2/26/2020
Take me to a leader - Corporate headhunters are more powerful than ever | Briefing | The Economist
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REAL ENERGY
Second, the rise of private equity ( pe ) means greater management churn at rms subject to buy-outs. America has some 8,000 pe -backed companies, double the number in 2006. Headhunters hustle in the hope of supplying bosses for pe rms’ entire portfolios. A partner at a buy-out giant says it works with just three providers because it wants vip treatment. The third reason for the headhunting boom lies in emerging markets. Scions of business dynasties in places like India increasingly want to devolve control of subsidiaries to professional managers, says Dinesh Mirchandani of Boyden, one of the oldest search rms. Startups like Ola, a ride-hailing rm, are looking for executives to help them conquer foreign markets. China, too, has champions keen to expand abroad but lacks managers with international expertise. Lastly, boards and regulators are increasingly urging rms to plan for succession years in advance—and not, as in the past, to rely on a name in an envelope, to be unsealed should the boss be hit by a bus. Headhunters gladly help by benchmarking internal stars against potential external candidates. The pressure to plan ahead has led to the growth of all sorts of other ancillary services too, from leadership development to board-e ectiveness assessment. Those now account for 43% of revenue at Korn Ferry, the largest Shrek. Growth in demand has a ected headhunting’s supply-side. Nobody has ever studied to become a headhunter but the profession is becoming more diverse. Those serving in its ranks include ex-engineers, a former Olympic gymnast and an erstwhile neuroscientist. The big ve are big employers of former McKinsey consultants. New recruits like the fast pace and the opportunity to interact with
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2020/02/06/corporate-headhunters-are-more-powerful-than-ever
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