Connecting Talent. Driving Success.

“I focus on building meaningful connections — both personal and business — that lead to long-term success and trust”.

Ales Jirec is the Managing Partner and CEO of Cornerstone Prague in the Czech Republic. He has over 35 years of experience in management and HR consulting, with a strong focus on executive search, talent acquisition, and leadership development. Throughout his career, he has helped numerous organizations enhance their management effectiveness and achieve sustainable growth.

Ales has a proven track record of successfully completing senior and top executive assignments across a wide range of industries, including Insurance, Banking & FinTech, IT/TELCO/Hi-Tech, FMCG & Supply Chain, Construction & Manufacturing, Building Management, Health Care & Life Sciences, and Start-ups.

Beyond executive search, Ales is deeply engaged in innovative HR technology projects that integrate mobile networking, business process automation, and advanced data analytics powered by AI. He is the co-founder of Vissto Solutions, an HR advisory start-up, and Pay-Fair, a company specializing in salary surveys and reward consultancy, offering both Pay Analytics and compensation advisory services.

He is also the co-author of Vissto Cubes, an innovative job evaluation methodology, and the Cornerstone Rubik HRIS software for reward and employee life cycle management. As the Global Lead of the Cornerstone HR Technology Practice Group, he combines expertise in executive remuneration, pay data, and strategic reward consulting.

Prior to joining Cornerstone Prague, Ales served as Country Lead for Hewlett-Packard Education Services, managing the HP Education Center in Prague and overseeing both internal and external HR development and consulting programs. Earlier in his career at Hay Group (now Korn Ferry), he established the Pay Surveys business line and delivered consulting projects for clients in the IT and financial sectors, focusing on job analysis, evaluation, and reward policy design based on the Hay Guide Chart–Profile Method.

Ales began his career in the early 1990s in recruitment and direct search at Polytechna Consulting, later joining Recruitment International—the first private recruitment firm in post-revolution Czechoslovakia. He subsequently co-founded ICT Prague and worked with Neumann International (now DHR), managing major national and international client projects.

In addition to his professional endeavors, Ales acts as People Lead for both start-ups and established companies, often with regional or group-level HR responsibilities.

Outside of work, he enjoys spending quality time with his family, friends, and his beloved dog Hugo and cats Benito and Josephine. Ales studied at the High School of Economics and the University of Economics in Prague, where he specialized in foreign trade.

Specializations:

  • Direct & executive search for hard-to-find and senior-level positions
  • Interim HR management and leadership roles
  • Talent acquisition, assessment, and development programs
  • Executive remuneration and reward consultancy
  • HR strategy and reward strategy design
  • Job evaluation methodologies (Vissto Cubes, Hay Guide Chart–Profile Method)
  • HR technology (HRIS, data analytics, process automation, AI integration)
  • Salary surveys, pay analytics, and market benchmarking
  • Full employee life-cycle consultancy
  • Behavioral interviewing methods (BEI, STAR)
  • Healthcare & Life science, Manufacturing, IT/Telco, Insurance & Banking sectors