Up again, down again. The record of our progress towards global economic recovery can be seen these days in almost any business survey.
Certainly this year’s annual worldwide survey of senior management by Cornerstone International Group spells it out. This time last year, the light had turned green and 80% of respondents were back in growth mode; now it’s turned orange again and that figure has dropped to 63%.
The annual survey reflects broad-based, senior management business sentiment. Cornerstone International Group is a prominent international search organization with over 100 member offices worldwide.

The comparison of management attitudes over time is just one of the interesting aspects of the survey which has tracked strategic thinking since before the financial collapse of 2007. Another is the variance of opinion between the state of affairs globally and locally.
For example, only 36% of respondents currently believe that a global economic recession is over. However, over 63% believe the recession is ended in their local markets.

The majority of respondents this year came from Europe (45%) followed by North America (36%), Latin America (36%) Asia/South Pacific (19%) and Africa, Middle East and India (12%).

“We need to remember that our survey is usually filled out by people who roll up their shirt sleeves when they sit down,” comments William Guy, Chairman of Cornerstone International Group. “It is always interesting to see how attitudes on the firing line differ from the top-level impressions we get from reading and watching the news.”

Board strength falls off
Corporate governance was one issue that took a hit in this year’s survey. After three years of data showing Boards becoming more pro-active in the management of the organization, the numbers fell back this year from 88% to 61%.
Another drop came in the number of firms who believe they have sufficiently diverse experience on their Boards – down to 58% from 66% a year ago.
Other findings from this year’s survey include the following:
• Only 44% expect to increase the number of employees this year compared to 63% last year and 66% the year before. Headcount reductions are anticipated by 22% — a 50% increase.

• Talent development remains the preferred priority for increasing value. Recruitment, though, has fallen off sharply and is replaced in second place by Succession Management.

• Despite the perennial focus on maximizing talent, still only half of respondents have a formal, company-wide performance measurement process in place.

• Revenue growth expectations are lower. A year ago, the largest group (36%) anticipated growth of 8-14%; this year’s majority (35%) sees less than 8%. Just over 15%.
Cornerstone International Group is a global organization positioned on all six primary continents. Its list of clients served includes half of the 1,000 largest global firms, including nine of the top 10 largest multi-nationals.

Copies of the 2012 Senior Management Opinion Survey can be reviewed and downloaded on the organization’s website at www.cornerstone-group.com/survey2012

For more information:
William Guy
Chairman
Cornerstone International Group

billguy@cornerstoneintl.com
1-213-489-6888

Replacing the CEO, according to one survey, takes an average of 90 days. Another survey reveals that more than two-thirds of organizations do not have a formal succession planning process. Small wonder, then, that the supply of highly skilled executives on a temporary basis is becoming a high profile segment of the recruiting business.

Interim Executive Management is not new, but the current business atmosphere of uncertainty and instability appears to have increased awareness significantly. In the U.K., where it has been recognized and applied for many years, Interim Management is a £250 million business. It has also taken root in Germany and Belgium and is spreading elsewhere, most notably in the U.S., Australia, France, and Ireland.

“One obvious benefit is speed,” says Justin Mills, director of BK Cornerstone Limited, a U.K.-based member of the global executive search firm Cornerstone International Group. “Typically, we can put in place a highly skilled, experienced leader who fits the criteria within 3-5 days.

“This is someone who will hit the ground running, already having the skill sets and experience to meet the specific need.”

While much of the demand for interim managers has been driven by unexpected events or sudden departures, firms now also see this as an opportunity to benefit from change. An acquisition, a turn-around, a “right-sizing” situation, or specific niche initiatives are among reasons cited. Current clients tend to be in a change environment as with banking and finance, IT and telecom.

Search firms like BK Cornerstone that offer interim management services stress the difference between the interim manager and the career candidate, maintaining distinct databases for each population. The interim candidate is an executive or senior manager with a track record of success who wants the challenge of short-term mandates.

They are comfortable accepting direct responsibility for specific goals. They are motivated to achieve their goals, given that their future work depends upon referrals and a successful record.

“They are a different breed,” says Mills. “They add value to the client organization from day one and in many ways are better at making change happen than the permanent leadership teams.”

The rising demand for interim executives represents a major shift in corporate strategic thinking, according to business specialists. Companies now view interim hiring not as a stop-gap but as a short-term solution that delivers long-term gain in terms of embedded best practices and a legacy of improvement.

“We get a good view of this trend thanks to our global network,” says William Guy, Chairman and CEO of Cornerstone International Group. “For example, our members in China see a significant opportunity there due to economic growth and a shortage of executives with 10+ years of experience.

“We expect to see the demand for interim management continue to grow.”

For Information:

Ian Day
Chief Marketing Officer
Cornerstone International Group
IDay@bkcornerstone.co.uk

FM News Talk 92.5, AM 1530 KFBK, Wilcox Miller & Nelson and the Los Rios Community College District are teaming up to put on a three-hour Executive Employment Seminar for unemployed executives. The presentation will cover valuable skills such as personal branding, resume development, and job search tips during the holidays. This will also be an incredible time for networking, sharing stories, and boosting your efforts to ensure success in 2012.

The event is complimentary and space is very limited. Registration is mandatory and walk-ins will not be admitted.

To Register visit http://www.kfbk.com/pages/executiveemploymentseminar.html#ixzz1gLFYacuN

Date: Monday, December 19, 20011

Registration: 8:30AM

Program begins at 9AM and ends at Noon

Location: 1410 Ethan Way, Sacramento

Wilcox Miller & Nelson (www.wilcoxcareer.com) is a retained executive and board search, leadership development, human resource consulting and career transition firm, founded in 1979.

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Diane D. Miller, President

Wilcox Miller & Nelson

916/977-3700

dmiller@wilcoxcareer.com

The Board of Directors has completed a rigorous search. Your new CEO has got her family photo on the
desk. How long are you willing to give her to show results?

Not long? The 90-day “honeymoon” gets shorter and shorter. A change in CEO very often means a
problem unresolved and the Board wants to see results, fast. The resulting pressure can be very costly.

A recent Financial Times article reports that 40% of new senior executive hires fail within 18 months.
And it is not just time that has been wasted or a career damaged. According to George Bradt, a failed
$500K executive can cost his or her company $5 million in combined hard and soft costs.

Bradt is considered the guru of Executive Onboarding, a very specialized and fast-growing niche of the
executive search industry. Onboarding is a process meant to ensure that leaders adapt and become full
contributors to the organization twice as fast and with fewer problems.

“Successful onboarding can slash that failure rate, “ says Bradt. “Since 2003, 90% of executives we’ve
helped were still in place or promoted at 18 months. In other words, we’ve cut that 40% failure rate to
10%.”

Bradt’s company, PrimeGenesis, is part of the worldwide Cornerstone International Group of executive
search and HR specialists and delivers the Group’s onboarding offer through offices in New York,
London, Tokyo, Chicago, Los Angeles, Shanghai, and Mumbai. He has just returned from a successful
tour in Asia, conducting Cornerstone International Group workshops in Malaysia, Singapore and India in
conjunction with the local Cornerstone offices.

“Too many companies approach executive level replacements as a plug ‘n play process,” says
Bradt. “When the honeymoon period is over, there are a dozen reasons why the company is unhappy
and the new hire disillusioned. And it’s nearly always unnecessary.”

With Executive Onboarding, a skilled team helps the new leader to set goals for the first 100 days, align
his or her team with the goals, develops peer relationships and a communications strategy. The most
is made of the “pre-boarding” period – the time between accepting the job and starting it — to have at
least a business direction in place the first day on the job.

A companion workshop for corporate hiring managers applies onboarding concepts to enhance the
recruiting, hiring and accelerating of new hires from an internal perspective and get employees up to
speed in half the time.

“The process of hiring and accelerating new talent is changing rapidly,” says William Guy, Chairman and
CEO of Cornerstone International Group. “Companies today look to their recruiting partners for help in
a variety of specialized niches such as executive onboarding.

“We feel very fortunate in having PrimeGenesis on the team. Our goal is to offer best-of-breed
solutions in any niche and George brings that with his specialized trainers, tools and 10 years of
experience.”

For more information:

George Bradt
Managing Director, PrimeGenesis
Cornerstone Executive Onboarding Division
+1-203-323-8501 office
+1-203-253-1569 cell
gbradt@primegenesis.com.com

Cornerstone International Group, the world’s leading consulting organization operating in HR area has recently established a new partner office located in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, the biggest EU CEE country and the only European economy to avoid the recession and register growth in 2009 (+1.7%). Business Consulting Search & Selection, the current partner of CIG, is a boutique style firm that has been managed by Ms. Iwona Szybka, its Founder and Managing Director since 1999. The team consists of highly qualified Senior Consultants specializing in various industry sectors. The core specialization are services dedicated to start-ups projects for the companies representing a variety of capital and scope of operations.

Poland with 40 million habitants is the 6th largest market in Europe and has a very good potential for the investors—highly qualified specialists and still relatively low costs of the labor supply. The economy growth rate for 2010 was 3.8 % and was one of the best results in Europe. The decision to re-enter Poland is in line with the global strategic plan of the Cornerstone Group to expand its geographic footprint and to strengthen presence in the previous former Eastern Bloc. From its world headquarters in Los Angeles, Cornerstone’s Chairman and CEO, William Guy, stated, “Iwona Szybka’s decision to join Cornerstone International Group will help us all expand our markets to include additional clients in this region.”

Cornerstone International Group is one of the world’s largest Retained Executive Search organizations with approximately 100 independently-owned offices strategically positioned in virtually every major geographic market around the globe.

According to Iwona Szybka, Managing Director of Business Consulting (Cornerstone Poland), “From the early stage of the transformation process in Poland we’ve conducted successfully numerous executive searcher projects. We have worked closely with client organizations from various industries, including real estate, automation, technical equipment, renewable energy, food processing industry, chemical sector, and others, recruiting from the first management position through the middle managerial level to the expert level positions. Being a part of Cornerstone International Group will allow us to expand our business through international networking and let us satisfying clients who expect to be served by the professional worldwide organization.”

Danuta Pancer, Project Manager of Business Consulting/Cornerstone Poland, shared: “Our clients that entered the Polish market with our support appreciated the quality of services provided by us. Our efforts have contributed to the successful set-up of their business on our local market and allowed them to achieve strong and stable position. Our objective is to maintain this image at the market”.

Contact: William Guy, Chairman & CEO
Cornerstone International Group
Tel: +1-213-489-6888
Website: www.cornerstone-group.com

Contact: Iwona Szybka, Managing Director
Business Consulting Search & Selection
Tel: +48 22 438 88 20
Email: iwona.szybka@businessconsulting.com.pl
Website: www.businessconsulting.com.pl

Contact: Danuta Pancer, Project Manager
Business Consulting Search & Selection
Tel: +48 22 438 88 20
Email: danuta.pancer@businessconsulting.com.pl
Website: www.businessconsulting.com.pl

HR Dimensions, LLC., locally owned and managed by its founder and partner, Mark McNulty and Steve Grow, respectively, has agreed to become a strategic alliance partner of Cornerstone International Group, one of the top ten networks of independently owned and operated Retained Executive Search Firms in the World. They will continue to handle client assignments based in Indiana as well as other locations in the U.S. where the firm’s expertise is needed by client organizations. The alliance will expand HR Dimension’s reach and resources.

From its world headquarters in Los Angeles, Cornerstone’s Chairman and CEO, William Guy, stated, “HR Dimensions brings to Cornerstone a great depth and many years of functional and industry expertise. The decision by HR Dimensions to partner with the Cornerstone Group will help us all expand our markets to include additional clients, both in the Central Midwest and elsewhere in the world.” HR Dimensions has completed engagements in major metro locations from coast to coast.

Cornerstone International Group is one of the world’s largest Retained Search organizations with approximately 100 independently owned offices strategically located in virtually every major geographic market around the globe.

According to Mark McNulty, “For over fifteen years, we have worked closely with client organizations from various industries to include technology firms, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, utility energy services, retail, and not-for-profits to satisfy their individual and important recruitment needs. Our new alliance partnership will allow us to expand the scope of resources we offer our clients which has always included 100% client satisfaction and ‘Professional-Personalized-Results!’”

In addition to providing executive search services across a wide variety of sectors, HR Dimensions provides a full range of Talent Management Services including Leadership Development and Coaching plus Career Transition.

Mark McNulty continues, “We are proud to have been selected by Cornerstone International Group as a full-fledged member of a world class organization. A rigorous membership selection process was conducted which included multiple client references as a pre-requisite for joining Cornerstone.”

Business leaders around the world appear determined not to let the drawn-out woes of the global economy hold back their operations, according to a recent survey of senior management worldwide.

Cornerstone International Group has strengthened its positions in the Baltic and Nordic region by adding a new partner, the Estonian-based Executive Lab to its network.

Executive Lab, owned and managed by its founder, Tonis Arro, has joined Cornerstone International Group—one of the top ten retained search organizations in the world. Arro has created the executive search industry in the region and managed the leading headhunting and human resources consulting companies in Baltic Countries for 20 years. He has also worked on international search and consulting assignments in different EU and CEE countries. Based on well-established networks, ideal geographic position and excellent language skills, Arro will also by necessity handle search assignments in Finland and Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia.

JP Cornerstone, representative for Cornerstone International Group in Sweden and Norway, has established a new office in Helsinki, Finland. JP Cornerstone Finland will be managed by Mr. Jukka Hanninen and Mr. Lars Pawli. Together they bring over 30 years of expertise in Executive Search and Leadership Consulting in the Nordic region, and complement Cornerstone’s existing capacity in Scandinavia, the Baltics (Tallinn, Estonia), Russia, and Eastern Europe.

Neil McLaughlin, Managing Partner says, “As a leading European member of the Cornerstone International Group network, we will be known as BK Cornerstone Ltd. This change recognizes the increasing importance to our clients of a trusted and professional global resourcing capability. In the war for talent, access to exceptional candidates worldwide is vital in fulfilling business critical assignments for our UK clients. Our membership in Cornerstone is a critical component in servicing that need.”