Mercuri Urval

We are pleased to announce that MU has been selected to join Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC), the global professional association representing excellence in executive search and leadership advisory solutions. Our acceptance follows a rigorous vetting process, including reference checks, site visits, votes by AESC regional councils and commitment to AESC Code of Professional Practice. “AESC is proud to welcome MU,” said AESC CEO Karen Greenbaum. “The firm shares our commitment to high-quality standards, and we look forward to working with them as we strengthen leadership together.”   Richard Moore, CEO MU: “Our team is proud to partner with the AESC. Together we will further our work toward ever high standards in leader recruitment, selection and development. MU is founded on research and insight into what makes people successful in the workplace. It is concluded that success at work can be increased by ensuring people decisions are made using a science-based, precisely tailored, quality assured and ethical way of working. Over more than 50 years we have learned that organisations outperform through diverse and sustainably effective leaders, and we look forward to pursuing this mission in the years ahead as a member of AESC. We eagerly anticipate leveraging this innovative partnership with AESC, solidifying our leadership position in this ever-evolving industry.” Read more in MU Newsroom: https://lnkd.in/dp5ekZ3Y

In the process of M&A, companies often overlook the fact that organisations are living organisms composed of individuals united under a single vision, strategic objectives, and shared values and beliefs. This cohesion drives them to achieve business results. Therefore, failing to properly evaluate leadership and management stakeholders poses a significant threat to successful integration.”   In this insightful article in the Ticker 2024 summer issue – a magazine by the German Chamber of Commerce in China | East, Mira Lioleva, MU Leadership Advisory Lead for China, introduces the success factors for cross-border M&A integration that are often overlooked in the process. In a nutshell: * Conducting Business and Company Culture Assessment * Assessing Organisational Effectiveness for both M&A Entities * Conduct Team and/or Board Effectiveness Assessment * Assessing Leadership Capabilities and Styles for both entities  * Evaluating Employee Engagement and Morale as early as possible   For the full article, please click here: https://lnkd.in/dhxgSmbx #GermanChamber #Ticker #mergersandacquisitions #crossborder #MA 

On August 1st, 09:00 CET the MU Consumer & Retail Practice invites you to their next webinar. By Carlo Oldani, Group Marketing Director and Business Unit Manager Retail Channel at Unigrà, on the topic: “Growth Through New Channels: Opportunities and Obstacles”.   Carlo Oldani is a marketing executive with over 20 years of expertise in leading food and beverage companies. At Unigrà, Carlo holds the role of Marketing Director and manages Unigrà's retail division. In this second role, he is responsible for developing the Orasi Brand worldwide. Orasi is being launched in the retail channel in several countries. Unigrà is one of the largest food companies in Italy. For over 50 years its core business has been processing vegetable fat to produce margarine, creams and chocolate compounds. It all started with industrial customers, then the company built a product offer for bakery shops, ice cream shops and retail customers. Nowadays Unigrà has over 25 sister companies worldwide with 5 factories. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ds7iZmC9

As a long-term partner, MU are excited to announce that the Women’s Board Award Switzerland has been further developed and will now be part of the Equality on Board Awards, an initiative that advances female equality in leadership by shaping and cultivating a future rich with competent, high-performing, and diverse female leaders and board members.   The Equality on Board Awards honours and spotlights exceptional women for their valuable contribution and performance, as well as acknowledges and celebrates the dedication of their supporters.   It features 3 Award Categories such as the 🏆Women’s Board Award (in Switzerland since 2019): recognising female directors who have the potential to serve as Chair of the Board. 🏆Female Emerging Talent Award: recognising female excellence and performance of women on the threshold of becoming a board member; 🏆Supporter Award: recognising leaders of all genders who foster environments where women can succeed and who clearly drive female leaders and support gender diversity in leadership.   👉With these Awards, Equality on Board Awards want to inspire and motivate the next generation of female leaders to reach their full potential and aspire to senior leadership roles. They also want to keep fighting for gender diversity in leadership, as, according to the Schilling Report 2024, it is levelling off in SMI companies. Christian Schaffenberger, Partner & Head of MU’s CEO & Board Practice: "As a long-standing partner of the Women’s Board Award, we are delighted to see this development into "Equality of Boards" and to continue our commitment to advancing female leadership and also offer recognition to supporters. For us, it is important to contribute to strengthening organisations and leaders based on a modern, proven and competence-based view of leadership.” We would also like to say a special thank you to Gunnar Eckbo, founder of the Women's Board Award, for his continuous support and good cooperation during our years as a partner. A big thank you also to the partners that have worked together and supported the Women’s Board Award during the last years KPMG Switzerland, Baloise CH, Lenz & Staehelin, Swiss Re, IMD, and Advance – Gender Equality in Business.

In an exclusive webinar with Mr. Sanjay Dutt, Senior Vice President - HR at EXL hosted by MU on Tuesday, 16th July at 11 AM CET, delve into Capability Building: Roadmap to success in a digital world. Sharing his diverse experiences, expertise, and perspectives, we explore the capabilities and opportunities which are shaping future-ready organisations. How might job skills evolve, what is the impact of digitalisation on future workforce, how to make build v/s buy decisions, and what does this all mean for tomorrow’s leader? To join the webinar and receive a personalised invite, please write to our TMT Lead, Rachit Sharma at rachit.sharma@mercuriurval.com

The MU team in Austria recently had the great honour of celebrating Midsommar (midsummer) at the Swedish Embassy in Vienna again, thanks to Annika Markovic, Sweden’s Ambassador to Austria and Slovakia. Midsommar is a yearly event where MU Austria invites clients and networks to join this special Swedish tradition and celebration. This year, the event was graced by the presence of our Chairman of the MU Group Board, Roger Hagafors, and our CEO, Richard Moore, who gave a keynote speech that engaged over 100 participants in a unique experience. During the event, we gifted all attendees with a MU-branded coin, symbolising the coin flip, which was met with great appreciation. Curious about the coin flip? It was an integral part of Richard Moore's keynote address, and you can find an article on the topic here: https://lnkd.in/d8Ah7bjq At MU, we take pride in our Swedish roots and value joint celebrations as ONE MU team, alongside clients and friends. Thank you to all MU colleagues who contributed to bringing this tradition to life: Doris Hofmeister, Jörg Seitz, Marion Gertner, Tobias Gabriel-Ziegler, Andreas Pesenhofer, Brigitta Berger, Agnes Mink, Mikkel Skole, Klaus Steinmann, Agota Schindler, Alexandra Stadler, Kata Beck-Bíró Phd, ACC Monika Weiss, Olivia Lumbe, Renata Zivny, Sylvia Stolzenberg, Thomas Böck and Bettina Nebral. You can find some photos from the embassy’s photographer here: https://lnkd.in/dgWpZJkm We wish all our clients, candidates and followers a great summer!

If you filled a room with 100 CEOs and asked — is leader succession a top 10 priority — a sea of hands would be raised. Ask how many believe their organisations address this topic effectively, the sea would instantly be reduced to a pond. Increasingly unpredictable macroeconomic, geopolitical, and sociological conditions inevitably make predicting the future in any business context extraordinarily difficult. However, the biggest contributing factors to this persistent failure to manage this universal business risk tend to be closer to home. They include — inadequate planning, lack of investment, investment in the wrong things, ineffective leader development processes, and above all else — the lack of a systematic, precisely tailored evaluation of the capabilities needed to deliver future success. Our research and experience at MU unequivocally indicate that the most common mistake made when planning leader succession is a failure to grasp a single fundamental truth: every leadership role is unique. Why can we make this assertion with such confidence? Because, for more than 50 years, MU has pioneered an unrivalled science-based approach to leader succession and selection. We can prove we get it right more than 90% of the time. Read more about MUs Leader Succession in this article by Matthew Owens, Partner & Director at MU, here: https://lnkd.in/dFzgVipE

Modern leadership for safety in aerospace - a view on diversity, speak-up culture and harnessing inclusion. A few weeks ago, Julia Reichel, Consultant at MU, had the pleasure of meeting Balkiz Sarihan from Airbus Urban Air Mobility. Balkiz has since received an award for modern leadership and today Julia is sharing their conversation about leadership in a modern aerospace environment like Airbus' UAM business in Munich. The focus was on the value of a diverse workforce and leadership team, how she manages innovation in a fast-paced environment and why she values the small elements of the culture she nourishes in her business. Read the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/daY265wB

Is your leadership ready to embrace change? Does your leadership team have the capabilities to succeed, now and in the future? In the ever-evolving landscape of business, the only constant is change. At MU, we believe that change is an opportunity for growth, and our Leadership Audit is the compass to guide you through it. Jennifer Heigel and Kenneth Lean, Partners & Directors at MU, dive into our Leadership Audit and how we can help you grow through change. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/dscp3HfW

Each year Board Directors from across Switzerland gather to discuss the most important topics. This year Board Effectiveness was in the spotlight and MU Board and CEO Practice team ran workshops on how to evaluate and improve Board performance. What to do – and not do – to secure an Effective and Inclusive Board for your organisation: What is best practice in testing and developing Board effectiveness? What is Best practice in test and improving Board inclusion? What are the ‘no ‘go’s’ when it comes to testing and developing Boad effectiveness? To answer these key questions, participating Board Chairs and Non-Executive Directors added their insights to data collected from the MU BoardScan™. The result of the day was a comprehensive summary of Board Effectiveness best practice. Christian Schaffenberger, Mieke Weijenberg and Richard Moore form MU’s Board and CEO Practice tell us more about what was discussed – concluding on the top 3 answer to the most important questions Board Chairs and Non-Executive Directors raised. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/d67Ej2J5