On Wednesday 13^th December 2023, we hosted our next event in partnership with Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) in Zurich.

For this session, we welcomed back Jonathan Cave, the Founder and CEO of MyPhy, to deliver a workshop on Creating a Stronger Personal Brand.

As we approached the end of the year, we worked with IMA to design an event that prepared our Finance & Accountancy network for 2024 and offered an opportunity to network before the festive period.

Jonathan provided some food for thought for the audience as they made their personal improvement plans for the New Year. He explored how to:

• Introduce yourself to others in a clear and engaging manner
• Communicate your added value in a humble yet effective way
• Apply tested strategies to strengthen your professional image

Jonathan first joined our events back in December 2022, when we hosted a session on How to Find your High-Performing Self and Leverage this in your Career in Geneva.

We followed this up with an event focused on How to Boost your Energy Levels & Apply this to your Daily Life in Zurich in March this year.

We completed this series with How to Create your Personal Inspiring Vision and Roadmap to Success in Zurich in June.

Jonathan was originally a highly-trained lawyer/partner in a multi-family office in Geneva, where – for almost 15 years – he helped high and ultra-high-net-worth families grow their businesses and protect their fortunes.

At the age of 40, he reoriented his career and trained in coaching, public speaking, and leadership.

EMEA Recruitment has been IMA’s career development partner since 2020. We continue to provide networking opportunities and thought leadership through our partnership.

If you’re interested in attending similar events in the future, please reach out to Meriel Graham, Director in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment division in Switzerland: [email protected]

On Wednesday 6^th December 2023, we hosted our next Talent Acquisition Roundtable in Zurich.

Leveraging AI Tools to Enhance TA Strategies aimed to show Talent Acquisition leaders how to unlock the power of artificial intelligence tools to supercharge their processes.

Harnessing AI can help you not only identify and engage top talent, but also create a more personalised and bias-free candidate experience.

We explored how you can elevate your recruitment game with AI and secure the best talent for your organisation’s success.

We were joined two fantastic speakers at the SMG Swiss Marketplace Group office in Zurich:

• Balázs Horváth - Executive Director Organisation Effectiveness at Viking
• Tshidi Khunou – Talent Acquisition and Employer Branding Lead at SMG Swiss Marketplace Group

Attendees were invited to actively participate in exploring and understanding how AI can identify, engage with, and establish a personalised experience during the selection process, while eliminating unconscious bias.

Earlier this year, we welcomed Tshidi onto the EMEA Recruitment podcast, where he discussed his journey into TA and the effects of technology on the discipline. You can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts or on our website: https://www.emearecruitment.com/podcasts/mapping-people-to-the-right-careers-tshidi-khunou/224

Due to the sensitive nature of the HR profession, we understand the importance of delivering a private and confidential environment for attendees to share their personal experiences, which is why this event has limited spaces.

If you have any questions or are interested in attending, please reach out to Keely Straw, who manages our HR recruitment division in Switzerland: [email protected]

So far this year, we have delivered insightful and engaging roundtables with HR leaders on Unveiling Unconscious Bias in Talent Acquisition and Neurodiversity at Work.

We are already looking at topics that would be of interest to our HR network in 2024, so please get in touch with any suggestions that you may have.

On Thursday 26^th October 2023, we sponsored the Where to in Procurement and Supply Chain? conference in Zug.

For the eighth consecutive year, we partnered with CSCMP Roundtable Switzerland, CIPS Switzerland, and Kanton Zug to bring our Procurement & Supply Chain network an informative and engaging event, followed by a networking session.

Held at GIBZ Gewerblich-industrielles Bildungszentrum Zug, the evening commenced with talks from four expert speakers, hosted by Thomas Kofler, the President of CSCMP Roundtable Switzerland.

First, we heard from Kiriaki Kritidi, the Head of Talent at Coca-Cola HBC, who addressed the “unprecedented” shortage of talent in the industry.

Next up was Jens Krüger, the Director Supply Chain, EMEA at Canada Goose, who discussed how luxury brands can revolutionise supply chains for success. Earlier this year, we were pleased to speak to Jens as part of our Executive Interviews series: https://www.emearecruitment.com/executive-interviews/jens-kruger-supply-chain-leader/175

Following Jens was Michelle Wang, Global Head SCM Contracting and Partner Management at Hitachi Energy. Michelle bravely stepped in at the last minute to explore risk revenue sharing partnerships. She was also a recent Executive Interview guest: https://www.emearecruitment.com/executive-interviews/michelle-wang-global-head-scm-contracting-and-partner-management-at-hitachi-energy/168

Finally, Alejandra Garcia, SVP Global Procurement at DSM, took to the stage to emphasise the importance of collaboration and adaptability in achieving success and driving technological progress. Alejandra was a guest on the EMEA Recruitment podcast back in 2021: https://www.emearecruitment.com/podcasts/the-superpowers-of-procurement-alejandra-garcia/161

Attendees were then invited to challenge the speakers with a panel question-and-answer session, covering topics such as talent attraction and career progression.

The evening concluded with a chance to network at the apéro. Many of the 200 attendees stayed to connect with their peers and have one-to-one conversations with the speakers.

Our Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment team was in attendance, including John Byrne, CH Country Director, Neil Cope, Director, Rebecca Spicer, Associate Director, Charlotte Cruise, Senior Consultant, Sasha Gill, Senior Consultant, and Rose Jinks, our Marketing Manager.

If you’re interested in attending similar events in the future, please reach out to Neil: [email protected]

On Wednesday 25^th October 2023, we held a webinar on Intelligent Automation: People, Processes & Performance Excellence for our senior Finance & Accountancy network in the Netherlands.

Georgia Wright, Associate Director, hosted three expert speakers who shared their experiences with artificial intelligence and how it could affect roles of the future.

Firstly, we heard from Alla Slavinskaya, the Director, Digital Business Consulting at EPAM, who talked us through AI+ perspectives. She also addressed the elephant in the room: Where do humans add value in the era of AI?

Next, Chris Gunning, Finance Transformation Leader – Global Shared Services at NielsenIQ, explained why it should no longer be solely about process optimisation for effectiveness and driving value through efficiencies – creating a unique experience through cutting-edge automation is vital.

Finally, Aline Bonaccorso, CFO France and The Netherlands at T-Systems International, shared her experiences of conceptualising and establishing front and back office for various departments, ensuring operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Georgia then conducted a question-and-answer session with the three speakers, going through some of the comments and questions submitted by attendees during the event, including:

• What are the key challenges facing Finance leaders in terms of governance?
• Which industries are early adopters of AI?
• Which new skills will be needed when AI evolves?

As the Finance & Accountancy function continues to develop, we want to ensure that we deliver topics that are of interest to our network through our events and partnerships.

If you have any suggestions for future events, please get in touch with Hannah Mallia, who leads our Finance & Accountancy recruitment division in the Netherlands: [email protected]

Thank you to Alla, Chris, and Aline for sharing their experiences and thoughts with all those who attended the event, and to all delegates who joined the session and shared their questions and comments.

On Tuesday 14th June, we hosted CFOs, Heads of Finance and Finance Directors in Geneva for a drinks and networking event, before joining those in the Deutschschweiz region on Wednesday 15th June. 

As we enter the second half of 2022, the one thing that we can be sure of is that we are going to see continued change and challenges, which the Finance profession is used to dealing with after COVID-19.

Whether it is rising inflation (3.4% in Switzerland in June, but still well below the Eurozone rate of 8.6%), supply chain challenges, rising fuel costs or other impacts from the ongoing situation in Ukraine, the ability to quickly adapt to market conditions and deliver real time financial information and accurate forecasts will be of paramount importance.

The Finance recruitment market remained resilient in Q2, with high volumes of vacancies available and, after many discussions about the need for data visualisation skills, we are finally seeing increased requests for skills in Power BI, Tableau or other similar products.

What are clients and candidates saying?

One of the main topics of conversation at these networking events was how quickly Finance recruitment has changed, moving from vacancy-led during COVID to candidate-led in the current climate, and how attracting the desired candidates is proving increasingly difficult.

From our discussions with candidates, an increasing number who are currently in permanent jobs have confirmed that they prefer to secure their career moves through a recruitment partner. Reasons include:

• A more informative process, with a better likelihood of the right fit in terms of role, company culture and career development
• Greater clarity about salaries, ensuring roles are within the desired range - the lack of salary information on direct advertisements is the biggest source of frustration amongst candidates
• Structured job searching is time-consuming alongside a current role - these individuals want to ensure their time is well spent on relevant opportunities
• Greater chance of success – “Why would I apply for a role that I can see has had 150 applications on LinkedIn?”

These are just some of the reasons why companies relying on advertising roles are unlikely to draw interest from their target audience.

If you're interested in joining us at future events in either Geneva or Zurich, please reach out to John Bower, in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in Switzerland: [email protected] 

On Thursday 22nd June 2023, we’re joining our partner, CSCMP Switzerland Roundtable, for its face-to-face networking event.

People, Future Skills & Development in Supply Chains will take place at The Circle at Zurich Airport from 18:00-21:00 on Thursday 22nd June.

In the last few months, high volatility and business disruptions exposed supply chains to major events, such as transportation and port congestion, material shortages, and inflation.

The past year has highlighted a changed industry with higher vulnerability. It is clear that future organizations will need agile, change managing and more digital-enabled capabilities.

In fact, in many companies, professionals are not ready to face these challenges – strategic thinking, planning and problem solving are no longer sufficient.

What are the new skills required in today’s (and future) Supply Chain organizations? How can companies level up their Supply Chain team competencies?

Alongside attending the event and networking with delegates, we will also be speaking about our recent market insights. John Byrne, our Switzerland Country Director, will be joined by Charlotte Cruise, Senior Consultant in our Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment team, to share their expertise.

John has presented at a number of Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) events in Switzerland, showing keen skills in identifying market trends.

Charlotte has also worked with CIPS on development events, particularly focused around Women in Leadership across Procurement & Supply Chain.

We were proud to become an official sponsor of CSCMP Switzerland Roundtable in January 2023. Its mission is to connect like-minded Supply Chain professionals, develop their leadership and management skills, and further educate those looking to learn more about the Supply Chain discipline, through events like this one.

We hope to see you there on 22nd June.

If you’re interested in buying tickets, please visit CSCMP’s website: https://fienta.com/people-supply-chain-cscmp

If you have any questions, please reach out to Neil Cope, Manager of our Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment division in Zug: [email protected]