Talent isn’t a zero sum game

I’ve seen a few downturns in my time. They usually come with tough decisions, not least when it comes to people. Many leaders will be balancing the need to retain talent in their business with the need to cut costs. Redundancies are never an easy choice to make. Aside from the human impact, they can […]

The E=mc2 of interviewing

I have to put the same question to one of the UK’s experts in selection, Douglas Board. His degree was a first class honours in mathematics from Cambridge. Surely there isn’t an equation for interviewing? “Well, I’ve invented one which can help you avoid a common mistake!” he replies. “Seriously, sweating the complex abstractions of […]

What recruitment trends can tell us about 2023

In these blogs we usually talk about the cut and thrust of running a business, and wider trends that we see in the market. It’s rare that we talk about what we actually do day to day. Yet it struck me that our executive search business provides a unique glimpse into how companies are preparing […]

What they don’t tell you about leading flexible teams

That prognosis still probably holds in the long term, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see a relapse over the next year. The cost of living crisis and recession are focusing minds. People are unlikely to be as insistent about their working conditions if they’re worried about meeting mortgage payments. At the same time, the […]

Why social immobility is a business problem – and what you can do about it

When diversity and inclusion became a significant business issue in the following decades, the focus unsurprisingly fell on gender and race, perhaps a little later LGBT and disability. Class is relatively rarely discussed. Yet if anything, social immobility has worsened over the past 25 years. If they want to access the best talent and give […]

Will 2022-3 be this generation’s winter of discontent?

You’d be forgiven for thinking that you fell asleep one night and woke up in 1978, our last winter of discontent. Many will wonder whether this winter will be even worse. Businesses need to plan and that requires some certainty. No one can offer that right now, but we can look at the causes and […]

Is work-life balance still relevant?

There are many who shake their heads at the term, before evangelising instead about the importance of work-life blend, fit or integration. If it sounds like a cynical mix (blend? Combination? Entanglement?) of semantics and posturing, that’s because it mostly is. However, there is some substance to it. The objection to the concept of work-life […]

Liz Truss: Turnaround leader or growth CEO?

The old leader leaves in good time and on good terms, with the organisation in good stead. It doesn’t need them to survive because they developed leadership capabilities in depth throughout their time there. The new leader is a perfect fit for the demands of the role and what the company needs to take its […]

Does working your way up the ranks make you a better leader?

New recruits couldn’t go anywhere near head office without serving time in the trenches as shop floor trainees. “There’s no substitute for that in retail,” Whiteside said, making a point to spend time in stores before starting subsequent CEO roles. It’s an approach to leadership development that became less popular over the following decades, coinciding […]

Which sectors grew during Covid?

The Covid pandemic affected everyone, but in different ways, with much depending on how exposed an individual business was to lockdown disruption and how able it was to pivot to the new digital reality. Some sectors were nonetheless clearly hit harder than others. Travel and Leisure & Hospitality were both decimated by lockdowns and struggled […]

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We demystify challenges by fresh thinking and seeking continual improvement. Browse our content here.