On January 1, 2017, we consolidated reporting for the USA and Canada regions into one North American Region, chaired by Dan Heiman of Kansas City.  We continue to offer separate reports for Canada and the USA for the 2016 review.

Executive Search in USA– 2016 Outlook

That’s Over! Now Let’s Get to Work

With the US election cycle finally complete, but the 45th president not yet inaugurated, business appeared poised to getting back on track.

A poll by Gallup in early January found that 50% of Americans felt now was a good time to find a quality job, the highest level in more than 15 years of polling on the issue.  Despite the rancor and bitterness of the campaign, 55% of Democrats (the losers) felt this was a good time versus 44% of Republicans (the winners).

It also appears that, with a new, more pro-business administration, most companies have opted to begin investing again in strategies they know can impact the top line.  Most businesses have been laser focused on bottom-line improvements for the past several years.

As search consultants, we have seen a demand for talent that embraces process improvement via LEAN, Six Sigma, TPM, Kaizen, etc.  I would foresee 2017 as the shift year where companies will begin to focus their talent acquisition efforts on improving their sales and marketing channels, among other growth oriented opportunities, to improve top line growth.

Pent up demand for strong leaders will continue as the vacuum created by the retiring baby boomer generation continues.  Technology, big data, information, cyber security, Millennials and business leadership are key business trends that will demand attention for business to thrive in the new economy.

Read our report on the 2017 national outlook for Canada

CHAIR OF NORTH AMERICAN REGION

Dan Heiman (Kansas City)