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

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

April 23rd, 2013 – Vienna, Austria – AIMS International To Sponsor The 8th Annual PHARMA HR Forum

AIMS International is delighted to announce that it will join the 8th Annual Pharma HR Forum as a panel sponsor on May 14-15, 2013 at the Crown Plaza Amsterdam City Centre. Stephen Strittmatter, Grégoire Depeursinge and Hendrik Jan Guitink – experts for executive search in the Pharmaceutical, Health Care and Life Science segment – will organize a panel discussion focusing “Multi-Country Recruitment & Cultural Diversity”.

At the 2 day event you will further more have the opportunity to learn about:

• Changing TALENT EXPECTATIONS
• Case Studies on TALENT MANAGEMENT Strategies
• Multi-generational Attitudes and Synergies
• Job Rotation Case Studies
• CAREER DEVELOPMENT & EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
• PHARMA 3.0. – Trends for the Future
• TALENT FORWARD & CHANGE ONWARD
• Change of Business Models
• HR as a STRATEGIC PARTNER

Come and visit us! (Find the program here)

With over 90 offices and more than 350 consultants, AIMS International has been one of the world’s largest global partnerships of Executive Search firms regarding the coverage of countries. It has been ranked among the Top 10 Executive Search firms worldwide during the last 5 consecutive years in various public rankings and operates in over 50 countries across 5 continents.

Trends: Switzerland – the future of recruitment in Western Europe?

Multi-Country search capabilities are key to success for executive search companies

Whilst the proportion of foreigners in top management does not follow the internationalization of the economic activity in most European countries, the percentage of foreigners in the top management of Swiss multinational companies has increased dramatically during the last 15 years to over 50% according to some sources whilst the proportion in upper management is only slightly lower. The phenomenon has also hit SME’s where the number of foreign CEO’s is rising, notably with a great proportion of German nationals at the helm of small industrial companies. Finally, a certain number of roles (for example French nationals in procurement roles in French speaking Switzerland) have become almost exclusively populated by foreigners.

Studies on the subject are scarce, but it can be safely said that this movement has not been followed to the same extent in other European countries: it seems that the proportion of foreigners in reputedly “international” countries like Sweden or The Netherlands it is only of about 10-15% whilst it is still very difficult for a foreigner to reach top management level in a French or Spanish multinational company. 96% of the companies listed in the Swiss Market Index (SMI) have at least one foreign Board Member whilst this is true only for 28% of Swedish or Dutch companies. Furthermore, only 59% of all Swiss companies listed at the stock exchange are actually Swiss nationals (50% of SMI companies)[1].

In 2010, over 50% of the executive search assignments run by AIMS International in Switzerland have involved cross border candidate sourcing processes within several countries. The clients have been more faith in finding a perfect match for their needs in this larger pool of talent than in recruiting from the local workforce only. While this trend varies from one industry to another, it is especially strong for roles in international sales and engineering, manufacturing and supply chain management and even companies with activities focused exclusively towards the Swiss market have become more open to foreigners in upper management roles.

This Swiss “difference” can partly be explained by the smallness and cultural set-up of the country (3 national languages), its strong economic development and low unemployment rate, the important concentration of regional or global headquarters of multinational companies and last but not least, the export orientation of its economy, but it may also be one of the reasons for the country’s continued economic success in contrast to the relative morosity of its European neighbours as Swiss companies benefit from a larger pool of talent.

The supposition seems accurate that the Swiss situation is prefiguring what will happen in the rest of Europe with the continuing internationalization and the increasing importance of foreign companies and capital in the national economies combined with an ever growing need for talents with multinational experience.

The capacity to source candidates on a multi-country, pan-European or even global scale is thus to be evaluated as a very important element for long term success of all companies in their struggle for the best talent. Only Executive Search Firms which have consistently built up this ability over the last decades and developed a system of cooperation that ensures smooth handling of customer assignments regardless of territory boundaries will be able to meet their clients` needs. Global key account management processes and global industry practice teams cooperating efficiently across borders are first signals for the right set-up of international Executive Search Firms. The probability that they are able to source the best candidates wherever they may be located is higher.

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Contacts:

Grégoire Depeursinge