Assessment or gut feeling: what a wrong appointment really costs
When an appointment goes wrong, I sometimes put the file back on the table. Almost always, it turns out the signs were already there. Not as a warning in red letters, but as a series of small signals that were noticed at the time and never spoken aloud: a responsibility that sounds bigger on the […]
At the gates of Amsterdam: why regional employers miss out on national talent
In one of my assignments, a candidate accepted the position of COO at an internationally operating manufacturer in the port area along the North Sea Canal. That was far from a given. She lived a considerable distance from the site, and the commute that came with it weighed heavily for her. What helped her over […]
Why family businesses start succession planning too late
A few years ago, I watched up close as the succession of a family business went wrong. A car dealership group, around ten locations, a well-known automotive brand. The owner-director could have stepped back long before he did. Instead, he stayed in place, doubting whether his daughters were capable of taking over. That doubt ended […]
The interview: why ‘tell me about yourself’ yields nothing
There is a pattern that repeats in almost every selection interview. Ask a management team to describe its own culture and you get policy language back: values, ambitions, three key words. Change the question to what it is like to work here and the jargon disappears. What takes its place is an example, usually a […]
What a supervisory board may expect from a search firm and what it may not
“Could you draw up a profile for us?” It is one of the first questions I am asked when a supervisory board approaches me about a vacancy in its own ranks. The question is well meant and entirely reasonable. Even so, I rarely say yes straight away. Not because I cannot do it, but because […]
Leadership in the IJmond: the transition is decided, the succession is not
Drive from Country State Beeckestijn in Velsen-Zuid towards the locks and within a quarter of an hour you pass the setting of one of the largest industrial transformations in the Netherlands. A steelworks that must decarbonise. A port area that has become a base for offshore wind. A quay being prepared for installation work that […]
The labour market is cooling. Your search will not get any easier.
“The labour market is quieting down.” I hear that sentence at almost every board table this autumn, usually followed by the suggestion to postpone an appointment by another quarter. The reasoning is understandable: if the market loosens, waiting becomes cheaper and easier. There are two problems with it. The first is that the figures it […]