2009 Global Executive Search Trends- Cook Associates

Here is an article on the global trends of executive search in 2008- 2009.

This has a picture of the ground realities of US, South Africa, Belgium, Malaysia, Brazil, Australia, India and Japan. It also gives the plans for a path forward in the current and projected scenario in the recruitment and executive search markets in these countries. Go to-

http://www.cookassociates.com/executivesearch/documents/trends_globalsearch.html

An excerpt:

Coping: Leading in 2009
Winston Churchill once said that attitude is one little thing that makes a big difference. Attitudes are contagious. In 2009, exuding a positive attitude will be one of the most important behaviors to help navigate through the turbulence.
“For years there has been a war for talent, now there is a war for employment,” says Schelstraete.
That is why Schelstraete is going to give hope to people he works with, highlight positive news, meet more candidates and keep clients aware of the opportunities for recruiting.
Barrick seconds the approach. “It is never easy to conduct a truly consultative service-based business,” says Barrick, “So let’s be nimble, let’s be innovative and let’s continue to deliver with passion.” “We have identified key short-term objectives and measure ourselves monthly in our progress towards achieving them,” says Barrick. “We have launched an internal campaign amongst all our staff called “passion lives here.”
Khoo of Malaysia is going to be more aggressive in her recruiting strategies aiming at more recession proof industries.
For Epperlein in Brazil, the solution of 2009 issues lies in transforming challenges into opportunities for growth.
Both Waite and McCool of Australia and the United States respectively agree that the solution lies in developing closer and more effective communication with the clients.
Meanwhile Wouters of Japan is going to focus on staying in the public’s attention by efficient marketing and public relations efforts.
Misra of India sees the way out by arming with key strategic tools. “In the current scenario, as companies employ “targeted hiring strategies”, it is important to equip ourselves, more than ever, with information and an active awareness of the availability of specific skill sets in the market place,” says Misra. Fortified with the right strategies, executive search consultants can help position prospective candidates more effectively.
Although the globe is bent with the hurdles of a rough economy, executive search firms see opportunities on the horizon. Good executives will no longer be adequate for futuristic companies looking for excellence in CEOs and hence, with executive recruiters. Thus, executive search firms will have to be ready to meet the demands of their clients and provide services better than ever before. Whoever withstands the storms of 2009 will be ready to embark again.

Spearhead Intersearch in Mumbai

Look out! Here comes our Mumbai team in battle gear and fully armed... to hunt for heads in your city. The newest addition to the SHIS family, Mumbai office is now fully functional.
Inviting Sridhar and Mayur Vora to give all the details here, and some photographs of our lovely office and lovelier guest room. It looks yummy, Im sure!

Visit to BIEC Automation Fair

Dev has an interesting article.

http://spearheadatbiec.blogspot.com/2008/12/fun-at-work.html

Here is an excerpt:

“Dev, you and Krithi get ready for the Automation Trade Fair on 10th December at the BIEC”. Those were the first words of SB when he stepped into office on Monday, 8th December.

Believe me, I was on my foot and said, “Yes Sir”. I found out the names of the participating companies, didn’t print it though. I got the cab booked (AC – Tavera); after all we were representing Spearhead Intersearch.

So 10th December it was and we were there at the entrance. It was a fair where around 500 companies from automation and engineering sector were to showcase their products and services. Krithi, a goddess who just came down to earth in a black salwar suit was the centre of attraction and the god himself was just making the girls go crazy in light purple shirt and pitch black trousers.

The setup in BIEC was huge. Sorry, I don’t have any pictures to support the last line but I am telling you, it was indeed a great show. You could actually see faces from almost every part of the world standing in their respective stalls, all looking enthusiastic and charged up (They had to be, it was 11 AM in morning) showcasing all kinds of components and equipments used in factories and automobiles.

However, for us it was a nightmare. I am an electronics engineer and Krithi I believe is also the same and here we are in the middle of Pumps, Motors, Shafts, Belts, Screws, Filters etc etc etc. I always told my dad that I wanted to be a Mechanical Engineer but he never listened to me (Sorry dad. I just pulled you unnecessary into this). We could see people in front of us, we could see them staring at us but we were still thinking as to where and how should we start. Now the famous lines comes into play, Where There Is a Will There Is a Way (Oh!! that rhymed...hai Na? Sometimes I think that I should have been a poet...haha)

Anyways, let the story continue. So we took a round of the entire hall and decided that it’s time to attack the Germans. We were actually looking for faces. I don’t know whether you would agree to me or not, but I think that one can easily make out from the face of the person that whether he is a CEO or MD or someone else and this works with me when relating faces to roles. We were bang on target from the beginning as we bumped into one CEO and then into an MD. Believe me; talking to them is far more knowledgeable and fruitful rather than speaking to some company representative. So we were doing well, actually very well indeed.

There were mostly German companies who have some distributor in India. Most of the Indian partners or subsidiaries were pretty new to the Indian industry. When asked about the plans of expansion almost everyone had one common answer, “This recession has put a halt on our plans of expansion. Maybe in the next 1 year we would think of coming to Indian markets as they hold great opportunities”. Everyone actually praised the Indian markets and still India is sometimes referred to as 3rd world country, strange, isn’t it? We got to speak to lot of people, some were even themselves looking for change (ya ya...dont worry, I have their names and numbers).
We were at our peak of BD when suddenly Krithi’s sandals gave up; I guess it had enough of walking so it just snapped. But that did not stop Krithi from walking. She did not look down or even back down. Spearhead spirit is just great. We then went to other stalls. We also met the officials of a company from Taiwan. They were good, but believe me after we spoke to them I am actually planning to open an institute and name it as Can You Teach Me English? You won’t believe, I had to bend down, fist to match his height and then I had to reduce my rate of speech from 120 wpm to almost 30 wpm. It was a challenging thing to do and you know Dev and Krithi, we are born to take challenges. Anyways, we finally took a break and had lunch at the food court there, Executive Non-Veg meal and a Chicken Club sandwich. It was good. Could have been better if they would have used some extra pieces of chicken. Well, I guess the chicken sale also has taken a hit in this recession period and the chickens have reduced their egg laying capacity. “You don’t give us food, we won give you eggs”, that’s what the chickens must be saying.
The post lunch session was also good for us. We met lot of officials. Showcased Spearhead Intersearch in the best possible professional way. Gave out lots of visiting cards and also collected lots of them. I would say it was a good day. Lot of work done. Lots of contacts made. We may not be able to target them right now, but 6 months down the lane we sure would have a good chance of healthy business with them.

Overall, it was a good exposure for both of us. We have two pictures that we took when we were out of the halls. Actually were so busy working, we actually forgot taking pictures to make this more illustrious. Anyways, something is better than nothing.

A press release on Spearhead Intersearch, the Indian arm of Intersearch Worldwide

INTERSEARCH WORLDWIDE STRENGTHENS ITS PRESENCE IN INDIA

InterSearch Worldwide, one of the largest executive search networks globally, announces its expansion to India.

The newest member of InterSearch is Spearhead, a leading executive search firm incorporated in 1997 with a team of 20 seasoned search professionals based across four major cities - New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai. In addition to several of the largest Indian corporations, Spearhead has been retained to fill senior leadership positions in India for a client roster including organizations as diverse as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, Honda, Nike, Mars Inc., Merrill Lynch, Bata India, Tupperware, Alcon Labs, Givaudan, Accretive, Vertex India, Emptoris, MWG, CIFF, Siemens and many others.

"We are privileged to be a part of InterSearch Worldwide, a top ranked global network. The values and qualities that InterSearch stands for are very important to us. In a growing and rapidly developing economy such as India, where corporate / business opportunities abound and the war for talent is raging, it is imperative that we bring genuine value and higher standards for our clients, through global capabilities in a local setting. Our partnership with InterSearch gives us this strength and enhanced capabilities to widen our service offering. This is already evident through the amazing response received from a key barometer – our clients! They’ve given a huge thumbs up to the news of Spearhead joining InterSearch and they are excited about the new business possibilities they can explore, without having to worry about finding leadership talent in India or globally," commented Jyorden T. Misra, Managing Director of Spearhead InterSearch India.

InterSearch is the 4th largest search firm worldwide for 2007 by number of offices, according to the annual survey conducted by search-consult magazine.

Also-

InterSearch Worldwide: EMEA Business Development Meeting & Belgian HR Awards
Executive search consultants from InterSearch offices in 16 European countries attended a regional business development meeting hosted in Ghent by Schelstraete & Desmedt, the Belgian InterSearch partner, on January 24 and 25.
The meeting was scheduled to coincide with the 8th Annual Human Resources Awards organized by Schelstraete & Desmedt, an event designed to reward the best graduate thesis in the field of Human Resource Management and Organisational Development, thereby building a bridge between the academic and business world.
Ms J. Gysels of the University of Ghent won this year's HR award with her thesis on "The Relationship Between Job Search Objectives and Job Search Behaviour".
In line with the subject of the selected thesis, the main topic of the event was talent acquisition. Key note speaker of the event was Astrid De Lathauwer, Chief HR Officer of Belgium's largest telecom operator Belgacom, who gave attendees a unique perspective on "The War for Talent in 2008: Is It Really Happening?"
“It was very interesting to listen to innovative ideas on how to motivate managers to make the right recruiting decisions with a long-term view, keeping in mind concerns about changing demographics” commented Heinz-Dieter Hestermann, Board Director of InterSearch Worldwide.

Media contact:
Carla Calvo ( +39 335 7429756 calvo.c@intersearch.it)
Harris Karaolides (+30 210 7294 720 info@symvoli-intersearch.gr)

A great beginning

Welcome all to our company blog. Its time we Spearhead Intersearchers became true netizens and along with our Orkutting and Facebooking, took time to blog some!!! Hoping we all share this space.