Definitely dogs.
I rescue animals so I have a menagerie with 4 horses, 3 big dogs and 2 cats.
Dogs are the best pals to have on a hike.
Coffee - usually latte.
Red.
Grew up the oldest with 4 brothers and we all raced skiing.
I avoid technology and keep my phones forever.
A little bit of an adrenaline junkie as I challenge myself to do what I am afraid of - like: getting my scuba certification; I piloted a plane; and jumped off Victoria Falls (never again!).
I miss being in NYC especially around this time of the year.
I find I work more hours at home versus going into the office.
So sad that so many people have needlessly died.
I love the human story behind every career and this business has allowed me to meet some pretty fantastic people like Eileen Murray ex-CEO of Bridgewater who I introduced to Warburg Pincus and she recently accepted an Executive in Residence position. She has had remarkable career and she is a fantastic person.
Our clients expect us to have a worldwide reach when we conduct searches.
They generally want the best candidate for the position and often that individual is in a different geography.
Our Partners have the same high standards and we are comfortable putting clients in their care.
Determined.
Resilient.
Curious.
A new dressage saddle.
Well my kids would have it otherwise but no cats or dogs (at the moment anyway). You see, they make the summer boating habit more challenging...
Espresso or Cappuccino - depends on the time of day. No tea thank you. Unless perhaps if I’m in the UK. “When in Rome” they say (or is it London in this case?).
Typically red. Full-bodied.
I love to cook.
I'm an avid sailor.
I actually enjoy what I do for a living.
I’ve been working remote for the better part of 20-years so no challenges really.
The fact that everyone else is home-working or schooling presents the challenge.
Certainly a pain in the...
Helping companies grow.
Positioning people for mutual success in their business and career.
Every part of the business has ownership mentality.
Savvy. Aware. Honest.
A Mercedes GL 550 or better yet a G-Wagon.
There’s plenty of parking space available.
Of course, some day an electric version of the same would suit me just fine.
Market analysis by the highly-respected publication Budapest Business Journal names Friisberg & Partners International as the Number One Executive Search firm in Hungary.
Árpád Németh, Friisberg's Managing Partner in Budapest said:
"We would like to say thank you to our clients for entrusting us with their valued assignments, to our consultants for their professionalism and commitment, to our Partners in Friisberg for sharing cross-border assignments with us and to the wider Friisberg community for their support. This is truly a team effort and we are delighted that our dedication to providing the very best service has been recognised. We look forward to building yet further on our successes with more hard work and great results for our clients."
This top ranking for Friisberg Hungary comes in the same year as Friisberg & Partners International was named "Top Consultant 2020" and "Headhunter of the Year 2019 (Candidate Experience)" in Germany.
Peter Strandberg, President of Friisberg & Partners International commented:
"2020 has been a very difficult year, but it is very heartening that in the last 12 months our firm has been confirmed and recognised as one of the leading Executive Search firms internationally. We look forward to continuing to succeed for our clients, success which has always been founded on our collaboration, collective spirit and our 'OneFirm' approach."
Looking back at 2020, Covid has impacted Friisberg & Partners International Denmark in ways we did not expect. First we saw several assignments being postponed, but already after a 3 month period, all assignments but 1 were up and running again. From then it was our job to ensure that we still delivered the best candidates to our clients, and this meant that we had to re-evaluate our processes. During the re-evaluation of our processes, the Friisberg network was of great help. We participated in several weekly meetings to share success stories of how Friisberg was conducting their recruitments without any physical contact at all.
We have also had great success and benefited from Friisberg group meetings regarding new articles to gain interest in the Friisberg brand among customers. At one point all Partners were asked to contact 5 customers to interview them in regards to how they were changing their organization, processes and strategies to suit the Covid-situation; the interviews I conducted ended up being a great entry angle into communicating with customers, during a time where they down prioritized communication with headhunters.
There is no doubt that Covid has taken its toll on us, but being a part of Friisberg has ensured that we have never felt alone. Through network groups we shared work experiences and through our virtual ‘Friday Bars’ we were all able to laugh and share funny anecdotes from the Covid-home-life.
Had we known in 2019 what we know now… I am not sure exactly what we could have done any differently. Maybe we would have delayed the opening of a new office from December until after the pandemic had passed, but, who really knew what was coming? The great strength of Friisberg has always been our collective spirit. I’ve been a Friisberg Partner for ten years now and in that time I have come to realise that we can always rely on one another. We can and do entrust valued client relationships to each other, and our clients clearly like that we have such mutual strong trust that we can “team up” to work more effectively on their assignments.
It’s that very same “team up” ethos that has seen Friisberg through this crisis. Thankfully the UK firm has continued to function fully, and has not had to cutback at all – and a very big thank you to our clients for keeping us so busy – but the way we work has changed so much. I was asked a few years ago to be the lead partner on our digital strategy. We selected Microsoft 365 for its collaborative sharing capability, which has made cross-border and multi-partner co-operation on international client assignments so very easy. So, when Covid-19 hit, we simply embraced the built-in "Teams" function for all our online meetings… and I’ve seen more of my Friisberg Partners online in the last six months than I have in most of the past six years.
They say adversity brings people together. It certainly has. It also reveals their “true colours”. I am proud to be in such a genuine Partnership – in every positive sense of that word. We have decided things together and supported each other and taken care to ensure none of us has been left behind… Brexit may finally happen next month, but this UK business still has the best of friends, and in all the right places!
Over the years we have experienced several crisis situations, and I have realized that it is important not to get lost, to trust yourself and make decisive decisions quickly.
Over the past months we have worked from home, met in our office when we could and sadly informed some temporary workers that we could not provide a guarantee of ongoing employment.
However, with our prudent management we have had a successful year the future looks promising.
Despite our success, we have remained ready to help our Partners who have faced more adversity than in Lithuania. We have continued to work with them to attract potential Clients and help financially if the need arose. That is how I understand the Friisberg Partnership – we work together in the good and bad times and are always there to support one another.
By April all our people in Friisberg’s Budapest office were working from home, managing ongoing assignments and searches, but acquiring few new Clients. Luckily, we were not alone we liaised closely with Friisberg globally learning how others managed this unprecedented situation. Our collective consciousness, together with the knowledge and experience of my colleagues in other countries, proved invaluable to us in Budapest.
Despite of losing 80% of our business in value during April and May, we did not even talk about making any of our consultants leave our Budapest office, but instead we tried to figure out doable actions to keep them on payroll and keep the business alive.
Friisberg Hungary is a member of one the largest business communities in Hungary. The (large) invoice came in July (when else?!) to cover the next 12 months’ membership fee.
As we had decided to optimize all possible operation costs – except labour – I told them we would suspend our membership and hopefully rejoin later in 2021. “We cannot let you go!” they replied, “We understand your situation, so your membership is for free for 3 months. You can pay later. We understand and feel your situation!” Friisberg Hungary was obviously a great Client for them and I decided to act the same way with my valued Clients.
By mid November 2020, our business, though it has not reached the level of last year’s volume, looks promising and we are about to make some new additions to our team making the Budapest office even more dynamic.
(President, Friisberg & Partners International)
There is no doubt that Covid-19 has created a massive humanitarian challenge as well as numerous challenges for all businesses, including our own. At Friisberg & Partners, we have chosen to see this moment as a unique opportunity for re-calibration, with positive implications for our organization. Over the past months I have pushed myself and our global team to think about how we use this inflection point to reimagine our potential together.
How do we learn from this and evolve better for the future?
This has been an opportunity to reset how we work together, how we can learn from each other. Our weekly calls and Teams meetings, where we discussed ways of handling the crisis, were extremely helpful. This shared experience connects us, binds us closer together and gives us all added perspectives on how we can build on our pandemic experience to refocus our interest on shared success.
Nevena Nikolova, the Managing Partner of Friisberg & Partners Bulgaria, has been invited to be a Moderator for AGILE HR - a virtual conference of the Bulgarian Association for People Management (BAPM) 23rd-27th November. As a member of the European Association for People Management (EAPM) and the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) it is a non-governmental professional organization established as a platform for sharing experience and knowledge among its members in order to raise the general level of expertise in the community in line with the increasingly dynamic business environment in Bulgaria.
As Moderator she will act as a host, introducing the guest speakers, leading the Q&A sessions and the debates, serving as an interface between the speakers and the audience, giving opening and closing speeches, and summarizing the key insights.
Read: Nevena's introduction to the BAPM Conference.
Nevana is delighted to be involved, she said:
“In a VUCA world the organization`s agility is becoming the most important capacity allowing the survival and prosperity of every company. This conference aims to challenge and inspire both business leaders and HR professionals to adopt Agile philosophy and practices by learning from key opinion leaders in the field.”
The Association was established in 2000 to develop the best professional practices in human capital management and development and to support and develop professionals in the field of human resource management, to raise the status of the profession and set high standards in work equivalent to the world practices and trends. Its mission is to support the progress of society by creating conditions for the advancement of people and organizations. It promotes sharing, interacts and partners with other professional non-governmental organizations as well as with state institutions.
Today BAPM has more than 850 individual and corporate members working in the field of human capital management and development - from various companies and industries including heads of human resources departments in Bulgarian and multinational companies, training and development managers, recruitment experts, compensations and benefits experts, as well as managers and specialists from consulting companies, academic lecturers, communications experts.
Nevena has more than 20 years’ experience in Executive Search, Executive Assessment and Development. She is a certified Management Trainer of Group Dynamic Trainings and qualified Executive Coach. In 2015 she was elected as General Secretary of the Management Board of Friisberg & Partners International.
(Conference Website)
CEOs face new and very specific challenges in supporting their organisations through, and then managing the lasting implications of, this current crisis.
According to recent work by Gartner, sixty-nine percent of boards accelerated digital business initiatives because of COVID-19, with almost half now actively looking for fresh technology expertise. Digital business models are now being pursued in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic - business strategy is changing.
Board members that are not themselves Digital Natives might lack the insights and expertise required to make informed decisions and reasoned judgements regarding, for example, AI, UCaaS, Digital Marketing, IoT, 5G - which are needed to ensure their business will survive.
We have talked with many companies over recent months that have made significant investments in the analysis of Big Data, automation and new forms of online collaboration. These moves, originally forced by the need for business continuity, are now finding permanence as processes change forever across all industries.
Technology enterprise leaders and industry analysts with whom we have spoken have confirmed that such shifts would be near impossible without a digital strategy and effective technology leadership. Long before the pandemic, strategic decisions by CEOs and boards, on behalf of shareholders, including the setting of company goals and assessment of the top teams’ performance were increasingly linked with investment and hiring decisions related to technology. That has simply been fast-forwarded by the virus.
Yet, despite the rapid and widespread adoption of digital business tools all around them, there are still many large companies that try to continue to function without the technology expertise of a CIO at the board table.
"As a CIO, the CEO and the board expect from me, not only to fix the WiFi... They also expect me to put the right priorities on the right strategies.... "
Rene Deist, CIO Faurecia
Technology is reshaping business models in almost every sector but securing the best technology leaders can be problematic... However, Friisberg's Partners and Consultants are fully familiar with every dimension of the issue. Your business may not even know what it really needs, but we can help you shape your thinking and then identify and attract the right leadership, for your business as it will be - and needs to be - to thrive.
7 Traits of Highly Successful Digital Leaders
Lorri Lowe
Christmas is inching ever closer, although we know that this year Christmas and New Year celebrations will not be the same due to the impact of Covid-19.
It is during the holidays that many people re-evaluate their life choices. Throughout the year there are clear peaks and troughs in the number of candidates open to new opportunities and taking this into consideration when hiring can be a great advantage.
Friisberg & Partners recommends to their clients that they consider these two questions:
Almost 25% [1] of people actively search for new roles in January, however there is typically a corresponding increase in job postings. The fact that many people are more relaxed during downtime means that 75% of the market are more passively open to talking with Headhunters about opportunities - and then being much more easily persuaded to leave their current role.
Susanne Becker Mikkelsen, Managing Partner of Friisberg & Partners International Denmark states,
“We often find that many Chief Executives and HR Directors are very busy at the beginning of the new year when new goals and plans are being launched, precisely when resources and time to contact potential candidates are scarce. We always ensure that assignments are carried out professionally, especially at busy times and an Executive Search firm can be critical to success. We can contact and make potential candidates aware of a vacancy, and ensure that candidate becomes interested in discussing it further."
Even if you feel you have a stable and secure workforce, we recommend reading the 2019 Epinion study [2] wherein a thorough analysis of the market showed that the four most common reasons for people taking on new work challenges are:
There are of course no hard and fast rules, however we can offer advice to make sure you’re taking the right path. It all begins with hiring the right person for the right position, but besides recruiting the best people for your company, you also have to nurture an engage your talent to stop them from leaving.
We can help to ensure that your organization is worthy of the talent it has and the talent it needs, and that you are motivating your people to ensure their ongoing commitment.
Josephine Lindhart
Friisberg & Partners International Denmark
Based on recent client consultations on Organizational Development, conducted by our team of experts, including Zoltan Kadar Friisberg Hungary’s Senior Consultant, and our special advisers at BondWeaver, the following clear trends were observed as changes within organizational networks due to Covid-19:
Uncertainty
This has been on the rise within organizations due to the onset of the pandemic, as well as the ensuing economic recession/crisis. It can be seen through the change in communication patterns – in particular there is a higher level of “noise” within the networks as people try to gather information about the company and their tasks from multiple sources. On the one hand this information drought perpetuates the uncertainty of employees, and on the other the effort invested in gathering necessary information results in less energy remaining for work-related tasks.
New ‘key’ people
These are appearing within an organization. This is noticeable throughout unstable situations or as working remotely becomes the norm long-term when new skills and competences are required as well as a greater degree of flexibility. This enables some people to become key players, while others can lose such roles. In such new situations it is important for organizations to identify the key players who managers and colleagues can rely on (such as experts, information brokers, opinion leaders, etc.).
Relationships become more diluted
In the absence of regular physical contact, even those groups with established strong, trusting networks are diluted. Those with weaker links get fragmented / break up, typically cliques of 2-3 people emerge and/or some people break off from the group losing their relationship with the community altogether. This tendency has a clear negative impact on the efficiency of work (numerous studies show that the foundation of efficient work is mutual trust between parties), so leaders have to pay particular attention to strengthening the network of trust and maintaining the personal wellbeing of their subordinates.
Atila Yenisen, CEO of Metro Bulgaria.
Reducing gender inequalities is one of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform our world and the topic about the role of women in business is becoming increasingly relevant today.
Atila is highly engaged regarding the role of women in business and is an active member in LEAD Network as Co-Chair in the Sales & Buying chapter where he is actively involved in projects aimed at increasing the influence of women in trade.
Our industry is very dynamic and consumer behaviours are continuously changing and evolving. Real success comes from not only following the customers, but also from shaping their choices. It is therefore paramount to have the diversity of the market reflected into our decision-making processes - only then we can move where the customers move and even move the customers towards our solutions.
We have set targets at a local level within Bulgaria. We have a minimum of 50% women in our development programs and at least 50% of candidates interviewed for Level 3 and up positions are women. This helps us to manage our pipeline for all the levels in our organization including for leadership positions.
According to a global survey on the topic, having children was stated as the biggest challenge for female colleagues. We know that over half of mothers change jobs, over 30% contemplate leaving work entirely and nearly 20 % of women leave employment in the following 5 years after their child’s birth. Therefore, we decided to focus our maternity policy to help women not to disconnect during their maternity leave which then helps them to restart effectively when they choose to rejoin.
In METRO Bulgaria we also initiated the Women in trade chapter within the company. The aim was to promote awareness as well as engaging with teams giving them the opportunity to drive decisions. We have already 26 employees involved in the project. We are also in the process of adapting our Global Diversity and Inclusion training.
I believe the role of leaders, regardless of their gender, is critical. Leaders set the context, they set the tone and they set the norms of culture. However, considering the male dominance in leadership positions, it is vitally important to actively engage men with diversity and inclusion.
The first step is increasing their awareness that diversity undoubtedly improves results. However, I would suggest we avoid only focusing on women and men, but more on real diversity including sexual orientation, religious and political views, as well as all cultures.
I can count numerous qualities of a good leader. However, let me highlight the three most important in my opinion:
1. Self-belief: everything starts with confidence.
2. Assertiveness: a good leader should not easily give up.
3. Persistence: very few initiatives elicit good results at the first attempt and only the ones who try again and again make a difference.
We are delighted to observe that nearly 37% of our business customers are owned by women.
The biggest challenge for women business owners is to multitask. I have hard time believing that all women actually delegate all their historical responsibilities to men. So, managing everything can be quite a challenging task. When it comes to managing their businesses, just like their male counterparts, there are many different areas about which they need more knowledge and support such as the legal requirements, fiscal rules, quality standards and measures etc.
I have been part of LEAD for the last 5 years. My colleague Tanya was already part of it and invited me to join. I have been actively participating as a mentor for female leaders from different industries, companies and geographies. Being a mentor in this network has enabled me to appreciate different perspectives and realities which have subsequently shaped my opinions. This year I have also agreed to be the Co-Chair of a new Chapter which is called the “Sales & Buying Chapter”. Its mission is to equip emerging female leaders in Retail and FMCG with expertise, confidence and international exposure. It is a very exciting role in a very interesting chapter.
I would like to invite women from the Procurement and Category management fields to join our sector. These roles are both challenging and strategic, requiring analytical skills. In the current circumstances the growth opportunities in organizations are bigger.
My most important advice to women in trade is to believe in yourself, follow your dreams and things will work out in the best possible way!
Photograph: dnevik.bg
Interview: Nevena Nikolova, Partner, Friisberg & Partners Bulgaria
Doing the right thing is seldom easy, but doing the right thing is always the right thing.
Political and business leaders face hard decisions and sometimes they will get it wrong - that’s okay. We are human after all and we will all make mistakes – the imperative is not to make the same mistake twice.
After the tragedy of the slaughter of 26 innocent children and adults in Connecticut in 2012 there was a firestorm of controversy which revived the gun control debate in America. President Obama decided that it was time for him to do something even if it was not popular. He said, “We need to do the right thing” even though many in his own party didn’t agree with him. It was a risk to challenge the status quo by taking an unpopular position, but that is leadership.
In the UK our government’s approval rating continues to plummet. Some of this will be down to their handling of Coronavirus and Brexit negotiations (or lack of). The pandemic may be the largest test of political leadership the world has ever seen and every leader is reacting differently, in his or her own style and will be judged by the results.
Jacinda Ardern’s stands out as her leadership style is one of empathy. Her messages are clear, consistent, and somehow simultaneously sobering and soothing - and her approach isn’t just resonating with her people on an emotional level. It is also working remarkably well.
There’s a high level of trust and confidence in her because of that empathy. She doesn’t peddle misinformation; she doesn’t shift blame; she tries to manage everyone’s expectations at the same time as she offers reassurance.
Jacinda Ardern
The success, of course, isn’t all Ardern’s doing; it’s also the product of an impressive collective effort by public-health institutions, opposition politicians, and New Zealanders as a whole, who have largely abided by social-distancing restrictions.
Often leaders must make the choice between popularity and to stand for what you believe in - and this is as true in business as it is in politics. Leaders are constantly faced with making tough decisions, but the hallmark of a good leader versus a great leader is courage. Doing the right thing may be as simple as challenging a naysayer, or as daunting as confronting your shareholders on behalf of your employees, customers or the public or fighting for an idea you think matters even if it’s not popular.
I recently turned down a search assignment because I was able to help my client see how to fix a problem without me. In the short term, I lost a large fee, but now and for the long term I have gained immeasurably more in trust.
Ethical leadership is a 'management style' that works everywhere for everyone, in any organisation. Leadership with integrity drives organisational success in some really powerful ways: attracting top talent, keeping people engaged, increasing job satisfaction, improving productivity and profitability, but is, in and of itself, the right thing to do.
Lorri Lowe
Partner UK
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