic origin only for diversity purposes.

ONLY COLLECT WHAT YOU NEED. Do not process sensitive data such as age, ethnic origin, political beliefs, health or sexual

ENSURE YOUR DATABASE IS SECURE You are required to have state-of-the-art technical and organisational security to prevent

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MAKE THE CANDIDATE AWARE, AND GET THEIR CONSENT Make sure candidates know you are holding their data. If they send in a CV, you can assume consent but it’s still best to confirm it, especially if you receive it from a third party such as an outplacement consultancy. In some countries, e.g. Italy, you need consent in writing.

KEEP THE DATA ACCURATE Always approach the candidate for an update before acting on the information you hold.

CLIENT RESPONSIBILITY Make the client aware of the need for confidentiality. Put a cover note on your reports.

Ask them to keep the data confidential and only share it with those directly involved in the recruitment process.

KEEP YOUR DATABASE CURRENT Don’t keep data for years and years. The AESC recommends purging your database of information that is more than four years old.

DON’T TRANSFER IT OUTSIDE EUROPE WITHOUT AGREEMENTS Have the relevant agreements in place, e.g.

Safe Harbor in the US. Make sure the candidate knows your database is international and that his data is being shared with your colleagues.

By Caroline Mills

loss, alteration or unauthorised disclosure of personal data.

HAVE A DATA CONTROLLER Nominate someone to be the data controller in your office. Give them training in data privacy legislation and enable them to be your watchdog.

BE PREPARED FOR DISCLOSURE REQUESTS You need to respond to requests within 30 days maximum. Remember that everything except references should be disclosed, including hand-written notes.

BE CONFIDENTIAL Put yourself in the candidate’s position, would you want your CV left on a desk to be read by anyone passing? Try to implement a clear desk policy. Remember you have a duty of care, candidates trust you to treat their data confidentially.

Caroline Mills joined A.T. Kearney Executive Search (the company now known as Edward W. Kelley & Partners, Inc.) at the beginning on 2001 and currently works as a European Research Coordinator.

Previously, Caroline had been with Heidrick and Struggles as Head of Information for the United Kingdom and latterly for Europe.

Caroline acts as data controller for EWK and also represents the firm on the Association of Executive Search Consultants Data Protection Committee.

Caroline has been in Executive Search for 10 years. Prior to this, she spent time in advertising and marketing, culminating as International Information Coordinator for The GGT Group plc, and a board director of GGT Advertising.

Caroline is a well-known speaker at business information conferences and has been awarded the H.W. Wilson prize for services to the information industry.

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.ewkp.com

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India:

The Rise of a New Powerhouse New Powerhouse

By Nancy Garrison-Jenn and Pilar Gumucio

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ome to 1.1 billion people, India is considered one of the rising global powers, along with Brazil, China and Russia. Thomas Friedman's “The World is Flat”, which emphasizes the power of the BRICs, has become a reality. The Indian economy has grown robustly since the liberalisation reforms began in the early 90s.

Moreover, India is now considered the second fastest growing market in Asia and is projected to become the world's third-largest economy within two or three decades.

R. Suresh, Director of Stanton Chase International in India, reported: “There has never been so much activity before.” The Indian search market is buoyant, with optimistic prospects for the next twenty years.

Nirmit Parekh, Managing Director & CEO of 3P Consultants/ Penrhyn International in India, explained how “the great demand for executive talent has been brought about by

Uday Chawla

the wealth of opportunities created postliberalization, coinciding with Indian companies going global. As a result, companies do not have enough time to handpick and develop their talent” as executive search becomes critical to obtain that sought after talent.

According to Govind Iyer, Partner for Egon Zehnder in India, this country is already experiencing the next Big Boom, perceiving this upswing to continue for many years to come. “In light of this, hiring leadership talent is critical to growing shareholder value. In fact, hiring in an emerging market with a significant gap in supply and demand is extremely challenging and demanding.”

THE WAR FOR TALENT INTENSIFIES Faced with growth at record levels in some industries and skyrocketing attrition, HR professionals say they are spending more than 80% of their time on recruitment, realising the importance that top talent can make for the success of running a business.

As a result, Executive Search is being requested across the board. Interim Management is becoming more acceptable as Assessment is also growing strong. With high job turnover rates, finding executives with the right mind-set is beginning to be perceived as critical as the War for Talent intensifies.

Uday Chawla, Managing Partner of TRANSEARCH India, described how most of the Fortune 500 companies are already established in this emerging country. Currently, the mid-level multinationals are coming into India while Indian conglomerates are expanding to other parts of Asia Pacific, the US and Europe.

Within this context, he urged search providers to integrate more effectively with

their clients to create strategic partnerships, advising their clients on the cultural differences and best practices required to successfully compete locally and abroad.

“We not only focus on the search, but go on to advise our clients on the induction, cultural fit as well as advisory boards,” reported Preety Kumar, Managing Director of Amrop India.

According to Preety Kumar, Managing Director of Amrop India, the Indian Executive Search Market is in its most exciting phase, where the stakes for all the key players are at an all time high. “Indian companies are emerging as high end employers for talent in India and globally. This trend is likely to continue, given their global ambitions. In line with this, we have set up a ‘Family Owned Business Practice’ that not only focuses on global search for these companies, but our practice goes on to advise on induction, cultural fit as well as advisory boards.”

R Suresh

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Preety Kumar

Arun Das Mahapatra, General Manager of Heidrick & Struggles in India, noted that, “years ago some of the best Indian talent left the engineering industry and went into the retail/consumer/banking fields. Now the engineering industry is desperate for internationally minded CEOs to run their firms.

There is also a lack of global leadership to transform many of the Indian firms in other industries such as manufacturing, infrastructure, real estate construction, ship building, automotive and mining. Many of these Indian firms need to attract expats or Indians living abroad to transform their companies into global organisations.”

Mahapatra described how Heidrick had established a Knowledge Management Centre (KMC) in Delhi where they have outsourced all their database research and global mapping. This KMC permits Heidrick to effectively identify and track Indian talent on an international scale.

UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH While Executive Search in India is still rather new, its pace of growth over the last 4 years has been staggering. In the past, most Indian businesses used to hire through their internal networks. Nevertheless, there is a growing recognition that this is no longer sufficient to ensure that a company is successful.

Govind Iyer stated: “Informal indications show that the business has grown at over 100% year on year, reflecting the growing trend that more organisations are utilising Executive

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Search as means of hiring high quality calibre despite the costs associated with this service.”

The first big firms to arrive in India were Amrop International and Boyden, closely followed by Korn/Ferry International, Egon Zehnder and Heidrick & Struggles. Soon afterwards, other firms - such as Accord/ABC, TRANSEARCH, and Stanton Chase International - established a local presence.

More recently, last year Spencer Stuart and Russell Reynolds entered the market. As a result, all of the top global search firms now have local offices in India.

Sangeeta Sabharwal, Chief Executive Officer of MaFoi Global Search Services Limited, a global search firm with beginnings in India, reported that there are also some local search firms that are starting to make a mark, but these are still few in number.

Due to such rapid growth, Dinesh Mirchandani, President India & Director, Asia Pacific of Boyden, cautioned “India's executive search firms to get their own house in order in terms of ethics, client commitments and internal HR practices. Many are personalityled firms that lack scalability and pay only lipservice to processes, governance, etc.”

He strongly believes that the industry “is ripe for certification, and then later, consolidation.”

Preety Kumar agreed, insisting that the time is right for search firms to focus on training their consultants and pushing them on quality and speed.

THE PARADOX OF TIME “Just like Saudi Arabia is the place for oil, India is the place for human resources. At the moment, this country supplies technical manpower, specialized HR, but when it comes to leadership this area requires further development, thereby, placing a premium on the talent that is available," stated R. Suresh.

This, in turn, is generating an unprecedented demand for search.

Nirmit Parekh pointed out that "at the same time, there are a number of challenges search consultants are facing: extremely high talent mobility, the multiple job offers candidates are receiving, enormous pressure to close the search faster and growing instances where candidates at the very last minute do not join a client’s business leaving the search consultant to redo the search."

Uday Chawla explained how taxing the

Dinesh Mirchandani

situation can be as an “active job seeker has at least two job offers in his or her pocket. As a result, the number of instances where candidates accept offers and then decline to join will continue to increase as consultants must work extremely hard to keep them interested in their clients’ offer.”

Companies do not want to “miss the bus”, reported Govind Iyer, as they are demanding that their search providers find them the best candidate in the shortest possible time.

“Compounded with that, most high quality candidates are typically seeing a lot of growth opportunities in their current companies or if they are open to a move, have many compelling offers. Hence, it is a challenging task for companies and search firms to identify and then ensure that the candidate is joining for the right reasons.”

Due to the intense pressure, there is an increasing need to work within very limited time frames. R. Suresh described how “in the US or UK you can commit to presenting your first short list in one or two months. In India you have to present the first short list in 2 weeks as clients are anxious to hire executives and candidates are anxious to explore new job opportunities.”

“Everyone is in a hurry,” stated Sangeeta Sabharwal. “You have an economy that is growing by 8% and everyone wants you to attain their guy yesterday. It is almost like a wish list: we want this in-depth process, we want it at this set price and we want it completed by yesterday.”

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Sangeeta Sabharwal

FLEXING THE MUSCLES The Indian search market started to develop within the sectors of industry, technology, telecommunications and business process outsourcing (BPO). Now new industries are also starting to flourish.

For example, retail giants such as Carrefour and Walmart are poised to enter the Indian market. In the pharmaceutical sector, 8 of the top 10 firms conduct R&D in India. In fact, India is now the biggest generic R&D manufacturer as the demand for this sector continues to increase.

Clinical Research Outsourcing (CRO) is a new industry based in India - that is predicted to be worth $380 million by 2010, as American and European companies look to cut the cost of drug development.

According to Uday Chawla, retail and luxury goods, insurance and financial services, construction and infrastructure, energy as well as IT enabled services are some of the drivers that generate the most demand for search.

“It used to be software in the 90s, now it’s the IT-enabled business as India is emerging as the global back office centre. This is a particularly interesting sector since the only raw material this area requires is people,” remarked R. Suresh.

He also reported how “foreign and private investments are aiding the growth of a service economy. As a result, a tremendous amount of sophisticated consumer and corporate service businesses are popping up. India, which has a strong entrepreneurial and

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innovative culture, is taking advantage of the current situation to prosper.”

Meanwhile, “there are certain laws that have been passed in Corporate Governance and there is a great need to update NonExecutive Director teams, especially in retail, biotechnologies and hospitality,” noted Sangeeta Sabharwal.

Preety Kumar confirmed that the Board Practice sector is flourishing as boards are becoming more strategic. Although board reviews may still be in an infancy stage, they will evolve quickly in the next 3-5 years, especially as the laws continue to change.

From January 2006, every Indian-listed company is required to have a minimum of 50% independent directors. This will definitely encourage the development of a significant board practice as India continues to professionalise its executive and non-executive teams.

In light of this, Egon Zehnder, in partnership with Wharton, has pioneered a program for Executive and Independent Directors. This is just one more example of how search providers are continuing to add value, establishing long-term partnerships with their clients.

'past baggage' into the selected role,” he added.

India is also gaining appeal among many foreigners who are looking to work in this emerging market. R. Suresh explained that “while building career credentials is one of the reasons that foreigners are coming to India, the fact that the gap between Indian and global salaries is decreasing, coupled with a purchasing power advantage in India, makes it an attractive destination.”

Sangeeta Sabharwal pointed out how India is emerging as a global talent source for many top international companies. “The most recent appointment to make headlines has been Indra Nooyi, the newly appointed CEO of PepsiCo. This appointment has generating more demand for senior Indian talent, with the ability to interact with western customers in English and a managerial talent pool which has a very flexible and cosmopolitan mindset.”

As a result, many businesses and search firms are looking to India to gain a competitive edge. Although new challenges are arising, the country has a bright future. Until recently, when people spoke of the Asian giant, immediately China came to mind. Now, India has become a formidable competitor.

SEARCHING FOR TALENT With such high levels of demand for top talent, coupled with such high levels of job turnovers, where do search consultants source their talent?

Around 90% of firms operating in India are looking for native talent. At the same time, Indian professionals that left a decade or two ago for better career paths overseas are now looking to return home.

Govind Iyer insisted that while there is an increasing desire for Indians to move back, it is important to ensure they are able to culturally integrate into their work environment and that they haven't been too disconnected with the significant changes that have been occurring in the Indian economy during their absence.

“Some industries, like Technology and Financial services, lend themselves much easier to migrate people back and forth. Other industries, like consumer and retail, have changed so dramatically over the last few years in India. It is, therefore, important to ensure that the individual does not carry any

Nancy Garrison-Jenn has dual American/ French nationality and is based in London, after having lived for 8 years in Paris. She has her own consulting firm, which closely tracks the executive search world for multinational firms. She previously had a 20-year career in international marketing management with Gillette, Revlon, LVMH and Warner Communications.

Mrs. Garrison-Jenn has written 10 authoritative books for the Economist on executive search in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Asia Pacific region. A recent book called “Headhunters and how to use them” was published by Profile Books in April 2005. She also has written a bestselling book called “The Global 200 Executive Recruiters” (Jossey Bass/Wiley) profiling 200 outstanding search consultants around the world. Mrs. Garrison-Jenn is currently doing research on the executive search profession in emerging markets (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

She has been a consultant to many multinational firms (including Chanel, Coca Cola, Diageo, Estée Lauder, Goldman Sachs, KAO, KPMG, LVMH, Philips,Revlon, Sanofi, United Technologies, Viacom) on the selection of headhunters. She lectures Executive MBA and Sloan students at LBS and also consults at IMD, Oxford Said, Cambridge Judge Institute, Chicago, Columbia, Esade, IE and other leading business schools on networking in the executive search world. She also runs a networking panel for Harvard/ HBS alumni in Europe each year.

www.search-consult.com For more information contact: Email: nancy@ngjenn.com

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Executive

inIndia Search

By Charul Madan

T

oday, India is one of the strongest growing emerging markets globally but Corporate India isn't celebrating.

Instead, it’s busy trying to cope with an unprecedented demand for the best human capital.

To put it in perspective, according to McKinsey’s estimates, India’s factories will need 73 million workers by 2015. Projections show that by 2010, the IT/ITES sector will need a workforce of 2.3 million to maintain its current market share. The Retail sector is expected to create 150,000 to 200,000 jobs in 2006. Finance and Insurance are also developing fast. With the Telecom sector growing at around 70% every year, the demand for skilled manpower is exponentially rising.

It is clearly an employee’s market - or at least perceived to be given that the availability of true leaders is limited while the demand for them continues to skyrocket.

As every sector continues to expand, companies are trying to deal with the constant challenge of attracting, and more importantly retaining, top talent.

This surely has meant that all the search firms that currently operate in India, and those that still plan to set an office in the future, will have more mandates to contend with. The most prominent search firms operating in India include Heidrick/ Struggles, Korn/Ferry, Egon Zehnder, and Executive Access. Spencer Stuart and

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Russell Reynolds have both set up shot last year.

From a talent perspective, search firms in India are increasingly advising clients and candidates on how to best approach the following issues: • Various multinational companies are already here, and are planning to expand their current operations. New start-ups want to build their main line or back office operations here, including mid-cap companies out of Europe and the Americas.

• A lot of Indian companies are becoming global players. Therefore, they are requesting mandates originating from India, which was never the case before.

• Indian human capital is increasingly being considered as global talent, and this is no longer just restricted to the technology sector.

• Top Indian human capital needs to be globally deployable, innovative, fleet footed, in a position to manage regional/international roles and thus manage a culturally diverse team.

WHAT IS DRIVING SEARCH? Multinational companies and Indian corporations that are already running, or want to run, more professional and global businesses, are driving search. The amount of search mandates continues to increase as more companies and leaders in India are

seeing retained executive search as a critical management tool. They are progressively listening and are more open to bring on board top talent, even if there are no ready specs in place.

Today, I can call up my client and tell him: “You know what, I met this individual and I feel he can be a tremendous resource, he fits in with your organisation's culture and you should bring him on board.”

The dynamics of the business have also changed as clients are becoming more aware of the benefits executive search provides them, demanding greater accountability and ownership as well as evidence to be able to quantify the delivery.

It has thus become increasingly important for a good search firm in India to add value to the client’s business, making a real impact.

Consultants must also be sensitive to the different needs of an Indian corporate versus a MNC. Another critical differentiator between search firms is knowledge management since information is the key to a successful search business. Therefore, a search firm’s research capabilities must also be used to distinguish a good search firm from the rest.

Unlike some of the other countries the Indian client is more demanding when it comes to turnaround time of a search, as having a good research base is essential to achieve this objective.

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Search firms used to differentiate themselves by showcasing international presence, technology, and common best practices. Today, these are either considered a given or not perceived to be so critical.

For example, when it comes to identifying talent for companies in India or for positions based outside, then the client is not really focussing on the firm’s international presence but the expertise and access to the specific talent pool that the client requires.

At the same time, executive search services are being utilised in India in areas that were never so active. For instance, I met with a Private Equity player recently and his mandate was to help him identify entrepreneurs! These areas include Board level facilitations, Advisory members and Educational Institutions.

OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES The flurry of activity has brought challenges for the search partner. One of these is the search consultant’s ability to truly be able to identify the best talent. In the current scenario, the market is driving companies to perform well. It is said: ”If you are not doing well in India, there has to be something fundamentally wrong with your business.” Therefore, the success that is occurring may not necessarily be based solely on talent. It is the job of a good search firm to be able to identify those people look good from those that are really good.

A bad placement at the top level can be a very expensive proposition for the client.

It also reflects negatively on the search partner’s performance since they should be able to ensure the executive’s successful placement, making sure that he remains at the firm for a very long time.

Nevertheless, these challenges are new to Indian search consultants, as they must learn to adapt. They must also start educating candidates on the impact their actions may have.

I recently met a prospective client who reported how his multinational company had run a 5-month search for a C-level position. After a series of meetings and discussions, they had finally made an offer to an individual who had accepted the role.

Everything was set to have him begin, even coordinating a meeting with some executives

Charul Madan

from the company’s US office just 2 days before his joining date.

This gentleman did not turn up for those meetings, and then on the last day politely declined to join. Can you imagine the position of the HR manager, the flux that was created, and not to mention the cost the company must have incurred? Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. More and more employers are requiring the service of a good search firm because they are plugged in, can sieve the serious contenders from those that are simply fishing and have strong relationships with candidates to see this process through.

A good search firm must be able to identify the right employer for the individual, as he/she has also become very conscious of the prospective employer’s credibility and culture worthiness. One must also keep in mind that Indians now are equally, if not more, keen to work with an Indian company that is moving in the right direction and is expanding, not just here but globally.

At Executive Access, we introduced the concept of linking a part of our search fee to the performance of the candidate, and this has helped us bring greater accountability to the table as well as to become real partners with our clients.

Thanks to the vibrant economy, coupled with a growing awareness of the War for Talent, compensation has increased. For those who are really good at what they do, compensation hikes have gone beyond the

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25% mark, and expectations may even be more. Search firms must really manage this aspect for the client from the very beginning of the search process, instead of waiting until the end where, if not properly managed, it can cause surprises.

The good news also is that more than ever before, today Indians, or people of Indian origin, are keen to be in India and the number of returning Indians is the highest ever. I have personally conducted three CXO- level positions in the past few months where people of Indian origin have come from Canada and Singapore. They understand the culture here and also bring with them specialist as well international exposure. There is also this growing number of Europeans, Americans, etc who are keen to be here and have an India experience on their resume. Companies and search firms will have to constantly be innovative in who and where they hire.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE International search firms have begun operating in India since the mid 90s. Today the size of the retained executive search business in India is around $US 45 million, and most top tier firms have grown by almost 50% over the last year. The existing firms have now expanded to more than one office in India. In fact, Executive Access now has 5 offices from the first one that we set up in 1995 in New Delhi.

Most of the search firms that I know are also expanding in terms of their Partners, Consultants and Research strength. Within the last 12 months, Executive Access, for example, has hired 15 campus graduates to just focus on core research and to build information capability. It has also hired 5 top executive recruiters to head or co-head different practice groups.

All firms have an industry as well as a functional focus. Unlike other markets in the region, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, India has very few firms that have a niche focus.

KEY SECTORS: Private Equity, Financial Services, Healthcare services and biotech, Media, Retail, Telecom, Knowledge Process Outsourcing and High Tech.

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KEY SEARCH MARKETS IN INDIA: New Delhi and the surrounding region, Mumbai, Pune, and some key cities in the south of India.

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Executive Search Events 2007 IIC Partners Asia Pacific Regional Meeting

WHERE ARE SEARCH FIRMS HIRING FROM: There is an enormous amount of movement from search firm to another. A lot of people have now been hired from the industry and sectors of focus, but it is much more apparent as people see executive search as an interesting and serious career proposition.

The search business in India is clearly entering a new phase of recognition and maturity. As the search industry comes of age, demand will continue to increase as more and more companies are using this service. At the same time, search providers must understand that with growth comes greater responsibility and accountability, especially as search providers become true partners with their clients and candidates.

Charul Madan, who joined Executive Access as Partner in 2000, leads a team of Researchers, Associates, and Senior Consultants in facilitating executive search assignments for a diverse client base. Charul’s experience in search covers all levels of management with a focus on C-level searches, Business Heads, as well as all functional areas reporting to these roles. His industry experience has covered a variety of sectors, including consumer, entertainment, media, telecom, technology, and retail.

He is also involved in projects related to management appraisals and managing cross border searches with the firm’s European partner.

Prior to joining Executive Access, he was working with Planman Consulting, which is today India's largest multi-interest consulting and business services firm with offices across India, Asia, Europe, and Americas.

Before leaving, he had been heading the Training & Development division of the firm and was managing a pan-India team while building up businesses with multinational and Indian companies. He also facilitated a number of behavioral based training programs for their client base. He also sits on the board of Swarp Electronics, a US$ 3 million Indo Swiss Joint Venture, which he co-founded in 2000.

Executive Access, established in 1988, has been committed to creating an executive search service that is distinct and special. Since then, it has gone on to become the largest executive search firm in Asia.

Executive Access covers over 15 countries and its 90 consultants situated globally, collectively speak over 20 different languages. Its clientele boasts of Global 500 companies across the world. Networked through Asia, it also has major partners in the United States and Europe. India’s operations of Executive Access were set up in 1995. The firm, which consists of 7 practice areas and has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Pune is considered one of the largest and most successful search firms in India today.

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FEBRUARY 21-23 Tokyo, Japan MARCH 21-22 San Francisco, CA, USA 27-29 Brussels, Belgium

Executive Search Workshops Executive Search Workshops

APRIL 17-18 19-20 20 25 26-27 27-28 27-29

Executive Search Workshops IIC Partners Americas Regional Meeting TRANSEARCH Partners Meeting FILEFINDER Americas User Conference Executive Search Workshops AIMS Partners Meeting Horton Global Partners Meeting

London, UK Miami, FL, USA Paris, France New York, NY, USA New York, NY, USA Bergen, Norway San Francisco, CA, USA

EREC 2007 ER International Partners Meeting CFR Consulting Group Partners Meeting Online Research Training Workshops IIC Partners European Regional Meeting EMA EMEA Regional Partners Meeting

MAY 2-3 5-7 10 14-18 23-25 TBC

EESN Partners Meeting Alexander Hughes International Meeting of Consultants

JUNE 1-2 Stockholm, Sweden TBC Cyprus

AIMS Partners Meeting Horton Regional Partners Meeting ER International Partners Meeting

London, UK Lake Maggiore, Italy Milan, Italy London, UK Madrid, Spain Vienna, Austria

SEPTEMBER 6-8 Dubai, UAE 7-9 Dublin, Ireland 21-24 Timsoara/Brasov, Romania OCTOBER

The 2nd Executive Search Practitioner Conference FILEFINDER Global User Conference CFR Consulting Group Partners Meeting IRC Recruitment Annual Conference IIC Partners Annual General Meeting EMA Global Partners Meeting FILEFINDER Asia User Conference Executive Talent in Asia: The Global Perspective on the New Battleground EESN Partners Meeting

4 5 11 11-12 17-19 TBC

London, UK London, UK Lisbon, Portugal Madrid, Spain Vienna, Austria Barcelona, Spain

NOVEMBER 6 Hong Kong, China 6-7 Hong Kong, China TBC Athens, Greece

www.search-consult.com For more information visit: Web: www.execaccess.com

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- see FILEFINDER at this event. Tell us about your events: editorial@search-consult.com

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EXECUTIVE SEARCH TRAINING WORKSHOPS a series of 1-day training seminars for Retained Search Professionals ALL WORKSHOPS CAN NOW BE BOOKED AT www.dillistone.com/workshops Gai Galitzine and Betty Wong Tomita have been active in executive search since the mid 1970’s. They worked together at Gould & McCoy (now known as Gould, McCoy Chadick & Ellig). Betty left in 1986 to work independently, followed by Gai in 1990. In 1997, they established Global Research Partnership, Inc conducting searches in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Gai has run executive search training for the Executive Search Roundtable and is an Adjunct Professor at Long Island University’s Graduate School of Business. Betty has conducted training in executive search for search firms and corporate HR organizations as well as cross-cultural workshops for companies working with Japanese organizations.

Workshop: Research – San Francisco, CA, USA - March 21, 2007; New York, NY, USA – April 26, 2007 This 1-day workshop is for less experienced researchers and consultants. The three themes covered during the day are research skills, telephone techniques and administration and project management.

Search Execution – San Francisco, CA, USA - March 22, 2007; New York, NY, USA – April 27, 2007 This 1-day workshop is for professionals involved in the search execution process and focuses on effective and successful client management and liaison (including progress reporting), candidate interviewing and referencing and the preparation of candidate reports and package negotiation.

Jill Dillistone – arguably the Retained Search industry’s leading trainer with over 20 years experience of conducting research for a number of premier search firms in the UK and Europe as well as delivering training courses internationally for major search firms such as Russell Reynolds, Heidrick & Struggles and Whitehead Mann.

Workshop: Research and Candidate Development Workshop Brussels, Belgium – March 27, 2007; London, UK – April 17, 2007 This 1-day workshop is for less experienced researchers and consultants. The three themes covered during the day are research skills, telephone techniques and administration and project management.

Search Execution and Client Management Workshop Brussels, Belgium – March 28, 2007; London, UK – April 18, 2007 This 1-day workshop is for professionals involved in the search execution process and focuses on effective and successful client management and liaison (including progress reporting), candidate interviewing and referencing and the preparation of candidate reports and package negotiation.

Interview Skills Workshop Brussels, Belgium – March 29, 2007 This 1-day workshop covers an introduction to compentency-based interviewing and an exercise in critical-incident based interviewing. The benefits of the day include the opportunity to improve your skills in candidate evaluation; practice different questioning techniques in role plays and learn about different approaches to interviewing.

NEW COURSE ON ONLINE RESEARCH Marc Barowsky is an accomplished research and executive search professional with more than 10 years of online search experience and over five years of executive search execution and retained search research experience. He has worked with partners at most of the major “big six” global retained search firms and many partners and principals at numerous small- to mid-sized retained search firms. In recent years Marc worked on functional roles in HR, sales, marketing, leadership development across various vertical industries such as: financial services, credit/risk analysis, consumer foods retail as well as assignments for search firms seeking to grow their own staffs.

Workshop: Online Research Training – London, UK - May 14th – 18th , 2007 seminars will cover Executive search Strategy & Tactics from a primarily research perspective with a specific focus on utilization of the internet and online tools & techniques which can be applied to search assignment execution and projects relevant to executive search.

This course will feature handson training with each delegate sat at a PC. As a result, places are stricktly limited to 6 per day.

For more information, please visit our website www.dillistone.com/workshops or send an email to events@dillistone.com

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