Executive Search

 

Deros International is the local representative of international executive search giant, J Friisberg & Partners offering global services to their clients in Southern Africa. J. Friisberg & Partners was founded in 1977 and is a partner-owned management consulting firm specialising in Executive Search. It is one of the oldest surviving executive search firms in Europe with six of the offices founded and managed by female entrepreneurs. They are staffed with highly qualified consultants and researchers of many nationalities and have a presence in twenty European countries.

 

Surveys

According to an annual survey conducted by Human Capital at Deloitte the average executive turnover in South Africa for the period August 2007 to July 2008 increased to 13,5 percent compared to 10,5 percent in the same period last year. These figures suggest that South Africa is losing up to 50 percent of its executives every four to five years. Australia is the main destination for executives leaving South Africa, followed by the UK. The main reasons for top executives leaving the country include early retirement (22%), emigration (15%), lack of career advancement (11%) and retrenchment (11%). Manufacturing and finance were the two sectors which reported the highest percentages of executives emigrating over the last three years. (Source: The Star – 2 September 2008). A survey conducted by FutureFact found that 40% of South Africans, across all races, are considering leaving the country to take their skills somewhere else. These are alarming statistics and further exacerbate the skills crisis locally.

 

Skills shortage is South Africa's Achilles heel.

 

Headhunting

Headhunting is a profession. It requires the same level of qualifications, knowledge and experience as most other professions. In fact the best search consultants are highly qualified, have directly relevant industry experience gained at the most senior levels and possess a wealth of people management, development and recruitment experience. They are skilled at identifying, qualifying and selecting people who match not only the person specification but also the culture of the organisations they represent.

• Deros International Ethics
• Our Fees
• Find Us

Partnership

• J. Friisberg & Partners
• Ukusa "the rising dawn"
• Business Sculptors (Enterprise Consultants)

Useful Externals Links

• South Africa Good News
• South Africa: The Gateway
• South Africa: Wiki
• Travel: SA by Lonely Planet
• Relocating to South Africa

Ethics

The retained search industry has a widely accepted body of ethical principles that most professionals know and most firms uphold.

A primary tenet is that, being paid on retainer as a consultant regardless of whether hiring occurs, the recruiter has a duty not to weaken the client organization he or she has been paid to strengthen. Traditionally, client employees are considered off-limits for one or two years after a retained search is completed.

Candidates, too, deserve ethical treatment. They should not be misled through advertising or other means, and their resumes should not be distributed without their permission.

Updated Oct 15, 2008