November 28th, 2013 – Vienna, Austria – AIMS International, a preeminent global Executive Search and Talent Management organization, has launched the 8th issue of its Business Climate indicator. The ABCA delivers a global insight into the executive search business.

This analysis of the Executive Search Market surveys past, present and expected business conditions in 7 major business segments. It approaches the last 4 months and forecasts the next 4 months on the basis of interviews with AIMS International partners and consultants in 44 countries. The first ABCA was published in Q2 2011.

“Every issue of the ABCA delivers useful information for any business leader. AIMS International covers the whole world and as trends in Executive Search firms are very early signs of changes – good or bad, the ABCA analysis provides concise information about these trends. It is a good indicator of where the future is heading”, says Daniel Ekberg, President of AIMS International.

The ABCA Q3 2013 shows the following significant results:

1. 34% (Δ -2%) of the AIMS International partners and consultants evaluate the current state of business locally as good, 50% (Δ +1%) as middle and 16% (Δ +1%) as bad.
This shows there have been small changes to the evaluation of the business situation in the local markets which is a small mark for a stabilization of the local economies which had been visible already in the Q2 2013 ABCA.
Solely evaluating the situation in the EMEA Region, the local business situation is worse as only 26% evaluate the situation as good.

2. Allowing multiple answers, significant differences in the development of important business segments during the last 12 months have become obvious: business in Industrial, Engineering and Logistics, as well as the Automotive, the Financial Services, the IT&T and the Energy segment show a decrease of -8% as an average.
Only the two business sectors FMCG, Retail and Luxury goods, and Pharmaceuticals, Health Care and Life Science are relatively stable in comparison to the ABCA in 2013 Q2.

3. Following the answers to the questions about revenue development in the last 4 months, stabilization has taken place. There is a shift from companies with decreasing revenues to stable and increasing revenues (Δ +10%). However, global markets in the 7 industry segments are still in rough waters but trending upwards.
Solely evaluating the situation in the EMEA Region is worse, as 19% evaluate the turnover as decreasing in this region.How is the revenue development in the last 4 months?


4. The strongest market for Executive Search in EMEA seems to be Finland, in the AMERICAS Canada, Chile and the US. In APAC the business is stable.

5. Only 50% (Δ -8%) of the interviewees evaluate the number of current direct search projects in their countries as large or sufficient, the 50% (Δ +8%) as not enough. Alarming is that only 7% of the companies evaluate the number of direct search projects in their markets as large.How is the number of current direct search projects?


6. As for the forecast for the next 4 months (2013 Q4), 86% (Δ -3%) expect the business to be stable or better, 14% (Δ +3%) as worse. The significant increase of interviewees with a positive business expectation (Δ +10%) is a signal of tendencies toward better markets.How is the forecast for the next 4 months?


The overall outlook for Q4, 2013 is more promising than in 2013 Q1 and Q2.

Corporate Communications

Christian Schulte +49 178 2854744

About AIMS International (www.aims-international.net)

Incorporated in Vienna, Austria in 1992, AIMS International is an international executive search organization of independently owned and managed executive search firms who work collaboratively to execute executive search assignment for global clients around the world. AIMS International is represented by over 350 consultants in more than 90 offices in over 50 countries throughout all continents. It was ranked the largest executive search partnership in the world by Search-Consult Magazine.

For more information, please visit www.aims-international.net.

November 5th, 2013 – Lima, Perú – Armando Cavero, Managing Director of AIMS Perú presents each month one newly appointed CEO in the leading business magazine “G de Gestion” in Perú.

Armando Cavero, Managing Partner – AIMS International Executive Search Perú, Ecuador, Bolivia has started in April 2013 to present his new column.

The intention of this column is to interview a newly appointed CEO or high profile “C” position, from the line of sight of an Executive Search Consultant and share with the readers insights of the person, his/her style and among other things, the reasons for him/her to get a new job. The column is called “RECIÉN CAZADO”, which means in English to the point “Just Hunted”.

The 7th interview was led with Luis E. García Rosell A., the CEO of Grupo Wiese

Luis E. García Rosell A.:

• Current position: CEO, Grupo Wiese
• Previous PositionVP Sales, VP Finance, Backus
• Age: 52 years
• Marital status: Married, two children
• Hobby / Sport: Cooking steaks with the tennis racket, if time allows that.
• Education: University of Peru, Industrial Engineer

Interview:

Luis E. García Rosell A.: “I am an analytical leader, focused and with sense of humor”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Corporate Communications

Christian Schulte +49 178 2854744

About AIMS International (www.aims-international.net)

Incorporated in Vienna, Austria in 1992, AIMS International is an international executive search organization of independently owned and managed executive search firms who work collaboratively to execute executive search assignment for global clients around the world. AIMS International is represented by over 350 consultants in more than 90 offices in over 50 countries throughout all continents. It was ranked the largest executive search partnership in the world by Search-Consult Magazine.

For more information, please visit www.aims-international.net.

The General Assembly of AIMS International – one of the largest Executive Search organizations in the world – has appointed a new President, Vice President and Board Members as of 21st September 2013.

Daniel Ekberg, Sweden will be the new President of the association. He will succeed Rolf Heeb, Germany who has held the position since 2007.

-“I am honoured by the great confidence given by our General Assembly. AIMS International has achieved a lot in recent years and we still have tremendous opportunities.” says Daniel Ekberg. “I believe my experience doing international business can be valuable when leading an organization present in more than 50 countries with more than 90 offices around the globe”.

Mr Ekberg is a senior graduate from the Swedish National Defence College in Stockholm. For several years he held senior leadership roles within the Swedish Armed Forces serving in both domestic and international positions. In 2000, he joined Flextronics Network Services (Relacom) and he became Regional Vice President for Latin America 2001. In his position he had direct responsibilities for operations in 7 countries. Since 2009, he has been the Managing Director for AIMS International in Sweden.

-“I wish Mr Ekberg all the best in his new position. We have an important task in challenging our competition on the international arena”. says Rolf Heeb, outgoing President. “Daniel Ekberg has for sure the international business experience and the leadership needed to continue the development of our organization”.

Daniel Ekberg will hold the position from both Stockholm and Vienna where the HQ for AIMS International is located.

In addition to the new President the General Assembly of AIMS International also appointed Richard Joly, Canada as Vice President of AIMS International. Mr. Joly has more than fifteen years in consulting with Boards of Directors for the recruitment of new Directors, Chief Executive Officers and C-suite executives. In prior years, Mr. Joly worked during twelve years at Aramark, a global diversified food service provider and five years at Pitney Bowes, an international technology leader. “I am pleased that Richard is joining our team to lead our growth in North America, where we will support our clients by our presence in the market”, says Mr. Ekberg.

Two new Board Members were appointed by the General Assembly, Pierangelo Favero, Italy and Gregoire Depeursinge, Switzerland to add to the previously elected Board Members Judit Simonyi, Hungary; Mika Hiltunen, Finland; Kevin Wallis, Australia; Bernardo Entschev, Brazil

About AIMS International

www.aims-international.net

Incorporated in Vienna, Austria in 1992, AIMS International is an international executive search organization of independently owned and managed executive search firms who work collaboratively to execute executive search assignment for global clients around the world. AIMS International is represented by over 350 consultants in more than 90 offices in over 50 countries throughout all continents. It was ranked the largest executive search partnership in the world by Search-Consult Magazine.

For more information, please visit www.aims-international.net or www.aims-international.net/about/board-of-directors

AIMS Perú presents CEOs (6)

September 24th, 2013 – Lima, Perú – Armando Cavero, Managing Director of AIMS Perú presents each month one newly appointed CEO in the leading business magazine “G de Gestion” in Perú.

Armando Cavero, Managing Partner – AIMS International Executive Search Perú, Ecuador, Bolivia has started in April 2013 to present his new column.

The intention of this column is to interview a newly appointed CEO or high profile “C” position, from the line of sight of an Executive Search Consultant and share with the readers insights of the person, his/her style and among other things, the reasons for him/her to get a new job. The column is called “RECIÉN CAZADO”, which means in English to the point “Just Hunted”.

The sixth interview was led with Pedro Menéndez Zeppilli, the CEO of Aseguradora Magallanes

About Pedro Menéndez Zeppillii:

• Current position: CEO, Aseguradora Magallanes Perú
• Previous Position: Manager investment portfolios, Rimac Seguros
• Age: 36 years
• Marital status: Married, one daughter
• Hobby / Sport: Swimming, beach soccer
• Education: Colegio Marham, Universidad del Pacifico, Economy, Master in finance at London Business School

Interview:

Pedro Menéndez Zeppilli: “What we need least of all is a lone ranger”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Corporate Communications

Christian Schulte +49 178 2854744

About AIMS International (www.aims-international.net)

Incorporated in Vienna, Austria in 1992, AIMS International is an international executive search organization of independently owned and managed executive search firms who work collaboratively to execute executive search assignment for global clients around the world. AIMS International is represented by over 350 consultants in more than 90 offices in over 50 countries throughout all continents. It was ranked the largest executive search partnership in the world by Search-Consult Magazine.

For more information, please visit www.aims-international.net.

Grégoire Depeursinge, Managing Partner at AIMS International Switzerland for IMD – How Headhunters look at your profile.

This video was produced by IMD in September of 2013 for an online networking course. Grégoire Depeursinge, Managing Partner at AIMS International Switzerland contributed with this explanation of how to build your online profile and network on professional social networking sites.

View the video presentation here: http://www.aims.ch/imd/video.html

September 2nd, 2013 – Lima, Perú – Armando Cavero, Managing Director of AIMS Perú presents each month one newly appointed CEO in the leading business magazine “G de Gestion” in Perú.

Armando Cavero, Managing Partner – AIMS International Executive Search Perú, Ecuador, Bolivia has started in April 2013 to present his new column.

The intention of this column is to interview a newly appointed CEO or high profile “C” position, from the line of sight of an Executive Search Consultant and share with the readers insights of the person, his/her style and among other things, the reasons for him/her to get a new job. The column is called “RECIÉN CAZADO”, which means in English to the point “Just Hunted”.

The fifth interview was led with Mario Camino, the CEO of Sinomaq

About Mario Camino:

• Current position: CEO, Sinomaq
• Previous Position: CFO, Divemotor
• Age: 44 years
• Marital status: Married, four children
• Hobby / Sport: Music, reading novels and science fiction
• Education: University of Lima, Economist

Interview:

Mario Camino: “I was surprised about the quick reaction of the Chinese suppliers”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Corporate Communications

Christian Schulte +49 178 2854744

About AIMS International (www.aims-international.net)

Incorporated in Vienna, Austria in 1992, AIMS International is an international executive search organization of independently owned and managed executive search firms who work collaboratively to execute executive search assignment for global clients around the world. AIMS International is represented by over 350 consultants in more than 90 offices in over 50 countries throughout all continents. It was ranked the largest executive search partnership in the world by Search-Consult Magazine.

For more information, please visit www.aims-international.net.

January 31st, 2012 –Vienna, Austria – AIMS International, a preeminent Executive Search and Talent Management organization, has launched the third issue of its Business Climate indicator. ABCA delivers a global insight into the business climate by industry segments. 

Questions in the survey focus on past, present and expected business conditions, going back the last 4 months and forecasting the next 4 months. The information provides a very useful trend analysis in 7 major business segments.

“Every issue of the ABCA delivers interesting insights for me, as EVP AMERICAS at AIMS International and as an owner of a company with international business relations” comments AIMS International Vice President John W. Poracky.

The ABCA 2011/12 shows the following results compared to the ABCA 2011/08:

1. 41% (Δ -6%) of the AIMS International partners and consultants evaluate the current state of business as good, 39% (Δ -1%) as middle and 20% (Δ +7%) as bad. Compared to the ABCA 2011/08 the perception of business conditions is slightly worse. This follows the trend which already started in 2011/04.
2. Allowing multiple answers, 68% (Δ -8%)  of the polled companies experienced significant business loss in the Industrial, Engineering and Logistics segments, 63% (Δ -15%) in FMCG, Retail and Luxury Goods industries 26% (Δ -15%) and in the Pharma, Health Care and Life Science segment 20% (Δ -8%). In the IT and Telecom field business grew to 34% (Δ +12%). Analyzing the information shows there has been a significant increase in Executive Positions filled in the field of IT and Telecom, but significant decreases in the fields of Industrial, Engineering and Logistics, the FMCG field and the Pharma, Health Care and Life Science sector.
3. Following the answers, 41% (Δ -6%) of the companies increased their additional revenue during the last 4 months, 34% (Δ -13%) see their revenue as stable, 25% (Δ +19%) as decreased. This shows that the positive dynamics in the revenue development has turned around since the last ABCA 2011/08.
4. Only 64% (Δ -6%) of the AIMS partners evaluated their number of current projects as large or sufficient, 36% (Δ +6%) as not enough. We view this as that the satisfaction of the entrepreneurs who take part in the poll sank another 6% after decreasing 20% in the last period.
5. As for the forecast for the next 4 months, 82% (Δ -9%) expect their business as stable or better, 18% (Δ +9%) as worse. Another sign of less optimism. Also, there has been a reduction (Δ -6%) of optimists who expect their business to be improving in the next 4 months (36%).

The outlook for the first quarter of the year 2012 is stable.

Corporate Communications

Christian Schulte +49 178 2854744

About AIMS International (www.aims-international.net)

Incorporated in Vienna, Austria in 1992, AIMS International is an international executive search organization of independently owned and managed executive search firms who work collaboratively to execute executive search assignment for global clients around the world. AIMS International is represented by over 350 consultants in more than 90 offices in over 50 countries throughout all continents. It was ranked the largest executive search partnership in the world by Search-Consult Magazine.

For more information, please visit www.aims-international.net or contact:

Applicant control is one of the key competencies required for recruiting passive candidates. At a basic level this means the need to ensure your candidate understands the career merits of the position before opting out. Unfortunately, most passive candidates make superficial decisions about a potential career move when first contacted by a recruiter, using compensation, the company, job title, and location to determine initial interest. Recruiters are usually at fault here, creating the trap by positioning the job as a lateral transfer, rushing the process, and selling the job.

Applicant control is a series of techniques designed to ensure the candidate views your spot as a career move. Recruiters do this by asking the right questions at the right time, not taking “No” for an answer, and persisting until the prospect has the correct information to decide if the opportunity should be considered. A key aspect of this is recognizing that the pace of the discussion with a passive candidate is much slower than when dealing with active candidates.

Here are some key points to consider when making the shift to recruit passive candidates:

1. Switching jobs for a top-notch, fully-employed person is a long-term strategic career decision. This means they’ll go slower, require more information, and can’t be pushed too fast.

2. The decision to accept an offer will only be made if the new position offers more significant long-term upside in combination with short-term job stretch plus a reasonable compensation bump. Most company processes are designed to fill seats, offer lateral transfers, minimize comp, and hire people quickly. This won’t work for passive candidates.

3. It’s unlikely that your current opening will represent a perfect fit when contacting a passive candidate the first time. Therefore, calling and presenting your current opening is not how passive prospects should be approached. Instead you’ll need to engage in an exploratory discussion, find out the candidate’s current job situation, and then craft a job that represents a career opportunity. It’s hard to do this with traditional requisition-based recruiting, but going slow helps you figure out if what you have is even close. After meeting a top-notch person, companies are often more willing to modify their original requirements.

4. The hiring manager is critical to pacing. It takes a series of discussions with the recruiter and hiring manager to convert a prospect into a candidate, even without modifying the position. If hiring managers are unwilling to do this, or are unwilling to flex the requirements, you won’t be able to hire very many passive candidates.

5. Recruiters must implement a multi-step game plan that ensures that the person gets the needed information to move from casual interest to serious consideration.

Here’s a checklist you can use to begin implementing this type of pacing program:

• Offer to engage into an exploratory career discussion.
• Get the prospect to describe his/her background, providing only a vague description of the possible opportunity. It is important to be vague since the recruiter will need to reposition the job on the fly in order to ensure it represents a potential career opportunity.
• During the first call, be in a position to instantly create a job that represents a career opportunity for the person. From this, obtain some level of candidate interest. You can do this by expanding or contracting the actual job, have multiple jobs in mind when contacting the person, and/or look for voids in the person’s background your job fills in.
• Once the candidate expresses some level of interest, set up a time to have a more detailed discussion. Conduct the phone screen and use the push-and-pull to reinforce the career opportunity. A key step here is to get to the person to begin trying to convince you why he/she is qualified to continue the evaluation process.
• Introduce the idea of a formal decision-making process covering all short and long-term career issues including growth, stretch, team, manager, culture, total rewards, family, etc.
• Get the prospect to agree to an exploratory conversation with the hiring manager. If the prospect accepts, you’re half-way there in the conversion process.
• Coach the hiring manager into shifting the conversation from an exploratory discussion into something worthy of serious consideration. Then, if the prospect is interested and qualified, the hiring manager needs to invite the prospect to an onsite meeting. This is a critical step, and if agreed-upon represents about 70-80% of the required shift from prospect to-candidate conversation.
• The objective of the onsite interview is to assess the person, and complete the conversion to a serious finalist.
• At the end of the onsite, use a formal process to assess interest covering all decision-making parameters. If the person agrees to come back and become a finalist in the process, you’ve successfully converted the person into a full-fledged and serious candidate. Collectively, this is what pacing and applicant control is all about. It’s known as the Performance-based Hiring certification process.
• You’ll need to go slower with the sole purpose of increasing the number of great passive candidates you get into your recruiting funnel. This is a far different process than finding and hiring active candidates, and it takes more skill, effort, and resources. But it’s worth it if done right. Since passive candidates represent 82% of the market, it’s not only worth it, it’s essential.

 The Key Tipping Points for Recruiting Passive Candidates – aka “The 6Cs”

1. Compelling: You must be able to capture the candidate’s intrinsic motivator in your voicemail or email. If you don’t know this, don’t bother making the call.

2. Control: Make sure your opening questions require the prospect to tell you about him or herself before you tell the person about the job. This is the essence of applicant control, and if you drop the ball here, you’ll need to make 5-10X as many calls to get one sendout.

3. Career: During your first call you must be able to convert your open position into a career opportunity on the fly. That’s why it’s critical that the candidate tells you about himself before you tell him about your opening.

4. Connect: The best passive candidates are typically only one degree of separation from your current prospect. Tapping into these candidates’ connections is the best way to get high-quality referrals. Even better, they’ll call you back!

5. Conviction: Persistence is key. You must understand your job opening, why it offers a career opportunity, and you must not take “No” for an answer. If you’re not convinced that what you have to offer is great, neither will your candidate.

6. Close: You’ll never have enough money in the budget to pay the best prospects what they want. You can minimize the blow here by selling and closing on the career opportunity your position offers, not the compensation it pays. If you miss this critical “C” the others won’t matter.

The article has been prepared by Lou Adler – The Adler Group Team

by Robert D. Hennessy

Companies looking for high marks for their candidate care program should be prepared to answer the following questions about their interviewing and hiring process:

❑ How do you define or describe your company’s brand equity?

❑ When candidates are scheduled to visit your company, what documents do you send candidates before their visit?

❑ What “story” does this package tell the candidates?

❑ Does the agenda clearly state the name and title of each interviewer?

❑ Are interview times beyond normal office hours—evening or very early-morning meetings, weekends—considered in the scheduling process?

❑ How and by whom are candidates greeted when they arrive?

❑ How long can candidates expect to wait to be “processed” to gain entrance?

❑ Is there a seamless transition from the time candidates have completed security check-ins to their first appointments?

❑ Have the interviewers prepared their questions prior to the interview?

❑ What is the value proposition for prospective candidates?

❑ How are candidates made to feel comfortable? Is the physical setting appealing?

❑ What percentage of the time allotted for interviewing is spent on small talk? Do the interviewers talk excessively about themselves?

❑ Who is responsible for leading the assessment of candidates’ functional and cultural fit, and for coordinating the feedback?

❑ Is there seamless transition between interview times?

Robert D. Hennessy is president of The Hennessy Group, Managing Partner at AIMS International US – Pharma, and GLOBAL Practice Team Leader – Pharmaceuticals, Health Care and Life Sciences at AIMS International. He can be reached at +1 [267] 984 – 9916. 

© Reprinted from PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVE, April 2005 Printed in U.S.A.

by Robert D. Hennessy 

Pharmaceutical companies reach out to many people through their hiring practices. The following are recommendations— some strategic and, some tactical— that pharmaceutical companies can use to enhance and optimize their candidates’ interview experiences: 

Describe your history and opportunities accurately. The best people will have researched your company and have done their due diligence.

Develop an offer-closing strategy early. Know what you can and can’t do to close gaps. Would you consider using COLAs (cost of living adjustments), stock options, and/or sign-on bonuses? Can you offer an early performance review? What are the details of your relocation and healthcare packages, 401K/savings programs, etc.?

Be prepared to sell the opportunity. Explain why a best-in-class executive would consider leaving a worthwhile current assignment to relocate his or her family and join your company. Share with candidates why you decided to join the company.

Limit the number of people on the interview team. Use only people who can really sell the company.

Keep self-serving “politicians” off the interview team (if you have them).

Manage the total interview process so it does not take so long that candidates are no longer motivated.

In a timely manner, have senior management available to discuss feedback.

Listen. These people are offering free market insight. But it’s a lost opportunity if the interviewer monopolizes the discussion.

Avoid interruptions, especially telephone calls. Turn off your cell phone.

Start on time!

Robert D. Hennessy is president of The Hennessy Group, Managing Partner at AIMS International US – Pharma, and GLOBAL Practice Team Leader – Pharmaceuticals, Health Care and Life Sciences at AIMS International. He can be reached at +1 [267] 984 – 9916. 

© Reprinted from PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVE, April 2005 Printed in U.S.A.