Insights from the mandatesย
We recently partnered with a listed building materials company to find a MD & CEO. โฌ๏ธ As we do with other mandates, we went on an exploration of the building materials space and adjacencies (e.g., commercial aircon) to bring the client a vast selection of candidates. ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐, ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ๐: ๐ท ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐, ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด We researched 747 candidates across building materials and adjacencies. Yes, we map extensively to create the widest pool of candidates, to fit their 5-year strategy and mission. Of these 700+ candidates, 30 (=4%) had recently moved, which is high (for comparison, in the broader CEO spectrum, ~2.5% move). Building Materials is changing CEOs rapidly, as did Financial Services (ongoing) or Chemicals (recently). We expect this to last 1โ2 quarters. ๐ท ๐ค๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด Of the 747 candidates, we picked 108 to approach โ surprisingly, 45 (~42%) were not interested in exploring any role. We donโt have comparable data for other sectors yet, but anecdotally this is high. Such a percentage of folks not open to roles narrows the pool. ๐ท ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ When we look at the movements, 80% stay within building materials. Of this, 60% move within the same sub-sector (e.g., tiles to tiles, fittings to fittings) and only 40% even moved to another sub-sector (e.g., fittings to tiles). While Building Materials is not alone (this is India-specific), is such insularity warranted and in companies interest to shut out high potential candidates from other sectors (e.g., FMCG, consulting)? We get that companies in a hurry to transform often have no patience for an outsider to settle in and the difference in perspectives outsiders may bring is undervalued, but a wider lens could be to their advantage. ๐ท ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ About 12% of those who moved, moved out entirely. While any industry will see this, given the buzz, this does seem odd ๐ท ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฃ๐ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐บ Almost every company, listed or unlisted, is offering ESOPs to CEOs. So the battle has shifted to quantum instead of whether ESOPs is given โ here, PEs offer far higher than the most aggressive corporate. On average, PEs offer 20+ times higher ESOPs than corporates. In one case, the CEO had an annual cash of 6โ7c, with a 250c ESOPs over 5 years! Corporates need to change their paradigm on ESOPs. At Resource Bridge India, we specialize in CEO & CFO searches. If youโd like to discuss leadership trends, letโs talk