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How to Earn Your Place at the Board Table: A Ten-Step Guide for Ambitious Executives in 2026

Luciana Casado — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 10:27:13 +0000

How to Earn Your Place at the Board Table: A Ten-Step Guide for Ambitious Executives in 2026 Luciana Casado

By Caroline Gellrich - van Brakel, Senior Partner, Germany, Austria & Netherlands

If you’re aiming for a seat at the board table, you’re not alone. Every year, many talented leaders wonder how to bridge the gap from senior management to board-level roles. It takes a clear strategy, purposeful development and an understanding of what boards truly need in 2026 and beyond.

In today’s landscape, boards are no longer just stewards of governance, they are catalysts for transformation. They seek leaders who can navigate complexity, champion innovation and bring diverse perspectives to the table. Whether it's guiding digital reinvention, shaping ESG strategy, or responding to geopolitical shifts, board members must be equipped to lead with agility and foresight.

Here are some key steps to help you position yourself effectively.

1. Develop a Strong, Authentic Personal Brand

Your personal brand isn’t about self-promotion; it’s about the reputation you build through your expertise, leadership style and values. Boards look for individuals who bring unique insights and align with their culture.

A critical tool for shaping and showcasing your brand today is LinkedIn. Make sure your profile is polished, up-to-date and tells your story clearly, not just as a resume, but as a reflection of who you are as a leader and person. Share insights, comment thoughtfully on industry trends and engage with relevant content regularly. Posting articles, updates, or short videos can raise your visibility and demonstrate your expertise in a way that resonates with board members and executive search professionals in and outside your existing network.

Authenticity and consistency on LinkedIn can turn a passive profile into a powerful personal branding tool that gets you noticed.

Top Tip: Schedule weekly time to update your LinkedIn profile, share relevant content, or comment on industry discussions. Focus on authenticity and let your unique voice and values shine through!

To accelerate your visibility and learning, follow LinkedIn’s Top Voices and other recognised thought leaders in those areas. These individuals often set the tone for industry conversations and offer valuable insights. Don’t just follow, interact! Comment thoughtfully on their posts, share their content with your own perspective and engage in discussions. This not only helps you stay informed but also positions you within the same circles of influence that board members and executive recruiters monitor.

2. Gain Relevant Board Experience Early On

If you’re waiting for a major corporate board role as your first, you might be setting yourself up for a long wait. Consider smaller boards: non-profits, advisory boards or startups. These experiences are invaluable for learning governance, strategy and risk oversight. Such roles demonstrate your commitment to leadership beyond your immediate job and help you build a track record that boards respect.

Top Tip: Look for opportunities to join non-profits or advisory boards aligned with your interests or industry. Even volunteer roles provide crucial governance experience and allow you to expand your network.

Use these roles to actively learn how boards operate: how decisions are made, how risk is assessed and how long-term value is created. Document your contributions and lessons learned; they’ll become part of your narrative when positioning yourself for larger board opportunities.

Also, don’t underestimate the visibility these roles can offer.

3. Build Financial Acumen

Board members are ultimately responsible for an organisation’s financial health. You don’t need to be a CFO, but you do need to understand financial statements, budgets and key performance indicators. This knowledge enables you to engage in strategic discussions meaningfully and build credibility amongst fellow board members.

Pair your financial learning with exposure to investor communications, such as earnings calls, annual reports and shareholder letters. These sources reveal how financials are framed for strategic audiences. Practice analysing how companies explain their results, justify decisions and signal future direction. This builds your ability to contribute meaningfully to board-level conversations about value creation and risk.

Top Tip: Take a refresher course or workshop on financial fundamentals for non-financial leaders. You could also practice reviewing financial reports regularly to become comfortable with interpreting key metrics.

4. Adopt a Growth Mindset and Stay Curious

The business environment is constantly evolving: technologies shift, regulations change and stakeholder expectations grow. Boards want members who are adaptable, eager to learn and open to new ideas.

Seek out learning opportunities, stay informed on industry trends (think ESG, digital transformation, geopolitical shifts, etc.), and don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone (a particularly important one in my opinion!).

Top Tip: Commit to reading one article or report weekly on emerging trends in your sector. Join webinars or professional groups focused on innovation and change management.

Advanced Tip: Once a month, explore a topic outside your core industry, such as behavioral economics, AI ethics or climate innovation. These adjacent fields often spark fresh thinking and help you connect dots in unexpected ways. Follow thought leaders who challenge conventional wisdom and engage with their ideas. Curiosity paired with courage to explore the unfamiliar is what keeps board members ahead of the curve.

5. Network with Purpose

Building genuine relationships is crucial. Focus on connecting with current board members, mentors and peers who can offer guidance and possibly open doors. Remember, networking isn’t about quantity, it’s about quality. Engage in professional associations, attend relevant events and be proactive in conversations, but always stay true to yourself and maintain your authenticity.

Top Tip: Identify 2-3 people you admire professionally and reach out with a clear, respectful request for a conversation or advice. Keep the focus on building a genuine relationship, not just on asking for opportunities.

Micro-Habit Tip: Once a month, host a small, informal roundtable, virtual or in-person, with peers or mentors to discuss a key trend or challenge. These curated conversations build trust, spark insight and often lead to unexpected opportunities.

6. Demonstrate Strategic Thinking

Boards look for leaders who think beyond daily operations and focus on long-term value creation. Show that you understand how market dynamics, competition and innovation impact the organisation. Position yourself as someone who can contribute to setting vision and navigating uncertainty.

Top Tip: Regularly set aside time (whether weekly or monthly) to review industry reports, competitor moves and emerging trends. Practice framing how these factors might affect your organisation’s strategy. Try discussing these insights with your leadership team or mentors to refine your strategic perspective and demonstrate forward-thinking.

Micro-Habit Tip: Once a week, challenge yourself to write a one-paragraph “board memo” on a trend, risk or opportunity, framed as if you were briefing a board. This sharpens your ability to distil complexity into strategic clarity, a skill boards deeply value.

7. Seek Mentors and Sponsors

Mentors can provide valuable advice, while sponsors actively advocate for you. Both are vital in your board journey. Don’t hesitate to ask for support; these relationships can help you navigate challenges, expand your network and access opportunities that might not be publicly advertised.

Top Tip: Start by identifying leaders you admire (whether inside or outside your organisation) who have the experience and values you respect. Approach them with a clear, concise request: ask if they would be willing to share their insights or offer guidance as you pursue board opportunities. Be specific about what you hope to learn and respect their time. Remember, mentoring is a two-way street, so have a think about how you can add value to the relationship as well.

Unexpected Tip: Don’t just seek mentors, build your own advisory board. Curate a small group of trusted thinkers from different industries, backgrounds and generations. Meet quarterly to exchange insights, challenge your assumptions and refine your board-readiness. Treat it like a personal think tank, because the best leaders don’t just get advice, they design environments that generate it.

8. Communicate Your Impact Clearly

You might be delivering strong results, but are you making sure key decision-makers know about them? Be prepared to articulate your achievements in terms of business outcomes and organisational impact. This clarity helps boards see you as a candidate who can add tangible value.

Top Tip: Keep a “success journal” where you regularly record specific achievements, quantifiable results and the challenges you’ve overcome. When preparing for conversations or interviews, use this to craft concise stories that highlight your impact, ideally linking your actions to measurable business outcomes like revenue growth, cost savings or strategic wins. Practicing this narrative ensures you can confidently share your value when it matters most.

Unexpected Tip: Think like a documentary producer to craft a “highlight reel” of your career. Select 3-5 defining moments where your actions led to measurable impact. Use these stories not just in interviews, but in presentations, networking conversations and even on LinkedIn.

9. Understand Evolving Board Priorities

Boards in 2026 and beyond are prioritising diversity; not just demographic but also diversity of thought and experience. They are increasingly seeking expertise in areas such as technology, sustainability, cyber risk and global markets. Aligning your skills and experiences with these priorities can set you apart.

Top Tip: Regularly review the annual reports, governance statements, or public communications of boards you admire to identify the skills and focus areas they emphasise. Consider undertaking targeted professional development or certifications, such as ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) training, cybersecurity courses, or digital transformation workshops to build relevant expertise. Position these new skills clearly in your personal brand and discussions with recruiters.

10. Work with Executive Search Consultants

Finally, partnering with executive search professionals can be a game-changer. We have a pulse on what boards need, what they’re looking for in candidates, and the nuances of the recruitment process. Engaging with a consultant early can help you tailor your approach, identify suitable opportunities and position yourself strategically.

Top Tip: Reach out to executive search consultants specialising in board roles early in your journey to get tailored feedback on your readiness and guidance on positioning yourself effectively.

Unexpected Tip: Think of executive search consultants not just as gatekeepers, but as strategic co-authors of your board narrative. Share your career “thesis” with them: the unique value you bring, the kind of board you aspire to join and the impact you want to make. When they understand your story deeply, they’re far more likely to champion it in the right rooms.

TAKEAWAY:

Earning your place at the board table is a journey that requires intentional effort, continual growth and strategic relationship-building. It’s not a step you take overnight, but with clarity and perseverance (and I’ve seen it with my own eyes), it’s very achievable.

If you’re ready to explore what it takes to move into board roles and want guidance tailored to your unique strengths and goals, feel free to reach out to your Page Executive Principal or Partner.

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Maximising Gains: Make the Most of Your Page Executive Network

Daniel Whitehead — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:51:40 +0000

Maximising Gains: Make the Most of Your Page Executive Network Daniel Whitehead

More than a simple headhunting service, Page Executive offers diverse solutions to increase your chances of a successful career move. Mark Lawson-Jones draws upon his personal experience to outline eight ways a strong relationship with our Principals and Partners can significantly bolster your leadership career.

By Mark Lawson-Jones, Partner

How working with Page Executive differs from other recruitment avenues

At Page Executive, we connect you with a single point of contact who oversees the entire project from start to finish . We know that trust and relationships are at the core of executive search, and build our reputation on quality connections between a candidate and organisation, rather than playing a numbers game.

With a deeper, more personal understanding of your skills, character and aspirations, we can focus on a broader spectrum of opportunities that you may not have considered before. Therefore, whatever the outcome of your current application, a close, productive relationship with your consultant is a solid move for your future career.

Pinpoint what you’re looking for and reap the benefits

Understanding what you’re looking for is the first step to finding it, so take time to picture what your next career move will look like.

Start by making notes about what drives you, what your passions are and what you want to achieve. Then, consider what your ideal company looks like. Do you want to join an established team , or are you more interested in taking an exciting startup to the next level? Don’t neglect the company culture either. It’s one thing to embark on a learning curve when you’re switching industries, but if a business doesn’t align with your values, it will be extremely hard to thrive.

My advice to candidates is to be as vocal as possible with what you want (and what you don’t want) for the next step in your career. Tell us where you want to be, whether you’re geographically mobile and your ideal role. We can take care of the rest.

The benefits of knowing what you’re looking for include:

> Discovering potential roles you may not have considered

In addition to the support of a dedicated specialist, your relationship with Page Executive allows you to tap into a wealth of collective experience and the latest insights from our team.

We cross-reference your job preferences with our market knowledge to find roles in line with your experience, but also less obvious positions that nevertheless fit your profile and capabilities. In addition, we don’t advertise all of our open roles, so many are unique to the Page Executive network, unlocking new opportunities.

> A successful relocation experience

Executives relocate for several reasons, such as professional growth, family commitments or simply to experience a new way of life. At Page Executive, our global teams are in constant communication and happily pass candidates on to local experts who can open up a wide range of new opportunities.

> A smooth transition to a new industry

Like our international presence, our Partners and Principals span all practices, sectors and functions, so we may be able to facilitate career crossovers. Drawing on years of experience in executive search, we help to highlight transferable qualities that make you stand out for roles in new sectors even if you don’t have direct experience.

To give an example from my own experience, I recently guided a candidate from a B2C role in the tobacco industry to a B2B position in the car and commercial tyre industry. Although these two sectors look worlds apart, we managed to find strong synergies between the roles and turned it into a win-win situation.

You need to be realistic when making significant career changes as you’ll be going head-to-head with other quality candidates. Successful applications take a lot of preparation and a convincing rationale, so be sure to bring personal interests and passions to the surface as early as possible.

Understand your reasons for change — and justify them

Before you make any big decisions, it’s crucial to know the “whys” behind it:

●    Why you feel the need for a change
●    Why you’re interested in a specific company
●    Why now?

Companies take great interest in the reasons behind your application as it helps form an idea of whether you’re a good fit. It’s not enough to have a personal understanding of your motivation — you need to communicate your motivation to future employers.

Each Page Executive consultant has been through this process with previous candidates, so we are ideally placed to guide you. We draw on executive search best practices, industry trends and our past experience to guide you. However, this is essentially about your personal journey, so the better we get to know you, the more impactful your pitch will be.

We’re well-versed in the employer’s perspective too. Speaking directly to decision-makers on a regular basis gives us a clear picture of their priorities. This isn’t a box-checking exercise of course, but we can guide you on what to prioritise and highlight when answering important questions on your reasons for change.

Make your profile stand out

As we’ve previously mentioned, you have the best chance of getting the role you want by being crystal clear about what you’re looking for. Naturally, your CV and LinkedIn profile should be your first port of call. We’ve already written an in-depth article on How to Write an Executive CV, so we’ll just cover the basics here.

Your consultant will help you reinforce your expertise by highlighting any examples of thought leadership, speaking opportunities and membership in professional or voluntary associations. Don’t forget to really sell your role in overall organisational success as well as your personal achievements and awards. This puts us in a great position to create an elevator pitch to present to our colleagues further afield.

Grow your network with Page Executive

It really goes without saying, but connect with us on LinkedIn and follow the Page Executive LinkedIn account. We share a lot of content related to our specialist fields and of course, we’ll post the latest job opportunities. We also run events for which you can reach out for speaking opportunities or to suggest topics for future conferences.

At the same time, it’s also great to hear your experience. Between everything else on our plates, we’re always looking to sharpen our knowledge of what’s happening on the ground. Therefore, we’ll likely reach out to get a better understanding of your experience and aspirations, as well as your first-hand insights into how your industry is performing.

Stay at the cutting edge of your sector

Keeping up to date on the latest trends and movements is always time well spent — even if you’re not on the job hunt. Although it’s more of a self-service element, you can access a lot of content and event information on the Page Executive LinkedIn page and our website.
Activate job alerts on LinkedIn and through your Page Executive dashboard to get the latest opportunities directly to your inbox. When the technology is in place to keep you on top of your game, you’ve got to take advantage.

Turn missed opportunities into future successes

In the first round of evaluation, we look for candidates who best match the very clear brief we have outlined with our clients. We usually receive a high volume of applications, so it’s very difficult to respond to every unsuccessful application individually.

Therefore, if you haven’t heard back, but feel you’ve got the right skill set, trigger a conversation. Reach out to us with an email and we’ll be happy to discuss why it didn’t work out and what you or we can do differently. Whether it means better aligning your CV with the job description, boosting your interview performance or adjusting your expectations, your consultant can increase your chances of securing your next application and success.

So, if you’re coming to the end of a strategy cycle or feel like it’s time for a change, why not reach out to one of our Principals & Partners for expert advice on your next steps?

Get in touch >

Connect with us on LinkedIn >

Looking to hire your next leader?

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You’ve applied for a role: What next?

Daniel Whitehead — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 14:11:16 +0000

You’ve applied for a role: What next? Daniel Whitehead

If it’s your first time applying for an executive position, you might find it to be a little different to any previous recruitment process. I'm here to explain what to expect once you've submitted your application and hope to give you a better understanding of how we work at Page Executive.

By Maya Nguyen, Partner, South East Asia

In-house application review by our team

Once you submit your application, our first step if you evaluate whether your skills and experience fit with the role on paper. While we carefully review every application we receive, and do our best to uncover the unique qualities that may set you apart from the competition, the high volume can often mean we are unable to contact you if we don’t see a clear fit. Saying that, should we recognise any specific potential in your profile, we may wish to reach out to explore other avenues that might be of interest.

Initial contact from a Principal or Partner

If we feel that your profile aligns with the position, a partner or researcher will usually schedule an introductory meeting. We use this conversation to delve into the strategic dimensions of your current or past roles and the breadth of teams under your management. We also use it to gain a good understanding of your own expectations while setting the stage for success in the interview and onboarding process as an external hire. You can use this opportunity to ask as much about the role and company as you like. We work very closely with our clients so are well versed in the details.

It’s important to remember that our Partners and Principals have years of industry experience, so don’t be surprised if this preliminary calls takes a more in-depth and specialist turn; it’s always great to hear your take on market insights and industry trends – trust me, we’re always interested.

Key documents related to the role and company

If you and your executive search partner feel there is a good match for the role in question, we will go on to provide you with a full candidate briefing pack and potentially (depending on the case), a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). You may also receive other documents specific to your application.

Invitation to an interview

The next step is an additional interview (this can sometimes depend on which region you are in). We use this session to assess your suitability based on various criteria, encompassing both technical abilities and soft skills. It can last up to an hour, during which you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the role and responsibilities. It’s also a great forum for an open conversation. If you’re successful in the interview, you will most likely be shortlisted within four to six weeks.

Attending company interviews

If you are shortlisted, you can have anywhere between 3-8 interviews or interactions with the company. These could include anything from psychometric assessments and site visits, to even meeting the board of directors, investors and other key stakeholders. Of course, you will be regularly informed of your progress.

At this stage, we will usually request several references in order to obtain a 360 degree view of your profile. This can vary depending on the region you are in, but you can typically expect to provide references from:

•   Someone you’ve worked alongside
•   Someone you have reported to
•   Someone who has reported to you

Receiving the job offer

Upon successful completion of these stages, you may receive an offer. At this juncture, our involvement becomes crucial in facilitating as smooth a transition as possible for you.

Our goal is to ensure mutual satisfaction for both you and your new employer. We will help you negotiate your full compensation package, including other variables such as healthcare, relocations, and equity shares. We will also establish your start dates and onboarding and can even support you through your resignation at your current organisation.

Ongoing support after placement

If you accept your offer — congratulations on your new role! And rest assured that our support doesn't end here. We’ll stay in contact with you and your new company for the first few months to make sure you're integrating well and the role is living up to your expectations. We’re always just a phone call or an email away to support you with anything at all; we are always interested to learn how you’re getting on.

FAQs for the Page Executive post-application process

How is the Page Executive application journey different to other recruitment processes and what frequency of communication can I expect to have?

Some executive search firms may be known to be somewhat aloof. One major difference with Page Executive is our one-point-of-contact approach. Your executive search partner will be with you along every step of this exciting journey and our global candidate Net Promoter Score of 69 is reflective of this!

In terms of communication, I always think it’s a good idea to ask your executive search partner what level of communication they would like from you. It’s great for us when you ask as it really helps to outline the boundaries and expectations for the process throughout.

> How long should I expect the process to be?

Every case is different, but executive search assignments usually take at least three months.

It also really depends on the candidate. I think that if you’re already in a role, it can often feel very quick, however it could be the opposite if you’re not currently employed and have been actively looking for a new role for some time. I’m proud to say that we are highly regarded for our agility and speed to recruit.

> How does Page Executive begin to identify the right candidates?

In executive search, foresight often plays a pivotal role. Long before our clients finalise their search criteria, we're already attuned to their needs. Our deep engagement with organisations provides us invaluable insights into their strategic positioning, planning, and evolving requirements.

Likewise, our proactive networking efforts keep us very well connected with key individuals across diverse sectors and organisations. We often tell our clients that chances are, we've already met their future hire.

> What is Page Executive’s commitment to DE&I?

At Page Executive, we proudly push the boundaries with clients to ensure we can fish from as broad a pool as possible. One way is to source adaptable candidates from other industries, but we also recommend people with different experience levels, backgrounds and locations. Through our first contact and retainer interviews, we consider the unique strategic advantages that each of our candidates can bring to the organisation. We then relay all of this to our clients. Of course, this often makes our shortlists longer than usual, but the diversity of candidates we put forward to our clients is where we really excel.

> What support can I expect from Page Executive if my application is unsuccessful?

Ultimately, the job you've applied for might not be the best fit. But we’ll still be on hand to help.

It’s not in anyone’s interest to provide generic feedback, so we really like to get to the core of why you weren’t successful on this occasion. We may even follow up to discuss an action plan with you and explore other roles and/or new strategies to help you advance in your career. This commitment is more than corporate niceties. We really strive to make sure your next step is the right one.

We’re in executive search because we believe in the power of connections and creating opportunities. It’s important to point out that only around 50% of our roles are not advertised due to confidentiality – so it’s great if you’re already on our radar and we maintain an open dialogue.

Get in touch >

Connect with us on LinkedIn >

Looking to hire your next leader?

Get in touch with one of our consultants now to discuss your leadership talent requirements.

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Looking for your next leadership challenge?

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Are you looking to hire? Request a call back from our team of experts now.

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Leadership from a Distance [8 Trends]

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 15:42:12 +0000

Leadership from a Distance [8 Trends] Anonymous (not verified)

Navigating Remote Work

Hiring is getting harder. The global talent shortage and access to relevant, up-to-date skill sets are the biggest challenges facing companies and hiring managers alike. That is why offering location-independent options undeniably swells the employee talent pool from which to recruit executives.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Remote teams require effort to build and to drive towards productivity, but the rewards for the business – and the team themselves – can be counted in terms of engagement and performance. The digitalised world has provided great opportunities to expand remote work and give senior leaders an exciting challenge: to create a culture and engagement from a distance, attracting and retaining the best talent no matter where they are based.

Build milestones and use key performance indicators to clarify expectations and help your team understand their roles and your expectations
Hold regular in-person and one-to-one meetings to take your team ‘pulse’, boost engagement and get feedback – more distance means heightened communications to create that ‘team feeling’
Communication from a distance is no longer an issue, so use the tools at your disposal to create the feeling of community and an engaged team
Future leaders: strike a balance – spend time with your team to understand them, and how you will drive engagement from a distance

Employers offering remote options make it possible for future leaders from around the globe to apply without relocating. This is especially important among workers under 35, 68% of whom say remote options greatly impact their decisions whether to work for a company, or not according to a Fundera report.

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Zuca Palladino, Partner North America, says, “Hiring remotely definitely widens the talent pool. If you have a top performing executive in the Midwest, why risk disrupting this person’s career and personal life to send them to another location if they can perform the role from where they are? There’s no one rule that fits all, but if that executive is managing a multi-location/global team, it will benefit everyone to invest in a remote work strategy.”

Simon Nolan, Partner and Regional Head of the Consumer & Retail Practice UK explains that he has seen a clear trend over the last decade of increased location flexibility for senior leaders, which supports the widening of the talent pool – and improved work-life balance. “Companies and bosses are more flexible than they were 10 years ago when it comes to remote work. They’re thinking: ‘I want to be there for my family, so my workers should be able to be there for theirs too’,” he says.

Hiring remotely definitely widens the talent pool. If you have a top performing executive in the Midwest, why risk disrupting this person’s career and personal life to send them to another location if they can perform the role from where they are? There’s no one rule that fits all, but if that executive is managing a multi-location/global team, it will benefit everyone to invest in a remote work strategy.

-Zuca Palladino

So, how can senior executives reap the benefits of remote leadership, while minimising the risks? A strong company culture seems to be the key.

NAVIGATING THE PITFALLS OF REMOTE WORK

Working remotely is often a bed of roses: attractive with great potential for growth but filled with thorny issues.

Communications can lag. Getting people to meetings when they aren’t located in the same place means constantly navigating different time zones and mindsets. This can create conflict and chaos, and it was one of the main reasons tech giant IBM – a pioneer of remote working – blew the whistle and called employees back to the office in 2017.

When in-person meetings aren’t possible or practical, senior leaders can harness tech to make remote work seamless. Videoconferencing can help keep it (virtually) real. Live video feeds help remote workers see each other and interact in real time, wherever they are – the next best thing to a face-to-face meeting.

Again, culture is the cornerstone, and senior executives can embed communication as a practice and make regular check-ins part of daily working life so that remote workers don’t feel like they are alone.

According to a 2018 Future Workplace study, the more friends an employee feels like they have at work, the longer they will stay with a company. 43% of remote workers said that more face time would foster deeper relationships with their team, while 8 in 10 feel they would have better relationships if their team communicated with them more.

That means you, as a leader, can foster a community, albeit online and through technology, which is invaluable in maintaining streamlined communications across distance.

NO REMOTE WORKER IS AN ISLAND

However, although technology may connect a workforce, digital nomads often feel isolated. According to a 2017 Gallup Poll, working remotely is most effective when there’s a home–office balance. Engagement climbs when employees spend a proportion of their time working remotely and also work on location with their colleagues.

The optimal engagement boost occurs when employees spend 60% to less than 80% of their workweek – or 3 to 4 days – working off-site.

Engagement dips when employees work 40% to 60% of the time remotely, while employees who work remotely 100% of the time are among the least engaged.

Nolan advises senior executives to evaluate the benefits of remote work on a case-bycase basis – while reflecting the mirror on themselves, in terms of the engagement and productivity their teams show. “New hires and their leaders really should be in the office. You can’t take somebody who’s worked in the business for two weeks and say, ‘Off you go.’ They need training, they need to feel like they are integrated into the greater community and to learn by experience and from colleagues,” he explains.

NO OFFICE: THE NEW OFFICE?

There is a clear cost advantage for employers who can reduce overheads by moving their workforce to remote. The average real estate savings for US employers with full-time remote workers is $10,000 per employee per year, according to PGi News. It’s win-win: remote workers also cut costs on expenses like commuting, food, clothing and childcare, saving around $7,000 a year, according to figures from global IT recruiting company TECLA.

New hires and their leaders really should be in the office. You can’t take somebody who’s worked in the business for two weeks and say, ‘Off you go.’ They need training, they need to feel like they are integrated into the greater community and to learn by experience and from colleagues.

-Simon Nolan

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The number of people who work from home has increased by 140% since 2005. To manage the shift, senior executives must implement a strong company culture and clear expectations, to guarantee success.

Nolan recommends creating standard key performance indicators (KPIs) for management and employees “so that remote team members are aware of expectations, and their performance can be monitored. The KPIs are just one structured way for senior execs to understand how their teams are performing, alongside regular one-to-one chats and feedback,” he explains.

The economic value of remote working, coupled with transparent expectations from leadership, helps companies not only attract but also retain the best talent. Stanford University research has found that remote work can boost employee retention: people who work outside of the office are 50% less likely to leave the company for pastures new.

According to a Buffer Study, 90% of remote workers plan on working remotely for the rest of their careers, and 94% actively encourage others to work remotely.

THE BENEFITS OF REMOTE LEADERSHIP

A successful remote working strategy can be exponentially rewarding for employers, employees and recruiters. The key is to maintain a strong internal company culture where future leaders build bonds with their team and companies maintain a cohesive and engaged workforce. This starts from the moment a candidate steps into the interview room.

“At Page Executive we work remotely. We see each other every Monday, but the rest of the week we work in different offices, from home, or we are on the road. It’s all about staying connected. That’s how you keep a team together. It requires effort, but it’s absolutely worth it. Luckily, with today’s productivity tools, it is a lot easier than it was in the past to stay connected,” says Tamara van Engelen, Associate Partner Europe.

At Page Executive we work remotely. We see each other every Monday, but the rest of the week we work in different offices, from home, or we are on the road. It’s all about staying connected. That’s how you keep a team together. It requires effort, but it’s absolutely worth it.

-Tamara van Engelen

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Build milestones and use key performance indicators to clarify expectations and help your team understand their roles and your expectations
Hold regular in-person and one-to-one meetings to take your team ‘pulse’, boost engagement and get feedback – more distance means heightened communications to create that ‘team feeling’
Communication from a distance is no longer an issue, so use the tools at your disposal to create the feeling of community and an engaged team
Future leaders: strike a balance – spend time with your team to understand them, and how you will drive engagement from a distance

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Longevity and Post Career Challenges

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 14:33:35 +0000

Longevity and Post Career Challenges Anonymous (not verified)

The increase in average life expectancy around the world, together with the decline in birth rates, are the main reasons for the unleashing of what Americans have dubbed “agequake.” Longevity is one of the greatest achievements of mankind, but it puts us face to face with major challenges.

Page Executive has partnered with Angatu IDH, which has been engaged in preparing executives for retirement since the 1990s. Together, they developed a survey of 400 Brazilian professionals in high-ranking positions, aged from 40 to 60, in order to understand how they see their life in the post-career phase.

Take a glimpse into post-career opportunities available to you and what you should take into consideration through our latest research.

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Transparency and a Culture of Candour [8 Trends]

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 14:47:22 +0000

Transparency and a Culture of Candour [8 Trends] Anonymous (not verified)

How far is too far with an open company culture

Technology gives us unprecedented access to information previously beyond our paygrade. Recent political developments worldwide reflect our growing scepticism with the status quo. The more we know, the more we realise what we were not being told before.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Transparent cultures allow better informed people to make better decisions, but too much openness can be counterproductive as people perform rather than produce.

Demand for greater corporate transparency is growing.
More transparency tends to have a positive effect, but is not a quick fix.
Transparency must be an underlying but ﬂexible culture and value system.
Openness may create conditions where employees feel their autonomy and uniqueness are challenged.
Transparent cultures can lead to better decision making.

Business as usual is over. Demand for greater corporate transparency is growing and most companies are responding. This is part of a wider, more complex trend for businesses to become more human and authentic: witness similarly the drives for diversity, for empathy with regards to mental health, and the primacy of purpose.

For this generation of employees and consumers, it is vital that companies are open about their policies and actions. According to a recent study by Sprout Social, more than 86% of people in the United States believe that transparency of businesses is more important than ever before. Governments are enshrining business transparency in law, with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union just the latest example.

A culture of candour is good business sense. In a transparent culture, leaders make better informed decisions. A perfect illustration of how this works is a relatively unknown experiment by NASA with cockpit crews. They placed a pilot, co-pilot and navigator in a ﬂight simulator and watched their responses to a potential accident.

Typical take-charge pilots made far more mistakes than more open and inclusive pilots who asked their crew for input before making a decision. Crew members who regularly worked with decisive pilots were unwilling to intervene, even if they had information that might save the plane: “Crashes are invariably errors of teamwork and communication,” explains Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers: the story of success.

A commitment to transparency can be truly beneficial. But are there pitfalls for the well-meaning but unwary? And how far should open company culture go when it comes to recruiting and retaining candidates?

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

Management books sing the praises of corporate cultures where information flows freely among managers and employees, and outward to customers, candidates and other stakeholders. However, studies show a culture of complete openness and inclusion can backfire.

“Too much transparency may create conditions in which employees feel their autonomy and uniqueness are being challenged,” explains David De Cremer, professor of management studies at the University of Cambridge. The question is how CEOs can create an open company culture while avoiding the transparency trap.

BALANCING ACT

Finding the right balance starts with the way candidates are recruited. A transparent recruitment process is extremely important if employers don’t want to lose the best people.

“The way you handle potential job candidates has a high impact on your reputation as a company,” says Stephan Surber, Senior Partner and Head of Global Financial Services Practice, Page Executive in Switzerland. “They want to know exactly what to expect. Especially in senior and executive roles, people want immediate feedback. How many other candidates are there? What is the next step? One of the biggest frustrations for candidates at any level is that the process is unclear.”

The way you handle potential candidates has a high impact on your reputation as a company. One of the biggest frustrations for candidates at any level is that the process is unclear.

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE

After rumours last summer that Google was launching a censored search-engine app in China, hundreds of employees called for more transparency about the new product. In an open letter, they demanded that at least one employee supervised the project. The year before, more than a thousand Google employees decided to publish their salaries and bonuses to create more openness around income.

The Google employees aiming to create salary transparency touched on one part of the recruitment process that is controversial. There is no doubt that more openness about salaries is good for candidates – for one, it could help close the gender pay gap.

But a completely open salary policy can also create tension between employees: “As a hiring manager you would like to have the possibility to offer more if you think someone is the perfect candidate for a position. It can be demotivating for the existing team if they know what you offer a new joiner,” explains Surber.

Hiring managers want the possibility to offer more for the perfect candidate, but this can be demotivating for the existing team if they know what you offer a new joiner.

There is, in other words, no one-size-fits-all solution. Countries like Sweden, Norway and Finland, where all salaries are public, show that full transparency can work. There are also some companies, like Whole Foods Market, that provide fully transparent salary information, at least to their own employees.

THE SENSE OF BEING ON STAGE

The other important topic to consider, at least from an HR perspective, is how a transparent company culture affects retention of the best team members. One challenge is that completely open structures increase the sense of being on stage – on show, on display and under constant scrutiny. A transparent culture usually includes open offce spaces, social media platforms and smart devices, so that information sharing can occur anywhere and at any time.

According to a study by the Harvard Business School, this kind of radical transparency can have the opposite effect: “We spend more time acting (...) and avoiding embarrassment,” explains Ethan Bernstein, Associate Professor of Leadership and Organisational Behaviour. “We cater to our audience, doing what´s expected.”

Too much transparency can make employees feel uncomfortable and eventually they may leave. Companies that know how to retain employees strike the right balance between transparency and privacy. The most famous is the 20% of time that Google engineers can devote to projects that interest them personally. This untracked ‘playtime’ has been credited with the incubation of many Google products including Gmail, Google News, and last but not least, The Google Transparency Report.

BEING HUMAN

The lesson is that, although more transparency tends to have a positive effect, it is not a quick or easy fix. Greater openness does not necessarily lead to a healthy company culture, improved trust and better performance.

Seeking to be more open, honest and clear are all necessary traits in an era where human values must be protected and cherished. Companies must also rely on that most human of characteristics: common sense.

Transparency must be an underlying but ﬂexible culture and value system rather than a rigid, binary process. The top employers on Glassdoor are all transparent companies, to a degree. They are open when they can be and closed when they need to be.

In truth, transparency is really about communication: making sure employees, customers and stakeholders know a company’s purpose and strategy, as well as their role in it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Transparent cultures allow better informed people to make better decisions, but too much openness can be counterproductive as people perform rather than produce.

Demand for greater corporate transparency is growing.
More transparency tends to have a positive effect, but is not a quick fix.
Transparency must be an underlying but ﬂexible culture and value system.
Openness may create conditions where employees feel their autonomy and uniqueness are challenged.
Transparent cultures can lead to better decision making.

The Eight Executive Trends are already in its 4th edition. If you enjoyed reading, access all previous articles by clicking here: Executive Trends

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The Business of Meaningful Work [8 Trends]

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 14:37:52 +0000

The Business of Meaningful Work [8 Trends] Anonymous (not verified)

How finding a company’s purpose can unleash potential

Leaders of the past may have viewed the idea of company culture and purpose as window-dressing when set against the serious architecture of product, margin and supply line. In today’s environment, companies no longer simply offer a product or service. Companies have a voice and communicate clear beliefs as an integral part of brand, taking pride in their heritage.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

A business with purpose drives growth and employee retention by promoting a culture where all stakeholders feel invested in the company.

Purposeful organisations have better employee engagement, leading to improved customer satisfaction levels.
Purpose helps to move leadership away from a transactional view of employee engagement.
Purpose must be real, credible and believed in on its own merits.
The key behind purpose is communicating it to employees and clients.
Strong cultures help individuals perform better as they feel encouraged and inspired to achieve more.

The key to having an organisational purpose is communicating it to employees, and vitally, to your client base. Customers are a huge key driver of the why behind purpose, and the growth of a purposeful organisation often outstrips a mission-based one.

Research shows that this difference in growth can be stark, up to 28 times the level of national economic growth.

Becoming more purpose-led means examining commercial mission and thinking deeply about how it meaningfully relates to customers. What does it mean for them to be the drivers of company revenue? How do its products or services fill a gap in their lives? Will they emotionally connect to the corporate mission statement?

“If you have a strong company culture, in turn you’ll have a team of better engaged individuals,” explains Gary James, Chief Operating Officer of PageGroup. “They will feel encouraged and inspired to want to work and achieve more in that environment.”

Purpose, then, is crucial for winning and retaining both customers and talent today. How can business get to that strong culture, where employees, leaders and customers understand the purpose behind the company?

If you have a strong company culture, in turn you’ll have a team of better engaged individuals. They will feel encouraged and inspired to want to work and achieve more in that environment.

The Purpose Behind Growth and Retention

There is a growing expectation for companies to measure success beyond financial results. Some 87% of consumers believe companies perform best over time when their purpose goes beyond profit. As EY’s study Winning with Purpose explains, the benefits of a purpose-driven culture are very visible, and tangible, for leaders and the bottom line:

“Organisations that embody purpose see significant, measurable results. They get and keep the best employees (1.4 x more engaged, 1.7 x more satisfied, 3 x more likely to stay). They attract, retain and engage customers (72% of global consumers would recommend a company with a purpose, a 39% increase from 2008). And they increase returns for shareholders (purpose-led companies outperformed the S&P 500 by 10 x between 1996 and 2011).”

The value of purpose to the bottom line is even more apparent when we look at revenue growth over the past three years. As EY highlights, 64% of the top performing organisations grew by 10-30%, compared with the lower performing ones, where 24% experienced revenue decline in the same period.

Further evidence comes from the EY survey: 81% of top performers have seen improvements, with 67% receiving a boost to employee engagement, compared with 41% of lower performers, who improved customer satisfaction (and just 37% increased employee engagement).

More Than Just a Buzzword

To work together well, teams need to buy into the same principles: “Just like any pursuit, you can’t succeed in business without clear direction and a plan. The same applies to managing your people,” notes Greg Tadman, PageGroup’s Regional Human Resources Director, Asia Pacific.

You can’t succeed in business without clear direction and a plan. The same applies to managing your people. Get it right and your talent will understand that your company supports their ambitions.

He notes that while purpose could sound like a buzzword, it is fundamentally important to building successful teams.

“Get it right and your talent will understand that your company supports their ambitions, they’ll go into battle for you,” he says.

And if they get it wrong?

“Put it this way,” Tadman says. “When groups turn toxic, they can lose their employee branding and buy-in frighteningly fast.”

Patagonia, an American outdoor clothing company, is a global leader in terms of purposeful business culture. Its product lines, supply chain, even the pricing of its products are aligned with its sense of purpose, driven by CEO Yvon Chouinard to: “cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

One example of this purpose in action, of changing to organic cotton in their clothing lines, raised the prices of products as well as requiring new sourcing and supply-chain solutions. However, the reasons behind the move were clear to the firm’s employees and customers, and Patagonia is thriving because of this focus on their overall business and not simply the bottom line.

The most important lesson for executives here is twofold: authenticity and communication. Purpose cannot be confected. It must be real, credible and sincerely believed on its own merits: not merely a cynical ploy to convince customers and employees that the company is worth investing their money and energy in.

As long as it is authentic, purpose must be communicated passionately to all audiences, internal and external, consistently, clearly and continually. It should be the starting point for every decision, investment, marketing campaign and corporate action.

Leadership is Listening

The purpose of leadership goes beyond setting your teams up for battle. Companies are judged on what they’re actually fighting for.

Gina Hayden, a leadership trainer and author of Becoming a Conscious Leader: How to Lead Successfully in a World That’s Woken Up, explains that today’s successful leaders mine inputs very differently than in the past: “I think it’s important not just to look at customers, but at the information or data points of all parts of the system, including internally.”

Moving the focus away from the bottom line and towards the purpose of a business can seem like a leap of faith for leaders, who understandably have an economic view of their company and strategy. In Creating a Purpose-Driven Organization, Robert E. Quinn and Anjan V. Thakor use the example of American energy company DTE Energy President Gerry Anderson. DTE had a mission – to create long-term gains for shareholders – but no purpose for its workers or customers.

Then the financial crisis of 2008 hit. Anderson knew he needed to get more from employees and customer base. The crisis highlighted a painful point about the business – employees were not engaged, were stuck in behaviours, lacked creativity and were not reaching their potential. A DTE board member, Joe Robles (also CEO of USAA), explained that Anderson’s most important job was “to connect people to their purpose.”

The company leadership supported the new culture through improved onboarding and training programmes that talked about the purpose behind their work (keeping the world moving, keeping the lights on). They held town-hall meetings, and created culture-building activities, such as sing-alongs, and it worked. Employee engagement scores rose. DTE won a Gallup Great Workplace Award five years in a row. And financial performance skyrocketed, with the company’s stock price tripling from year-end 2008 to year-end 2017. What did DTE and Anderson do so well? They overcame the biggest barrier to welcoming purpose into a business: they forgot the transactional view of employee engagement (money as the driver).

Talent Follows Purpose

The immediacy of peer reviews available online means that talent today gets more of a say than ever in where they go next and the kind of company to which they’d like to belong (rather than merely be employed by). Thanks to Glassdoor, we can see inside companies, get a sense of their purpose and values, and assess what our own leaders might be doing right or wrong.

Jon Goldstein, Regional Director of Southeast Asia and India, Page Executive, follows the competition for C-level talent every day. He says a purpose-led culture is ignored today at a company’s peril: “It might not sound like a major factor to many leaders, but you do see the difference for top candidates. In sectors where certain talent profiles are in red-hot demand, having a demonstrable purpose-driven culture can be the difference between success or failure. Where brand used to be king, today culture rules.”

In sectors where certain profiles are in demand, having a demonstrable purpose-driven culture can be the difference between success and failure. Where brand used to be king, today culture rules.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

A business with purpose drives growth and employee retention by promoting a culture where all stakeholders feel invested in the company.

Purposeful organisations have better employee engagement, leading to improved customer satisfaction levels.
Purpose helps to move leadership away from a transactional view of employee engagement.
Purpose must be real, credible and believed in on its own merits.
The key behind purpose is communicating it to employees and clients.
Strong cultures help individuals perform better as they feel encouraged and inspired to achieve more.

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“The CFO Is Now at the Frontline”

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 09:53:22 +0000

“The CFO Is Now at the Frontline” Anonymous (not verified)

Mikkel Jensen, Associate Director at Page Executive Sweden, is reflecting on how the role of Chief Financial Officer has changed over the years.

Where the CFO used to be merely the guardian of the corporate strategy, she or he is now becoming a powerful force in defining that strategy. This also has a huge impact on candidate profiles of financial executives according to Mikkel Jensen.

“The role of CFOs is rapidly changing. Their focus is no longer solely on implementing the corporate strategy; they are defining it. This has had a huge impact on what clients expect of financial executives and how they should present themselves”, explains Mikkel Jensen.

In your opinion, what is the reason for this change?
“An ever changing marketplace I would say. Organizations are forced to adapt and try to stay ahead. If you then add long periods of macro – economic turbulence to the mix such as Brexit, Greece, China etc. Then you have yourself a cocktail that demands CEOs and board members to be more engaging and acquire a strategical future-focused CFO.

What about the changes within companies, how do they play a part?
“Technology, data management, forecasting analysis and risk are now much higher priorities on the agendas in order to cope with the rapid changes. Harmonizing diverse business strategies, alongside traditional business models is critical. The CFO is now at the frontline, when it comes to balancing the risks and rewards in many areas. Therefore, the CFO role is becoming more and more forward and outward-facing, ensuring that value is maximized from new and existing activities.”

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Work Better Together

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 15:47:59 +0000

Work Better Together Anonymous (not verified)

What sort of colleague are you? Being a team player is a sought-after attribute by employers and recruiters but do you really understand what makes you, and those you work with, tick?

Our Work Better Together quiz will help you find out your work personality type* – or working style – and how you can work with your team most effectively.

*Dr. Ichak Adizes, founder of the PAEI management model, believes the best management teams feature a combination of four roles, each of which can be represented by a personality type. Visit here for more information.

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What Recruitment Lesson Can You Learn from Apple?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 15:50:11 +0000

What Recruitment Lesson Can You Learn from Apple? Anonymous (not verified)

When Apple put their hand up and admitted they’d made a recruitment mistake, companies stopped to take note. Tim Cook confessed “I hired the wrong person for retail initially. That was clearly a screw-up. He [Browett] didn’t fit here culturally is a good way to describe it. We all talked to him, and I made the final decision, and it was wrong.”

In recruitment, we follow businesses hiring decisions over many years and unfortunately we see this all too frequently. Poor decisions are often made around cultural fit which can be extremely costly from a productivity, team morale and ultimately a business performance perspective. It has been said that the cost to a business of a bad executive hire can be up to 15 times their annual salary.

As an executive search firm, our reputation is built on long-term relationships and repeat business. It is our job to find the perfect technical and cultural match between candidate and company. A bad hiring decision affects our reputation.

Sadly we often see unconscious bias in the first interview stage(s) and it’s our job to ensure that there is a much more robust recruitment process in place to avoid this. Affinity (like-me) bias occurs when we are drawn to people that appear to be similar to us. These assumptions are formed through many factors throughout a person’s life and can strongly influence who they believe to be the perfect fit. However, once the interview stages are over, the most similar person might not actually be the right fit for the business.

Likewise, we often see candidates are drawn to attractive companies and are not entirely honest (even with themselves) about their fit within that company as they are unable to see beyond the prestige of the brand.

A good executive search firm that specialises in their field will work with a client to look for other businesses that are a good cultural fit in order to approach only the most relevant candidates.

Such candidates will then go through a thorough interview process including psychometric testing to ensure they are on the same page as the company. 360-degree references and endorsements will be obtained. Finally, but crucially, a search firm can get honest feedback from both the candidate and the company, the responses that you don’t hear during the interview, to ensure a mutual match.

The ability to culture match is one of the crucial skills that an executive search specialist must have in order to be successful. If you would like explore recruitment options or have any further questions please contact Nicola Wensley, Director at Page Executive, for a confidential discussion.

Nicola Wensley
T: 01932 264 059
E: nicolawensley@pageexecutive.com

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Corporate Social Responsibility: The Commercial Advantages of Being Ethical

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 12:19:02 +0000

Corporate Social Responsibility: The Commercial Advantages of Being Ethical Anonymous (not verified)

Being socially responsible is not only the right thing to do but helps the company to stand out in a globalised talent market.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) concerns the thought process that a company’s leadership engages in when they think about their responsibility to the people they employ, the markets in which they operate and the communities with which they engage.

It includes creating a congenial workplace and having a diverse and inclusive approach to fostering innovation, while being a great employer and business partner.

What is the key objective of CSR?

The aim of CSR is to provide the business with a global management perspective, based on the triple bottom line of social, environmental and financial. This framework is also known as the three Ps: people, planet and profit. Managing this mix requires professionals with multidisciplinary skills.

Responsible management helps in preventing issues affecting corporate reputation, in anticipating regulatory risks and in meeting the demands of specialist interest groups. This, in turn, ultimately reduces costs.

Responsible, transparent leaders inspire confidence in employees, customers, investors and partners alike. Within the workforce, employee loyalty improves, productivity increases and it becomes easier to attract top talent.

How has CSR evolved and at what point do companies recognise it as important?

CSR has advanced over the past ten years. Companies are already sensitised to the issue and have taken steps to comply with their responsibilities. CSR mainly originated in the US as an important item on the corporate agenda for companies wanting to demonstrate their social and societal responsibilities.

While fundraising for societal issues is a fundamental pillar in Anglo-Saxon cultures, this is less so in other areas of the world.

However, the CSR landscape is changing. Globally, organisations are gradually demonstrating their commitment to social initiatives through their CSR programmes, working more and more actively on areas such as diversity and inclusion, and sponsoring directly rather than funding indirectly.

CSR has not only ceased to be questioned: it is well understood by senior management today as an integral part of the corporate culture and contributes to the company strategy.

Furthermore, CSR is an opportunity for value creation. CSR policies generate new opportunities and business lines. In short, they allow companies to differentiate themselves and become more competitive.

Key takeaways

Simply put, CSR means focusing on the ‘3 Ps’ of people, planet and profit
A commitment to CSR can help companies to differentiate themselves on the world stage
Responsible, transparent leaders inspire confidence in external and internal stakeholders
CSR is now widely accepted as an integral element in corporate culture and strategy

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3 Crucial Trends That Smart HR Leaders Know About

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 08:47:06 +0000

3 Crucial Trends That Smart HR Leaders Know About Anonymous (not verified)

What is the most viewed document of the TV-streaming service Netflix? An interview about a new season coming out? No. Surprisingly, it was their human resource strategy. Over 13 million people made the effort to read it. Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operation Officer of Facebook, even called it ´one of the most important documents ever to come out of Silicon Valley.´

It shows how crucial HR is becoming. The time that HR departments were mainly involved in bureaucratic tasks like payroll and staff administration is long gone. According to Page Executive´s HR Barometer, modern HR leaders are key figures in the organisation. The future of the company depends on their strategy to recruit and retain the biggest talents out there.

In a competitive job market high potential candidates are scarce. That´s why HR leaders need to look for new ways to attract and to keep talent. These are the 3 most important trends that help them to reach their goals.

Trend 1. Build a strong employer brand to attract the best candidates

The best HR leaders team up with their marketing departments to successfully build a strong employer brand. Because with the growing global economy, the traditional recruitment of new employees is not enough anymore. As the HR Barometer suggests, there is a real need for a people-strategy that helps the company in the long term. Successful HR departments know therefore how to position their company as an attractive place to work, to facilitate the recruitment of the most talented candidates and to ensure their retention afterwards.

Trend 2. Tailor your HR strategy to the specific needs of employees

Good HR leaders know what the individual needs of their employees are. They segment the workforce into different groups with specific requirements and tailor their HR policies to their wishes. That way the employees feel more engaged and are more likely to stay longer with the organisation. One example of these kind of measures is the creation of a workplace that is female friendly, diverse and inclusive. In practice this results in policies such as flexible working times, a horizontal career path and the possibility to receive coaching & mentoring. The HR Barometer shows that this is an area that still needs to be developed by many companies. But those who already did, have an enormous advantage: employees more engaged, creating more value for the organisation and a better working environment.

Trend 3. Tracking HR performance through KPIs

Smart HR leaders use sophisticated KPIs to provide insights such as management performance, employee mobility and employee engagement. Because solid numbers are the best way to prove the added value of your department. This data-driven approach is necessary, because there is a constant competition for resources between the different departments in the company. If budgets are allocated to highly data-driven departments like sales or finance, HR misses the opportunity for further professionalisation. And as the role of HR broadens, the need - and internal competition - for more resources becomes bigger. It is therefore no surprise that, according to the HR Barometer, the larger HR departments are more likely to use more advanced KPI systems.

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Unconscious Bias: Unintentional People Preferences

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 11:43:05 +0000

Unconscious Bias: Unintentional People Preferences Anonymous (not verified)

Amanda Salaam, Director, Page Executive and Michael Page Human Resources, interviewed Dan Robertson, an expert on workplace diversity and inclusion management, unconscious bias and inclusive leadership. Dan is also the Diversity & Inclusion Director at the Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion, and this interview focuses on the fascinating subject of unconscious bias.

There’s a lot of talk about unconscious bias in business today. In a nutshell, can you sum up what unconscious bias is?
These assumptions or biases are formed in one of three ways: the first is, the attitudes you developed through your social and family environments as you grew up, (conversations you had at home, the kind of school you went to etc.). The second is, through personal experiences with people who are similar to you and people who are different from you. And the third way in which biases develop is, simply through exposure to difference communities via the media.

So we are not born with a bias?
Whilst biases are universal in the sense that they exist in all cultures and societies, our biases may depend on where you live. So as opposed to being born with a bias, we know that biases are essentially developed over time through social learning.

How do our unconscious biases impact our decision, specifically in relation to recruitment?
There are many different types of biases, but affinity (like me) bias has a significant impact on recruitment decisions. For instance, a 2012 study by the Policy Exchange found ingrained levels of age based bias in the UK labour market, whilst a 2009 Department for Work and Pensions study found significant levels of ethnic bias amongst UK employers. In this study the researchers sent out 2,961 applications to 987 advertised job vacancies. For each job vacancy they sent three CVs, with essentially identical information. All showed the candidates had been born and educated in the UK. The only significant difference was the candidate’s name.

A positive result was a call for an interview. The survey showed that people with a white, western sounding name, had to send out an average of nine CVs before getting an interview. However, people with traditional African or Asian sounding names had to send out an average of 16 CVs. That’s a significant difference simply on a person’s name. Other research from a range of global institutions supports the conclusion that businesses are essentially hiring or rejecting talented candidates partly based on name. Thus affinity or ‘like me’ bias is a big factor in hiring decisions, resulting in the ‘mini-me’ effect. Beyond core connect points such as age or ethnicity; we do know that affinity bias covers a wide range of factors such as the university you attended, your social accent, your work style or simple hobbies and interests.

And how does unconscious bias play out beyond the recruitment process?
Once individuals enter the workplace, affinity bias impacts positively for those who fit with the existing business culture, and negative for those who do not. I would suggest there are three key areas of where leaders need to pay particular attention.

Work allocation: Managers are more likely to assign key projects to individuals within their teams who they have an unconscious affinity with.
Informal sponsorship and feedback: Managers are more likely spend time informally discussing contributions to the team and will focus on development and future work plans. For those where there is little affinity managers are more likely to question past performance. The conversation will be less friendly and even hostile at times.
Micro-behaviours: Examples of positive micro-behaviours include positive eye contact and supporting the ideas of a colleague at a team meeting. Examples of negative micro-behaviours include interruption colleagues whilst they share ideas or checking emails whilst they talk.

The collective consequence of these behaviours exaggerates the dynamics of organisational insiders and outsiders. For insiders, the effects on motivation, performance and career progression is positive. For outsider groups the opposite is the case.

Are all groups affected in the same way?
No. Just as there are different levels of conscious bias affecting a range of social groups, some data points to higher of levels of unconscious bias, specifically covering race and disability. We at enei commissioned a piece of research to examine the ‘Paralympic effect’ on our unconscious associations of disabled people. Interesting, whilst social attitudes have changed at the conscious level, we have actually seen an uplift in relation to unconscious disability bias.

What can business do to eliminate unconscious bias within their recruitment processes?
Generally, it’s easy for people to recognise that there could be unconscious biases at play in their decision. The tricky bit is getting them to recognise they actually have them. From a practical perspective the three things that individuals can do to begin to mitigate their own unconscious biases include the following.

Own up to the fact that we all have unconscious biases: This is a key step towards bias control.
Test yourself: Professors at Harvard University have developed The Implicit Association Test (IAT). This is designed to measure attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. There are a range of free tests that can be accessed via the Project Implicit website.
Expand your work network: Have coffee or lunch with someone difference from you. This helps to build affinity whilst also breaking down stereotypes.

At the organisational level I would recommend the following:

Review existing person specifications and job descriptions: inherent biases are often built into these and they can act as a barrier to inclusive recruitment.
Advertising: is the advertisement being placed through media where the widest or most relevant groups are likely to see it?
Talk to key stakeholders: challenge your recruitment agencies and head-hunters when they say, “the (diverse) talent is just not out there”.
Introducing “blind” decision-making: it’s becoming more common for companies to remove information such as names and universities from application processes. This helps at the initial sifting stage.
Using a rigorous scoring system at interview: this helps to mitigate unconscious biases by measuring the candidate against the criteria and experience you are looking for. Support this by aggregating candidate scores, as this mutes the effect of an assessor with biases.
Organisational fit: recognise the “organisational fit” and the fact that you are more likely to favour people like you.
Diverse range: have a diverse range of competent people at assessment stage and on interview panels.

We at enei have developed a simple set of checklists designed to help organisations to mitigate the effects of unconscious biases and to promote inclusive recruitment. Using checklists within decision making has been shown to have a positive impact on business outcomes.

To find out more about enei’s bias control checklists, connect Dan Robertson email: dan.robertson@enei.org.uk or connect on LinkedIn: Dan Robertson, or Twitter: @dan_robertson1. Alternatively, if you would like to know how Michael Page can help your business navigate the complexities of unconscious bias within the recruitment process, contact Amanda Salaam.

Amanda Salaam
T: +44 1932 264 049
M: +447584386166

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The Rise Of Global Talent Search

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 16:03:01 +0000

The Rise Of Global Talent Search Anonymous (not verified)

What are the main advantages and disadvantages of making the search for talent a worldwide one?

Logically, performing a global search multiplies the available talent and candidates who meet the job requirements. But the main advantage of undertaking a global selection process is having access to a more diverse pool of professionals, not only in terms of experience and qualifications, but also from a cultural point of view.

What are the key considerations in casting your recruitment net more widely?

Searching globally opens the door to new, non-local leadership styles, perspectives and ways to meet business challenges, which enriches the organisation in today’s global markets.

Conversely, there are also challenges as the process introduces the logistical issues of time differences and videoconferencing, and additional costs and procedures, such as visa, travel and transportation costs.

Another factor is the need to have a good understanding of the cultural differences of the candidates set against the backgrounds of the actual interviewers, and then the hiring manager, which can be difficult.

Finally, because relocation can be a huge life change, there is also greater risk that candidates will change their minds at the last minute because of the challenge, personally and for their families, of adapting to the new location or because the non-salary elements of the contract do not meet their expectations. This, of course, can have a direct impact on company productivity.

What are the most effective tools for attracting talent internationally?

While online tools, such as professional networks and refer-a-friend schemes for existing employees can play a role, global executive search firms are truly equipped to provide multichannel combining sourcing solutions with the individual assessment of performance and potential.

Whatever channels are used, attracting talent internationally will rely on a strong and relevant employer brand. This in turn relies on being known as a truly ‘great place to work’ for international talent, providing attractive policies such as on compensation, flexibility, diversity and inclusion, and demonstrating other key characteristics that global talent will expect to find in global brands.

How has the importance of incorporating ‘non-local’ talent evolved?

The so-called war for talent is a global war, though it is of course more aggressive in certain regions and cities, and some sectors, including IT, digital and regulatory control and compliance. A company wanting to engage in this battle has to do so globally. Many companies are evolving their concept of ‘diversity’.

The definition of diversity now includes aspects such as international experience, having a multicultural outlook or experience in different sectors. These changes in perspective are making companies more inclined to incorporate non-local talent.

How is digitalisation changing recruitment?

In-house human resources departments become more sophisticated. Similarly to recruiters, they experience the impact that technology has on their internal processes. With more HR processes being automated, the HR department is freed from administrative procedures, allowing them to focus on more effective talent management and retention programmes. While talent management has always been part of HR’s responsibilities, a combination of demographics and market forces has moved the topic higher up the agenda.

The HR function is becoming increasingly responsible for social media communication, reinforcing the employer brand, diversifying and publishing the different employee value propositions, and reaching out to new talent sources to recruit more diversely in the war for talent. This is being achieved by incorporating social media as an integral part of recruitment strategies, creating digital profiles based on online behaviour to help target talent and generally building a stronger online presence.

How do demographics affect recruitment?

Where employees in the past switched infrequently between jobs, turnover has increased significantly as a younger generation of employees has entered the labour market.

HR departments are now challenged to find ways to retain talent within the business. However, given today’s higher turnover rates, demand for talent has increased, with a corresponding shortage of talent in specific areas. As a result, there has been a rise in demand for outsourcing of recruitment to agencies, especially in executive recruitment.

Key takeaways

Recruiting globally is an opportunity to enrich the organisation with different leadership styles and experience
Having a strong, internationally recognised brand gives the edge in attracting global talent
The war for talent is now a global war, with companies embracing the concept of ‘diversity’
Employee retention has become more challenging as a younger, more mobile generation enters the job market

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Going Global: The Rising Internationalisation of SMEs

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:16:39 +0000

Going Global: The Rising Internationalisation of SMEs Anonymous (not verified)

Internationalisation gives rise to multiple challenges, of which attracting and retaining talent are among the toughest.

For small- and mid-size organisations, deciding to go international is a big step. Helped by the digital transformation, which dramatically lowers the barriers to entry into new markets, more and more SMEs are dipping their toes in international waters.

One of the most overlooked pitfalls when expanding overseas is the need to adapt your company’s culture and behaviour, and to be truly open to new ideas and approaches. It’s all about people.

Why should executives consider taking their business abroad?

Internationalisation has quickly become reality in many sectors and companies of all sizes are affected, regardless of their ownership structure. It is fair to say that even local, family-led companies are heavily affected by the internationalisation of today’s economy, as they grow to become true SMEs. Being in those international markets logically generates additional revenue, strengthens brands that achieve greater visibility and diversifies risk.

The internationalisation process is essential for company survival and growth, but is not a process to generate quick returns. These projects often require long periods of maturation: patience is key.

Aside from attracting new customers, what are the challenges when attracting and retaining international or foreign talent?

When considering entry into any new target market, whether it’s a new national market or a move abroad, it’s essential to know the target market inside out.

Business leaders who successfully transform their organisation from a national into an international player are generally characterised by their in-depth understanding of local customers, tastes and customs. They know how to tailor their products and services without losing the company’s identity and its overall brand positioning.

Only seasoned executives are able to find that balance between ensuring that local operations continue to perform well without being alienated by the company’s new direction and the excitement of global opportunities.

Having that in-depth understanding and finding that balance not only require adapting the product or service to the new target market; it’s also about ensuring that a company attracts the right local talent from the new market to further support its growth.

For SMEs that started life as family businesses, this is a challenge for which they are often ill prepared. They may find themselves in a situation where they lose momentum as they are unable to crack the code to adapt their employment offering to local needs and tastes.

Cracking this code often involves a better understanding of the culture and habits of the customer in the new market. It requires the company’s leadership to develop and fine-tune their personal skills in order to be a successful employer in this new (employment) market.

Which soft skills are required by an executive involved in internationalisation?

Above all, the company-wide adoption of a culture of internationalisation is essential. Ensuring that a company’s leaders have a high level of cultural intelligence is crucial. It should be clear that the leadership team sees the strategy of internationalisation as a key priority. Actions speak louder than words. Therefore, a company’s actions should reflect the desire of the leadership team to move into this foreign market.

Additionally, the profile of those executives who have successfully led and implemented an internationalisation process is always characterised by a high degree of flexibility and willingness to adapt to the needs of each market.

They understand that potential customers in the new target market may be unaware of their reputation back home and that they can establish a similar reputation only by building the business from the ground up, creating trust by showing that they are in it for the long haul, by investing in the future and by being willing to build long- term relationships. Any action that could be regarded as quick wins could painfully hurt their reputation, slow down the company’s international growth or even result in a withdrawal from the new market.

How important is it to have a local presence?

Companies can overcome this by working with local partners and by quickly appointing a seasoned executive who knows the local market inside out, someone who believes in the company’s strategy and can identify with its values and vision.

Attracting such a local executive should not be delayed. As soon as the viability of the internationalisation is established, an executive with an international, multicultural and multilingual profile should be sought.

However, experience of the corporate culture within the company’s homeland remains an absolute must. Inviting newcomers from other countries for a longer time period in order to immerse themselves in the organisation’s home market gives new managers the opportunity to integrate and understand core values, company culture, processes and has proven to be very effective for both parties.

Applying the best practice of hiring an executive leader early on in the internationalisation process will allow the company to smoothly transition from a national to an international organisation, while avoiding cross-cultural misunderstandings.

Key takeaways

Transforming a national business into an international business requires a comprehensive knowledge of target local markets
There is a critical balance to be struck between seizing new opportunities and satisfying the needs of existing markets
Cultural intelligence is a crucial leadership quality
Creating trust in new target markets is not a ‘quick win’ exercise

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How to Create Exceptional Leadership Through Behaviours

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 15:26:31 +0000

How to Create Exceptional Leadership Through Behaviours Anonymous (not verified)

Great HR people can differentiate themselves by recognising and driving effective leadership behaviour within their organisations.

Businesses rely on technological innovation to drive increased business success – but to really stand apart from the competition, careful development and evolution of leadership behaviours requires a similar focus.

GE is a company recognised worldwide for their standard of leadership. Founded in 1878 by Thomas Edison, GE now employs more than 300,000 people across 100 countries. The value placed on developing peoples’ capabilities is high on the agenda, with CEO Jeff Immelt positioning leadership and behaviour as his top strategic imperative.

Leadership behaviours aren't static...

The systems that GE has in place to drive leadership behaviours can be applied to most businesses, provided there is genuine management buy-in. Sameena Bashey, HR director of GE Healthcare, hosted a breakfast session with Page Executive’s HR practice in which she discussed GE’s track record. She shared insights into the organisation’s value and leadership framework and practical implementation of the strategy from a human resources perspective.

Driving effective leadership behaviour: the GE perspective

Leadership behaviours aren’t static; they evolve over time and according to business demand. But there are consistent traits that great leaders exhibit; at GE they’re termed ‘Growth Values’. They are:

Having an external focus
Clear thinking
Imagination and courage
Inclusiveness: listen and be humble
Expertise

Exploring in more detail, Sameena described what the Growth Values mean on a practical level:

Great leaders in GE ‘walk the talk’. They live and breathe the Growth Values and those individuals who are unable to adapt to them do not last as GE people, not matter how successful they are from a financial delivery point of view. This links into being courageous. In many businesses leadership behaviours look good on paper but when push comes to shove, successful individuals who are counter-cultural are still allowed to flourish.
The whole HR lifecycle is delivered with the Growth Values in mind. From recruitment through reward, performance management and succession planning, the Growth Values play a vital part in ensuring that GE as a global organisation has an integrated common framework through which anyone can be measured. The 9-box grid is used as a tool across the business and there is as much emphasis put on performing against the correct behaviours as there is performing against commercial targets.
The Growth Values are simple, easy to understand and the detail that lies behind them is different depending on your level within the organisation. That said, wherever you are in the GE world, everyone will know the five Growth Values and how they are being assessed against them. Everyone will have an appraisal and the outcomes of these will be lived/reviewed on an almost daily basis.

Feeding back on behaviours

Having a behaviour framework in place for leaders means little unless it’s constantly refined and developed, both on an individual and group level. Feedback plays a crucial part; both gaining feedback from the individuals involved and, as an HR leader, asking for feedback on your own behaviour.

Sameena’s approach involves getting to know her leaders in great detail, to understand what motivates them, what frustrates them and what drives them and explaining to them that one of her roles as an HR leader is to give and receive feedback. Then it’s critical to give ‘in the moment’ feedback. Too often, businesses hide behind 360 degree feedback or refuse/won’t give the feedback that can help individuals change. Sameena sees it as a key role for her and her HR teams to be brave and challenging. What differentiates great HR people are those who not only spot leaders who don’t demonstrate the right leadership behaviours but will challenge them against it – in the right way.

Career advice

For professionals on the upward curve of their HR careers, Sameena shares this advice:

Be courageous; you and the function can gain an incredible amount of respect by challenging poor leadership behaviours
Be the advocate for the behaviours – you can’t expect people to demonstrate the right behaviours if you don’t exhibit them yourself
Try to never compromise your own value-set

For more information on developing your HR leadership career or for executive HR recruitment services please connect with our HR specialists from around the world.

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The Gender Pay Gap at the Top

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 16:16:36 +0000

The Gender Pay Gap at the Top Anonymous (not verified)

According to the official government estimates the gender pay gap in the UK stood at 19.4% in 2014. Albeit indicative of the situation in the labour market in general, the average figure isn’t particularly revealing of how the gender pay gap persists in different professions and in different salary tiers.

We analysed data on median and 80th percentile salaries for men and women published in the ONS 2014 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Our analysis revealed that the gender pay gap for the top 20% of earners is the widest for occupations in Finance and Healthcare, with men earning up to twice as much as women in the same occupation.

Top 20% of earners

Looking at the gender pay gap in absolute terms, financial managers and directors top the table with a salary difference of nearly £45,000 between highest-earning men and women. Men make up to £112,657 a year in this profession, while women make up to £67,685.

Looking at the gender pay gap in relative terms, it is the widest for health professionals. Women in the top 20% of earners in this occupation make upwards of £37,265 per annum, which is 51% less than men who earn at least £75,841 a year.

Top 20% of earners - Female-dominated occupations

Despite accounting for 79% of health professionals, top-earning women in this profession make £38,756 (51%) less than men. The highest-earning female welfare and housing professionals, on the other hand, make £2,644 (9%) less than their male counterparts.
Keen to explore the data yourself? Click through to https://www.pageexecutive.com/content/gender-pay-gap/ to see the insights and compare the pay gaps for different sectors and occupations.

More about the data and our calculations

Salary and employment data was taken from the 2014 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings that provides salary estimates for men and women across different salary tiers. Median annual salary and 80th percentile salary were used in the analysis.
The gender pay gap was determined as the difference between men’s and women’s annual salary, expressed both in pounds sterling (£) and as a percentage (%).

Occupations were classified as female-dominated and male-dominated on the basis of women and men respectively accounting for 70% or more jobs in the occupation.

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White lies can ruin your integrity – and worse

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:42:28 +0000

White lies can ruin your integrity – and worse Anonymous (not verified)

Higher Education Degree Datacheck says a third of people embellish or exaggerate their academic qualifications when applying for jobs. Nicola Wensley, director of fashion appointment in our consumer practice recently wrote an article for Drapers about falsifications on CVs and possible repercussions of bending the truth to get a job.

In the article called White lies can ruin your integrity – and worse, Nicola talks about her recent experience with this issue. A senior candidate ‘embellished’ his CV a long time ago and this embellishment finally caught up with him 20 years later. Nicola discusses the line between a white lie and actual fraud, and how even what you might perceive as a harmless exaggeration, could have a disastrous effect on your career.

For more executive recruitment insight, visit our news and insights section.

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Page Executive Signs Up to Women on Boards Voluntary Code of Conduct

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 09:57:21 +0000

Page Executive Signs Up to Women on Boards Voluntary Code of Conduct Anonymous (not verified)

In 2012 PageGroup launched Women @ Page to help us achieve better gender diversity across all levels of our global business. The aim was, and continues to be to create an inclusive working environment by developing the pipeline and retaining female talent in our business.

Since we launched Women @ Page, we have made great progress and seen many successes that we are extremely proud of. In mid-2014, PageGroup received 'Highly Commended' for the 'Working Families Award' and won the 'Global Diversity Award' category at the 2014 Enei Awards. At the Top Employers for Working Families Awards, PageGroup won the ‘commended’ award in the ‘Best for all stages of motherhood’ category and received a special mention for doing groundbreaking work in the sector.

Ruby McGregor-Smith, senior independent director at PageGroup says “Women @ Page is already helping mothers balance work and family life by offering flexible working and new opportunities. I am proud of my involvement in Women @ Page...”

The 30% Club Voluntary Code of Conduct

As part of our commitment to gender equality in the workforce and the Women @ Page initiative, PageGroup signed up to the 30% Club Voluntary Code of Conduct for Executive Search Firms in October 2013.This is a voluntary, currently self-regulated code which is relevant to all recruitment firms active in senior level recruitment.

The 30% Club was created in 2010 by Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment Management, to address the lack of momentum around improving the gender balance at senior levels in business. Executive search firms commit to supporting FTSE 350 companies to create more diverse boards and it continues to have a positive impact on the appointment of women into board positions. The aim of the 30% Club and the Voluntary Code is to raise the percentage of women on corporate boards to at least 30% by 2015. Research shows that when a group of people reaches 30% of the whole, that group has the critical mass necessary to exert real influence.

We are one of 72 recruitment firms who have stepped up and become signatories and our chairman, Robin Buchanan, has himself become one of the 30% Club Chairs who are working to fulfil the goals of the 30% Club.

To become a signatory to the Code, Page Executive has committed to:

Review provisions of the Code and assess its scope and relevance
Enlist support of the Board and senior partners within the firm to adopt the Code
Evaluate PageGroup’s current practices and determining action plans to enhance processes and practice where they fall short of Code provisions
Communicate support for the Code widely within PageGroup as well as externally
Set targets for progress, monitoring and reporting on progress internally

Lucia Knight, business director, CFO practice at Page Executive says, “It’s great to see board enhancements around gender balance so high on the commercial agenda at PageGroup. For our CFO practice, uncovering female CFOs has been a key focus for some time.”

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Talent Attraction Through Branding

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 15:50:43 +0000

Talent Attraction Through Branding Anonymous (not verified)

Attracting the right people to your business relies on being perceived as an employer of choice – especially at the executive level. The top talent is always in high demand, irrespective of economic conditions. But when the outlook is perceived as uncertain, it takes a more sustained commitment from organisations to convey their employer proposition to prospective new business leaders and functional specialists. Professionals with experience in a specialised industry sector or a proven track record of transformation and change, for example, are well aware of their market value and used to proactive approaches from search specialists and potential new employers. In a tricky climate or difficult operating conditions, the requirement for new hires is to make an immediate difference – whether that be to the bottom line, transformation agenda or business strategy. Those top-notch candidates with the requisite experience know that they’re sought after to add value, and quickly, so will always ask, “what’s in it for me?” Remuneration, rewards and the ability to influence all play a big part in the answer to that question – but so does the perception of the organisation, how it stacks up against the competition, potential for growth and organisational culture. The opportunities for earning and career development, in tandem with the perception of the business in a professional context all merge to form the employer brand, and it’s something that requires attention when attracting key leaders.

Top talent is always in high demand ...

Employer branding – who plays a part?

Unless a business is a brand new start-up, they’re likely to have an existing reputation as an employer – whether this is intentional or not. Given that potential new employees make decisions about joining based on this impression, it pays to define a strategy to make sure the right (and real) messages are being heard. Defining and implementing employer branding strategies is usually the remit of the human resources department, in conjunction with marketing and communications and increasingly senior business leadership. A full employer branding strategy is complex, with the need for stakeholder agreement, set deliverables and success measurement but here are some of the basics to bear in mind, as there’s no doubt that a good perception of employer brand is essential in the process of attracting (and retaining) top executive talent. Employer branding to appeal to the execs – six top tips

Find out who you are. Before embarking on any active branding strategy, it’s essential to determine if you’re considered an employer of choice by your existing leadership team. Current and previous employees are your greatest brand ambassadors, and if they’re not conveying a positive message, it’s important to find out why not. Employee satisfaction surveys and monitoring reviews of your organisation online are useful ways to get a feel for the perception of the company amongst your staff. Providing an open forum for comment amongst senior management could also help to gauge sentiment.
Define culture and aims. What is it that keeps your employees engaged and differentiates you from your competitors? The answers should provide the reasons why people would want to work for you. It may be your environment of continual improvement with enviable training opportunities, or simply a friendly, collaborative atmosphere. Only when you’ve got a grip on who you are and what makes you different will you be able to communicate this to a wider audience.
Consistent messaging to different audiences. The experience of your brand you impart to graduates will obviously differ to that at director-level, so segment your audience and speak to them as groups. Make sure the tone and message that you’re conveying to the leadership/specialist end of the market is at the appropriate level and sufficiently detailed, while adhering to the over-arching aims and purpose of the organisation. Most importantly, make sure that everyone involved in conveying your employer brand is informed of the right information to do so.
Leaders buy leaders. People want to work with others who’re considered leaders – not just as ‘heads of’ departments or functions, but true leaders who define new parameters and encourage change. Promote the capability of your existing leadership team with examples of their innovation and how your culture and environment fosters this sort of talent. If you’re looking to up-skill or improve an area of the business, the focus should be on opportunities to affect chance and shift culture.
Pay attention to your online presence. “59% of companies leverage their career website for communicating their employer brand” and “44% of companies use social media to enhance their employer brand” according to research released by Employer Brand International in October 2011. While the online/social medium may differ according to the level of employee being targeted, it’s likely that online interaction will influence brand perception – whether that’s the relevancy of information included on the corporate website, the research and insight that an organisation releases, or simply the LinkedIn profiles of the leadership team.
Back to basics. Brand perception is an on-going process that can shift according to circumstance or situation. While there may be a positive impression during the initial awareness phase of research online or through networks, a poor interview experience (lack of feedback, delays) could negatively influence initial good perceptions. Make sure that all interactions with your brand are consistent and accurate – whether it’s your online presence, leadership team, HR etc. “Although crucial for candidate attraction, ensuring positive employer branding also plays a big part in the engagement and ongoing retention of your top talent. Candidates who turn into employees have done so, in part, because of their positive experience of your brand,” said Simon Bell, MD of Page Executive in the UK.

For a more detailed conversation about the role your employer brand has in executive-level talent attraction, please get in touch with your local Page Executive team.

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The Seven Secrets of Leadership - Secret #7

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 12:24:33 +0000

The Seven Secrets of Leadership - Secret #7 Anonymous (not verified)

Secret #7 - Influence through interaction

What makes a great global leader? Page Executive interviewed over forty business leaders across Asia Pacific and Australia, Europe and the Americas for their views on leadership. The result of this work is a series of short articles on the topic of leadership that we are pleased to share with you. These articles encapsulate the opinions of the global leaders we interviewed, who generously shared their views on what constitutes success in a global leader, as well as offering advice to the next generation of leaders.

Leaders seek to influence others. To achieve this, they must serve as a reference point and guide within specific teams, the wider organisation and the world at large. The primary followers should be the leader’s team. Leaders can encourage good ‘followership’ by empowering their people and collaborating with them on new ideas in what might be termed a co-leadership process.

Leadership through collaboration

For this process to be successful, leaders need to demonstrate their emotional intelligence. They must show their understanding of multicultural environments and interact effectively with people of different cultural backgrounds.

A participative style will enable leaders to harness brainpower internally and externally to devise the best solutions and gain buy-in to them. Leaders need to gain and maintain influence in a world which is at the same time more complex, transparent and interconnected.

The incremental power of networks

Leaders must now co-create and grow their networks in order to build a strong group of followers, who may well include other leaders. To maintain this network, they should engage in it, share ideas, and always look to identify new opportunities. An effective network will always be greater than the sum of its parts.

Social media platforms offer great potential for forming these leadership groups. Leaders should also seek face-to-face contacts to build stronger networks outside their immediate circle.

Our clients say…

A global leader should be able to demonstrate the attributes of an explorer, with a gift for empowering their followers wherever they are based in the global economy.

- Human resource director, device company, Asia

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How to Increase Your Chances of Being Headhunted

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:35:50 +0000

How to Increase Your Chances of Being Headhunted Anonymous (not verified)

Are you thinking about your next career move but unsure about how to start the process?

As a successful IT leader or CIO, it’s likely that your future career opportunities will be in the hands of executive search specialists or ‘headhunters’.

The days of ‘registering’ with a contingent recruiter and waiting for the calls are behind you.

So what happens now?

Here is my insider’s guide to helping you increase your chances of being ‘headhunted’:

Be successful
Always strive to get noticed because of personal contributions to your team’s successes. If the people in your industry are recognising you for your achievements then you’ll stand out more and be easier to find. You’re also more likely to get recommendations if you’re someone who stands out in your market; referrals are a headhunter’s lifeblood and a key way of building networks. Make sure you have a positive reputation in the market.
Be an expert and have a USP
Value alignment between an individual and a prospective employer is a crucial part of the recruitment decision, but most headhunters will also be seeking individuals with specific skills and experience. Whether it be systems integration, major ERP implementation or innovation in an area such as omni-channel retailing, make sure you have a USP that identifies you as a genuine leader in your field.
Make yourself visible
One of the most effective ways of being recognised and identified as top talent is to participate actively in dialogue within your field. Speaking at industry events or conferences and getting articles you’ve written highlighted in relevant publications, will boost your visibility and give an employer something to reference alongside your CV.
U se LinkedIn and other social networking
While headhunters will still use traditional search methods, it’s becoming increasingly common for researchers to also utilise online tools as part of their ‘long-list’ building process. As a result, it is advisable to build yourself a compelling LinkedIn profile. This should clearly outline your achievements and give details of the deliverables and accountabilities of your current and recent roles. Make sure you have some relevant recommendations, ideally from people at senior levels within your current organisation or a stakeholder for whom you have delivered something. Ideally they will set the context of the recommendation rather than a general ‘nice person’ type recommendation.
Network
Networking effectively amongst your peer group and across your industry is a powerful way to increase your chances of being headhunted. Remember, networking is a two-way process so make every effort to stay in touch and maintain a relationship with well-connected colleagues, whilst also reaching out to other people who you know are figureheads within your industry.
Invest in professional relationships for the long-term
The most successful networkers invest in their professional relationships consistently and over the long-term. Approaching networking in this way is far more genuine and more likely to reward you than the ‘suddenly enthusiastic’ networking that people often end up trying when they need a job.
Use a headhunter when you’re recruiting
One of the easiest ways of developing a relationship with an executive search firm is by using them in your own recruitment process. The strongest professional relationships are often those that are beneficial to both parties. So, if you’ve discovered a search firm relevant for your own career development, contact them when you are hiring. If you’re already known to that firm they are far more likely to approach you during another search.

Key points to remember

Take a long-term approach to building strong, mutually-beneficial relationships both internally and externally. Recruitment is very relationship driven at executive levels.
Stay visible and ensure that your key skills and achievements are in the public domain.
Pick the key recruiters in your market and engage with them. An upfront investment with a small group of well chosen recruiters will pay big dividends.
Do not leave this activity until you are actively looking – these approaches all take time.

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HR leaders: Can You Convey Your Commerciality?

Anonymous — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:11:59 +0000

HR leaders: Can You Convey Your Commerciality? Anonymous (not verified)

Commercially-skilled HR professionals are in demand, but few are able to successfully demonstrate their commercial nous. Page Executive’s HR practice explains how to highlight your track record and achievements.

If we had a pound for every time an HR professional tells me “I’m not a typical HR person, I’m really commercial” we would be rich, or at least have enough cash to buy an iPad. We could, however, name only a relatively small number, despite having met hundreds, who can clearly articulate their commercial legacy. These gems don’t waste time labelling themselves as commercial in an interview because they are too busy talking about the business.

This raises a couple of fundamental questions; firstly, how do HR professionals view their function, and secondly what do they actually mean by being ‘commercial’?

As long as HR professionals define themselves as ‘not typical’ they run the risk of creating a negative image of the wider profession, which isn’t helpful for anyone. It implies the ‘typical’ or ‘average’ person in HR is sub-standard. It is reinforcing an outdated perception of ‘personnel’ as a welfare or tea and tissues service. I don’t know any reputable commercial business where this still applies. Naturally the capability of individuals in HR varies in all companies, but so does the capability in any function. Have you ever heard anyone say “I’m not a typical sales person”?

Commerciality defined

So what makes a commercial HR professional? If you want to succeed in one of the leading commercial organisations it’s no longer good enough to be a knowledgeable HR practitioner. HR shouldn’t be about the ‘P’s – policies, procedures, processes, policing and best practice. Of course, the hygiene factors such as pay and rations are important and must be in place, but what sets the commercial HR leaders apart in these organisations is their track record of adding tangible value to the bottom line with their contributions. The specific contributions differ from business to business. If you aren’t able to identify or measure the output of your activity, ask yourself whether you are focusing on the right activities. What value are you adding to the business?

So what makes a commercial HR professional?

In the management of your career search, your CV should reflect the value you are adding. It should not define you as a ‘commercial HR professional’ who is ‘business first and HR second’ in your personal statement, then list a range of activities lacking outputs supported by metrics. It should explain the business rationale for your activity, and the benefit in commercial terms of its completion.

For example, a commercial achievement on your CV isn’t: “Successfully designed and launched new company performance management process”. It is: “Contributed to an increase in sales of 17% by the design and launch of a new company performance management process, ensuring individual goals were linked to business targets”.

Metrics are key

Some of my leading blue chip clients will reject an individual at application stage if their CV lacks metrics. They look at the process focused statements and say “so what?”. In many cases, I truly believe that these HR professionals are adding value, they just aren’t taking time to review or measure their contribution in terms of its output. But if they are unable to articulate their contribution how will they perform in a challenging interview?

The job market has changed massively in the last three years. People on the market in 2007/8 will have experienced a large volume of job opportunities and a short fall of candidates. Now there are a large volume of candidates competing for a vastly reduced number of roles. The top businesses want the same individuals - the truly commercial HR people.

Don’t be one of the masses. Set yourself apart.

Tips for writing your CV

List roles chronologically with the most recent role at the top. Skills-based CVs aren’t relevant when applying for permanent roles. Employers want to see your specific legacy in each role, and your progression.
Give a brief synopsis of the scope of each role including reporting line, client group, team size, budget, employee numbers, locations etc.
The majority of space should be given to bullet pointed achievements, not responsibilities, in the past tense.
Achievements should be output focused and clearly highlight the business benefit, supported by metrics.
Include your qualifications including institution and grade, but leave out training courses, particularly internal ones, where no qualification was gained.

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The Benefits of Using an Interim Manager

Anonymous — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:00:14 +0000

The Benefits of Using an Interim Manager Anonymous (not verified)

For companies requiring a heavyweight employee who can make a real difference, but are reluctant in this climate to take someone on full time, bringing in an interim manager could be the answer. There are advantages to seeking a stop-gap solution for a lack of management resource and to address a skills gap during a period of transition or crisis.

During any period of change, a company will require skills, knowledge and expertise that may not exist within the business. Without these skills, the organisation’s sustainability, growth and sometimes survival could be at risk.

Perceived disadvantages of using an interim manager

There can be some reluctance to utilise interim managers. Factors can include:

Cost
Political implications of engaging external individuals
Level of commitment from an interim manager to the business

With rates ranging from £500 to £2,000 per day, at first glance these figures can seem high and dissuade companies from utilising an interim manager.

Cost, speed and a fresh perspective

However, when taking into account the hidden and total cost of a permanent employee to a business, the equivalent day rates can seem reasonable. The interim manager charges only for the days worked with no additional NI payments, employee tax, holidays or pension payments applicable. An interim manager can be recruited to work part-time or on a project basis, usually for three, six or nine months, which can be vital in helping manage costs.

The speed in hiring an interim manager is days as opposed to weeks or months, which is essential when time constraints are paramount in an organisation that requires change. As a highly experienced management resource, interim managers can grasp business challenges quickly and can add value immediately.

... bring in an interim manager could be the answer.

As an independent external resource, interim managers bring a fresh perspective to an organisation. They give an objective view on what is best for a business and are able to contribute honestly without being seen as a threat to incumbent management teams. Experience shows staff that welcome interim managers into the business, especially when it is understood that that they are not a threat, but are there to assist in achieving specific goals.

Professional interim managers are talented, results-driven individuals dedicated to driving change and making a difference. Generally employed at board level or to work closely with board, they have the credibility to affect change and transition rapidly.

As independent operators, interim managers are completely committed to their clients. Their future work relies heavily on referrals and successful track record of delivery. They have a huge influence in the success of the assignments they undertake and will go all out to deliver.

Substantial ROI

The return on investment when hiring the right interim manager for your business can be substantial. When a company is in crisis, often the cost of failure to deliver change far outweighs the cost of hiring an interim manager. Their skills and experience can be applied to many different scenarios. The use of interim managers is increasingly being considered as an effective and positive way for companies to achieve their business objectives and obtain highly specialised leadership skills at crucial times.

For more information about how Page Executive Interim can help you secure the right interim manager to lead a turn-around situation or fill the skills gap, please get in touch with one of the team.

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Portfolio Working for Interim Managers

Anonymous — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 15:31:29 +0000

Portfolio Working for Interim Managers Anonymous (not verified)

Portfolio working, whereby interim managers provide services for more than one client simultaneously, is a much talked about approach amongst career interims.

The opportunity to ‘mix-and-match’ assignments is appealing for those aiming to optimise earnings and broaden their scope by gaining exposure to different working practices and industries. This mode of working is particularly appealing to female interim managers, with research commissioned by Interimwomen in August 2010 indicating that more than half (57%) of the 1,400 survey respondents indicated that they’d be happy to work for more than one client. Just over a third (34%) stated a preference to actively develop portfolio working.

While this approach has its benefits, including the chance to create a better work/life balance or earn more money, there are still several factors inhibiting the wider uptake of a portfolio career.
It can be a challenge to manage several clients’ expectations, and securing the optimum number and type of assignments to make portfolio working financially viable is not always a straightforward process.

Update from the IIM

The opportunity to 'mix-and-match' assignments is appealing ...

Research by the Institute of Interim Management (IIM) confirms the relatively low adoption of this interim management working pattern. Their 2011 Interim Management Survey, which includes 1,105 interim manager respondents, stated that “only 15% of interim managers actively service more than one concurrent client.” Of this percentage, the majority (two-thirds) have two clients within their portfolio, with the remaining third stating they work with three to four clients, or more.

At Page Executive Interim, our experience of portfolio working mirrors that of the recent IIM findings. Although it’s a concept often mentioned by interim managers and those looking to hire, it isn’t as straightforward to follow in practice.

Sector-specific challenges

Different sectors and functional areas have unique factors which may prevent the adoption of portfolio working. Paul Fleming, associate director at Page Executive Interim believes that the particular challenge for the engineering and manufacturing sectors is that the interim skills required are often for operational or financial distress situations. There are several challenges to manage, so organisations in this space require the focus of someone full-time to deliver results and affect change. Thus, an interim manager looking to build up a portfolio of clients may struggle in the engineering and manufacturing sectors due to the role requirements being full-time.

“There are certain sectors of the market where it should make sense for interim managers to be able to develop a portfolio career,” according to Paul. For example, in Cambridge there are hundreds of early stage businesses and business incubators. In theory, they would benefit from the input of a finance director for a couple of days a month to offer advice and input, yet it’s rare that anyone manages a portfolio of clients doing this successfully. Many of these businesses haven’t had financial input previously and don’t realise the value it could bring. They see it as increased cost and, “you don’t miss what you’ve never had,” said Paul.

Aspiring portfolio workers

The consensus from the team at Page Executive Interim is that portfolio working is spoken about far more than it actually occurs as a successful career. There isn’t a big demand for part-time interim managers amongst our clients. But for those looking to investigate this route, Paul stresses the importance of developing a strong network.

“To get into this type of work, your own network is critical,” according to Paul, “use it to open doors and as hard as it is, network even when you’re in your current assignment.” Paul agrees that “self-promotion, relationship development and networking are key to pursuing this route.” He also believes that the main challenge is to develop a portfolio of clients. After the first assignment, it becomes progressively harder to fill your book up due to time and location constraints. “You also can’t run at 100% capacity, as then you can’t market yourself out,” he said.

Paul also cautions prospective portfolio workers not to “look at it through rose-tinted spectacles.” Successful interim managers may have developed strong CVs with proven strategic thinking and change management experience. In comparison, many portfolio assignments, due to the organisations that they’re supporting, are quite straight-forward and mundane and could be quite a way below their professional capabilities.

Need further advice on developing your interim management career? Get in touch with Page Executive Interim for more advice.

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Global

How to Earn Your Place at the Board Table: A Ten-Step Guide for Ambitious Executives in 2026

1. Develop a Strong, Authentic Personal Brand

2. Gain Relevant Board Experience Early On

3. Build Financial Acumen

4. Adopt a Growth Mindset and Stay Curious

5. Network with Purpose

6. Demonstrate Strategic Thinking

7. Seek Mentors and Sponsors

8. Communicate Your Impact Clearly

9. Understand Evolving Board Priorities

10. Work with Executive Search Consultants

TAKEAWAY:

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Maximising Gains: Make the Most of Your Page Executive Network

By Mark Lawson-Jones, Partner

How working with Page Executive differs from other recruitment avenues

Pinpoint what you’re looking for and reap the benefits

The benefits of knowing what you’re looking for include:

Understand your reasons for change — and justify them

Make your profile stand out

Grow your network with Page Executive

Stay at the cutting edge of your sector

Turn missed opportunities into future successes

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You’ve applied for a role: What next?

If it’s your first time applying for an executive position, you might find it to be a little different to any previous recruitment process. I'm here to explain what to expect once you've submitted your application and hope to give you a better understanding of how we work at Page Executive.

By Maya Nguyen, Partner, South East Asia

In-house application review by our team

Initial contact from a Principal or Partner

Key documents related to the role and company

Invitation to an interview

Attending company interviews

Receiving the job offer

Ongoing support after placement

FAQs for the Page Executive post-application process

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Leadership from a Distance [8 Trends]

Navigating Remote Work

KEY TAKEAWAYS

TransformationalLeadership

-Zuca Palladino

NAVIGATING THE PITFALLS OF REMOTE WORK

NO REMOTE WORKER IS AN ISLAND

NO OFFICE: THE NEW OFFICE?

-Simon Nolan

TransformationalLeadership

THE BENEFITS OF REMOTE LEADERSHIP

-Tamara van Engelen

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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Longevity and Post Career Challenges

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Transparency and a Culture of Candour [8 Trends]

How far is too far with an open company culture

KEY TAKEAWAYS

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

BALANCING ACT

The way you handle potential candidates has a high impact on your reputation as a company. One of the biggest frustrations for candidates at any level is that the process is unclear.

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE

Hiring managers want the possibility to offer more for the perfect candidate, but this can be demotivating for the existing team if they know what you offer a new joiner.

THE SENSE OF BEING ON STAGE

BEING HUMAN

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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Transformational
Leadership

Transformational
Leadership