Browse News - Egon Zehnder

US firms are increasingly outsourcing traditional finance functions roles like day-to-day accounting. But how will this impact the CFO talent pool in the future?

The global airline industry needs to embrace diversity, reports Forbes magazine in an article based on a recent report by Egon Zehnder.

Young low-cost carriers will continue to outperform their rivals unless older airlines break their “mono-male” culture and embrace diversity, reports The Independent, citing the results of a recent Egon Zehnder study.

Family-run businesses are often highly successful initially, but flounder after two or three generations. How can they improve their sustainability? In a video interview with the Harvard Business Review, Claudio Fernández-Aráoz senior adviser to Egon Zehnder, reports on the key findings of the firm’s recent survey of leading, longstanding family firms. The

With Sarbanes-Oxley increasing the responsibilities shouldered by today’s directors, do some individuals have a seat on too many US boards, asks The Boston Globe?

London is a European Mecca for IT experts and Germans seeking to fast-track their careers should consider a stint in the City, reports the German magazine Computerwoche. Sven Petersen, CIO Practice Group Leader for Egon Zehnderin the UK agrees.

As firms abandon top-down management models, empathy is the new must-have for today’s leaders, writes Egon Zehnder consultant Andrew Roscoe in the Financial Times. Empathetic leaders get more out of their teams and show personal learning and growth spikes, explains Roscoe.

Supervisory board chairmen are more powerful than many executives realize, writes Egon Zehnder consultant Johannes von Schmettow in Harvard Business Manager.

Individuals seeking to make an impact on the world need to think big, says Egon Zehnder consultant Catherine Zhu in a blog posting for cpjobs.com.

There are many reasons - ranging from sudden illness to shock resignations – why companies may require an interim CEO at very short notice, reports Chief Executive Magazine. What areas should temporary leaders focus on to ensure a smooth transitional period?

Why do we travel? In the age of teleconferences, Facebook, and Skype, can’t executives cut out travel altogether, asks Egon Zehnder senior adviser Claudio Fernández-Aráoz in a blog for the Harvard Business Review? His answer is a clear “No”.

Traditional India Inc is currently experiencing a talent drain as thousands of bright young leaders flock to join e-commerce companies and other start-ups.

The real estate sector is currently struggling to attract top talent. Why does this matter? Because top talent is in short supply and hugely boosts a company’s bottom line, writes Egon Zehnder consultant Christian Redhardt in IQ Magazine.

Recruiting top talent may give companies a competitive edge, but how can firms fine-tune their people decisions? In an interview with the South Korean business daily Maeil News, Egon Zehnder senior adviser Claudio Fernández-Aráoz identifies common recruitment pitfalls and key trends in talent management today.

In today’s changing, volatile world the task of leadership has become much more difficult and challenging. What attributes do today’s leaders need to succeed, asks India’s The Economic Times in an interview with Egon Zehnder’s CEO Rajeev Vasudeva and Chairman Damien O’Brien.

High pay still attracts top talent to banking and consulting, but the focus has recently shifted from compensation to meaningful work and a better work-life balance, reports the Financial Times.

Restructuring, cost-cutting and digitization are all radically accelerating the pace of change in many global companies.

Family-led firms are resilient, long-lasting and offer some of the finest examples of corporate leadership in the world, reports livemint.

Why are companies with a global reach wary of hiring US CISOs, asks Egon Zehnder consultant Kal Bittianda in an article for InformationWeek. Their rule-based approach is generally seen as too narrow to manage the challenges of different global environments, explains Bittianda.

What kind of competitive edge does a value-based approach give a consultancy like Egon Zehnder when facing future challenges? CEO Rajeev Vasudeva answers this and other questions in a frank exchange with the German Manager Magazin.

When two companies merge, the choice of CFO can hinge on politics, luck and timing, reports FinancialDirector. But regardless who comes out on top, mergers can have a silver lining for all of the executives involved if they adopt an upbeat approach, argues Egon Zehnder consultant Çağla Bekbolet.

In its 50 years of statehood, Singapore has dreamed big and achieved remarkable success, says Catherine Zhu, Managing Partner of Egon Zehnder in Hong Kong.

Falling oil prices have triggered a swathe of job cuts in the oil and gas industry this year, with reductions also reaching the executive ranks, reports Rigzone.

Major U.S. companies are creating digital advisory panels — an informal and smaller version of a corporate board — to help them innovate online and advise management on trends in social media, big data and digital commerce.

With quotas looming, how can companies get more women into top management positions, asks Creditreform? Egon Zehnder consultant Brigitte Lammers offers four tips for finding and fast-tracking female talent.

With the war for talent intensifying, how can firms hang onto their top guns, asks Harvard Business Review blogger Rebecca Knight?

The idea that HR leaders need to be strategic business partners rather than just managing personnel is almost twenty years old. But how much progress has been made in transforming the role to date?

Growing volatility in the business environment has turned chief executive officer selection and succession planning into key board responsibilities, write Egon Zehnder consultants Pam Warren and Kim Van Der Zon in The Globe and Mail.

With the psychological strains and time pressure of leadership growing steadily, more executives are looking for ways to ease the load, reports Die Welt am Sonntag.

Recent high-profile hacks have encouraged asset funds to tighten up their cybersecurity, reports FundFire. This, in turn, has boosted demand for tech experts.

Many leaders are aware of the misplaced inner voices that limit them, but struggle to address or silence their doubts and fears, reports the Financial Times. Egon Zehnder consultant Laurence Monnery advises such leaders to work on changing their mindset, where the inner critic resides.

With instability and rising living costs driving expats away, the Middle East is suffering from a serious talent shortage, reports Arabian news.com. At the same time, young educated Middle Eastern candidates are struggling to find jobs with youth unemployment across the region averaging at 25 percent.

Succession planning is often a case of too little too late, reports Elizabeth Blosfeld in Real Estate Manager. Egon Zehnder consultant Greg Schneider confirms that succession planning rarely gets enough attention.

As a new generation of customers emerges, India’s fast moving consumer goods companies are increasingly promoting young leaders who can connect with them.

Family businesses are the bedrock of the economy in China, says Catherine Zhu, Managing Partner of Egon Zehnder in Hong Kong.

The trend towards shareholder activism continues to gather impetus. According to The Houston Chronicle, many large companies based in Houston have recently come under fire from shareholders.

Seeking, promoting and writing about great leaders have been the focus of Claudio Fernández-Aráoz’s career for almost 30 years. The senior adviser to Egon Zehnder International Egon Zehnder and bestselling author has devoted his professional life to helping organisations choose senior executives who inspire others.

How can boards prick up the pieces after a proxy fight, asks The Houston Chronicle? Steve Goodman, leader of Egon Zehnder’s North American Energy Practice, advises board members and executives to reunite quickly and focus on improving company performance.

The boom in e-commerce has led to a dearth of digital talent, reports The Times of India. What kind of leader should companies now be looking for, asks the newspaper?

With technological advances increasingly making human labor redundant, how can today’s leaders drive job growth? One highly effective strategy is to invest in leadership excellence, writes Egon Zehnder Senior Adviser Claudio Fernández-Aráoz in the Harvard Business Review.

Diversity is a top priority for all companies, but especially for insurers who urgently require new mindsets and ideas to redefine their business for the digital era.

With internet giants like Apple and Google bulldozing their way into financial services, banks urgently need to overhaul their digital business models. Where should they start? By recruiting the right digital leaders, writes Egon Zehnder consultant Axelle Sznajer in Business Today.

The young world of start-ups in India is realizing the need for management strength and throwing open its doors to experienced seniors. Pallavi Kathuria from Egon Zehnder’s Technology and Communications Practice in the Asia Pacific region tells Business Today that “tenured talent is being sought after by e-commerce players as they bring in specific knowledge and experience relating to products, platforms, processes, systems or technology.”

In the past several months, many top-level marketing executives in India have left multinational consumer and restaurant companies like Burger King and Coca-Cola to join emerging firms in the technology sector, reports The Economic Times.

The appeal for Wall Street finance chiefs moving to Silicon Valley extends beyond the technology industry's strength and lucrative pay packages, reports The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal.

The machinery industry is seeing exciting changes in the form of smart machineries such as vehicles predicting destinations to economical 3-D printing. Olli Laurén and Pavan Vohra from Egon Zehnder’s Industrial Practice write for Industry Today to explain how industrial leaders should begin preparing to navigate these and future digital disruptions[…].

Building a strong supervisory board involves more than just bringing together brilliant minds, write Egon Zehnder consultants Jörg Thierfelder and Michael Ensser in the latest issue of Audit Committee Quarterly.

In what could be a watershed moment for Hong Kong, major companies are looking to hire young, inspirational, tech-savvy candidates for their most senior roles.

Just over 40% of the top 35 US banks comply with Dodd-Frank Act requirements to have a qualified risk-management expert on their board and a separate risk committee, reports The Wall Street Journal citing a recent survey by Egon Zehnder.

How can companies help their A-team shine together instead of as individuals? In an article for Harvard Business Review, Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, senior adviser to Egon Zehnder, writes that a Team Effectiveness Review or TER is key.

In today’s complex and uncertain world companies need creative thinkers who can implement out-of-the box solutions, notes Michael Ensser, a consultant at Egon Zehnder, in an interview with VBKI-Spiegel. “Leadership in the 21st century certainly means fostering a culture of ownership and diversity […].

The days of the number cruncher CFO are definitely over. Today’s Chief Financial Officers are widely acknowledged as key strategic advisors and, in many cases, potential CEOs, reports the German financial daily Handelsblatt.

The recent spate of M&As and the “incredible state of affairs with activism” in recent years has prompted boards to appoint directors with a background in asset and investment management, says Kim Van Der Zon, leader of Egon Zehnder’s U.S. board consulting practice.

Following a five-year boom, the oil industry is experiencing a downturn due to falling prices at the pump. Steven Goodman, who leads Egon Zehnder’s Energy practice, says executives at oil companies can take advantage of this time to strengthen and enhance their core leadership teams.

As candidates start to emerge for the 2016 US presidential election, Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a Senior Adviser to Egon Zehnder is worried. How will voters value certain leadership qualities – like experience – over traits like motivation, competence, and potential when they go to the voting booth, he asks in Harvard Business Review blog entry?

With cyber-attacks on the rise, boards are starting to monitor cyber-security risks more closely. “As board members retire and roll off, they are replaced with new board members with more sophistication and deeper risk-management skill sets and experience,” notes Egon Zehnder consultant Lisa Zonino.

Radical change is transforming the financial services industry, reports Forbes magazine. According to a recent report by Egon Zehnder entitled: Making The Future Now: How Financial Services Firms Can Adapt To a Customer-Centric World’ closer integration of technology and business is one of the keys to future success.

Hiring individuals from non-traditional backgrounds is the key to creating a culture of experimentation and disruption. This was the key finding to emerge from a panel discussion entitled “Introducing an entrepreneurship mentality to promote intrapreneurship in organizations” recently held at the Game Changers Forum 2 in Hong Kong.

After decades in a “walled garden”, digital technology and empowered customers are now driving change in banking, reports the Financial Times.

Relentless focus on quarterly results means many leaders struggle to reflect on long-term strategy.

Despite companies investing more aggressively in executive recruiting, assessment and development, those investments are having less of an impact for executives in fast-changing market environments.

With businesses increasingly realizing how company culture can directly impact and ultimately drive revenues and performance, many companies are embracing the importance of fostering trust and transparency throughout an organization.

An improved U.S. economy has increased turnover among chief financial officers as they find more career opportunities and better equity options at publicly traded companies.

With activists becoming growing influencers in the investor ecology and having increasingly successful records for changing a board’s makeup, it’s not surprising that many boards are evaluating their plans for responding to an activist slate.

The current macroeconomic upheaval in Brazil is typical of emerging economies, Egon Zehnder's Chief Executive Rajeev Vasudeva told Valor International, but requires a specific and new type of leader who can effectively navigate crises.

Germany's new law mandating gender quotas on corporate boards makes it the latest European country attempting to force change, an approach contrasted with U.S. boards' voluntary initiatives.

A new benchmark for a CFO’s achievements, especially in the key area of diversity, is who steps into their shoes. “Increasingly a measure of success we apply to the CFO is the legacy he or she leaves behind, and a key part of that is to have at least one successor.

The economic costs of getting C-suite decisions wrong can be huge, writes Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, senior adviser to Egon Zehnder International, in the Harvard Business Review. A recent PwC study pegs the costs for companies at well over 100 billion US dollars.

Few family businesses outlive their founders. Those that do cultivate “family gravity” – an ethos, long-term roadmap and talent plan that embrace the next generation.

As banks commit billions of dollars to innovation and their CEOs stress the importance of technological change, finding and retaining senior-level executives to lead those initiatives is more complicated.

Emotional Intelligence (EI), a concept first outlined by Daniel Goleman, is now widely acknowledged as the key differentiator between outstanding leaders and average ones. But how do companies measure EI in their executive talent pool, asks Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a senior adviser at Egon Zehnder, in an article for the Harvard Business Review?

How can CEOs get their boards to back disruptive, game-changing ideas? One strategy, notes Dale Buss in a blog post on Chief Executive, is to fill the board with flexible personalities and early adopters.

Shareholder activism in the energy industry continues to rise, but the impact on company returns is often short-lived once activists exit their temporary ownership positions.

The drop in oil prices means everything from exploration to delivery is now more expensive and that's likely to spur a wave of merger and acquisition activity in the energy space as companies look to diversify their holdings.

The slide in oil prices has chief executives across the energy industry focused on conservative investment decisions, smaller workforces and making spending cuts to firm up corporate balance sheets.

Family businesses that succeed over several generations tend to boast a cohesion and sense of purpose that come from within, reports the Financial Times citing recent research by Egon Zehnder.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz was among the authors honored in the inaugural Warren Bennis Prize, awarded by Harvard Business Review and the USC Marshall School of Business to recognize the best articles on leadership each year in HBR.

What characterizes outstanding leaders? Courage, determination and resilience, writes Egon Zehnder consultant Cathering Zhu in a blog that relates her encounter with one of Japan’s few female CEOs.

Disclosure of the final Dodd-Frank rules on how US companies assess and report diversity data are expected any day, reports Compliance Week.

Speculation is mounting that US regulators are about to introduce new diversity reporting guidelines for companies. What steps can senior executives take to ensure that their companies satisfy new diversity and inclusion standards, asks Compliance Week?

In today’s volatile world shaped by uncertainty, finding leaders who can rise to tomorrow’s challenges is essential to a company’s survival.

High-flying fathers dismayed by the prejudice blocking the careers of their bright, ambitious daughters are now working harder to level the playing field. This shift in thinking, reports the International Business Times, was clearly reflected a recent panel debate entitled “Leaders And Daughters” hosted by Egon Zehnder as part of its “25 by 25” campaign.

What defines successful leaders today, asks the Australian Financial Review in an interview with Egon Zehnder’s Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Vasudeva? According to Vasudeva, there are four key criteria: curiosity, insight, engagement and resilience.

Silicon Valley is becoming a more frequent destination for high-level banking executives from Wall Street, attracted by the technology industry's strength and opportunities to innovate outside of the regulatory environment in financial services.

Family businesses account for over 50 percent of large corporations in the Asia-Pacific region and many will soon be facing leadership successions for the first time. Managing these transitions effectively constitutes a major challenge, write Sonny Iqbal and Jörg Ritter, co-leaders of Egon Zehnder’s global family-business advisory, and Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a senior adviser at Egon Zehnder, in a blog entry for the Harvard Business Review.

Boardrooms have long been the domain of executives in their 50s, 60s and even 70s, but many boards are also electing directors in their early 30s — often younger entrepreneurs — as various industries confront digital transformation. With fierce competition for younger directors, Kim Van Der Zon, leader of Egon Zehnder’s U.S. Board Practice, writes in Directors & Boards about the five practices for ensuring that boards pursue the right candidates and that these new directors fulfill their boardroom potential.

Digitalization and globalization are changing the face of networking, write Egon Zehnder consultants Berthold Leube and Christoph Wahl in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"Family gravity" and structured CEO succession are crucial to the long-term success of top family firms, write Claudio Fernandez-Araoz, Joerg Ritter and Sonny Iqbal in an article for the April 2015 issue of the Harvard Business Review. The article entitled “Leadership Lessons From Great Family Businesses”, spotlights global research based on interviews with 50 family-owned firms conducted by Egon Zehnder and Family Business Network International that reveals how family firms unlock value over the long term.

India’s introduction of a new 49% cap on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance industry, up from 26%, may create exciting opportunities for the sector’s leaders, reports the Hindustan Times. Egon Zehnder expects insurance companies to introduce major changes in their leadership positions as a result of the higher cap.

Many former bankers are now quitting finance and moving into the new field of financial technology. In many cases they are setting up start-ups that offer platforms for services like risk management, data analytics, trading platforms, reports Bloomberg.

Gender diversity in India’s boardrooms remains a distant reality, despite a recent rush to comply – on paper at least – with new gender diversity norms laid down by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

It’s no secret: today’s business environment is characterized by greater uncertainty and faster change. But how are Chinese companies responding when it comes to choosing their leaders?

Evaluating candidates in person or on paper — a recent study conducted at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business highlighted the dilemma that recruiters and hiring managers often face.

Today’s instable political, social and market environment are challenging insurers to review their entire business “ecosystem”, writes Egon Zehnder’s Moritz von Campenhausen in a recently published book on change management.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, senior advisor at Egon Zehnder, joins BNN's "The Business News" (02/25/2015) in Toronto for a live interview to discuss Egon Zehnder's potential model for evaluating executive leadership and his book "It's Not the How or the What but the Who — Succeed by Surrounding Yourself with the Best."

CEOs at large publicly-held companies are increasingly coming under attack from activist shareholders and need to develop strategies to defend their interests, reports Chief Executive magazine.

Chief executive turnover soared in the oil industry in 2014, with an 11.1 percent CEO succession rate and a 60 percent rate of disciplinary succession, or departures involving a CEO leading a low-performing company.

A growing number of investment bankers are moving from Wall Street to the C-Suite, reports Financial News. This trend is being driven by banking’s reduced remuneration and poor reputation, as well as by companies doing more transaction work in-house and offering greater entrepreneurial opportunities.

“Individuals willing to crossover careers can help to bridge the growing gap between politics and business”, writes Michael Ensser, Managing Director at Egon Zehnder Germany in Handelsblatt.

Can a board have too many committees, asks the Boston Business Journal? The answer, according to George L. Davis Jr., head of Egon Zehnder’s global board, lies in the ratio of committees to board members.

Why do many companies encourage executives to focus on their weaknesses, when building their strengths is what makes a difference to the bottom line? "Leaders with extraordinary “spikes” in one or two areas can generate huge value – even if they are average at other skills", writes Catherine Zhu, a consultant at Egon Zehnder, in SCMP.

As the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland drew to a close this week, Egon Zehnder CEO Rajeev Vasudeva shared his thoughts with the Huffington Post on shifting the focus of tomorrow’s leaders to cultivate the right talent in the new global context.

Global business is now essential to many US firms, so why do their boards lack international members, asks Forbes magazine? According to Egon Zehnder's 2014 Global Board Index, 72% of all S&P companies reported some kind of international revenue, but only 7.2% had foreign directors (up from 6.6% in 2008).

As the World Economic Forum takes center stage in Davos, Switzerland, Egon Zehnder’s CEO, Rajeev Vasudeva sat down with CNBC Worldwide in London to discuss the critical issues and the implications for leadership in the new global context.

Firms tend to focus heavily on the pros and cons of hiring external candidates, but the post-hiring or onboarding process is equally important, reports HR magazine.

A growing number of HR directors are taking board seats and non-executive director (NED) positions, reports HRmagazine. James Martin, a consultant at Egon Zehnder, London, agrees. “HR experience is becoming more valued,” notes Martin.

Boosting diversity on boards and in senior management will be high on the agenda of many Canadian companies in 2015 thanks to new diversity reporting regulations from the Ontario Securities Commission, writes Egon Zehnder consultant Pamela Warren in The Globe and Mail.

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