Insights from the mandates
We recently partnered with a listed building materials company to find a MD & CEO. ⬇️
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. 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀, 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝟱 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂:
🔷 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆, 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴
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 1–2 quarters.
🔷 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴
Of the 747 candidates, we picked 108 to approach – surprisingly, 45 (~42%) were not interested in exploring any role. We don’t have comparable data for other sectors yet, but anecdotally this is high. Such a percentage of folks not open to roles narrows the pool.
🔷 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆
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.
🔷 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲, 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀
About 12% of those who moved, moved out entirely. While any industry will see this, given the buzz, this does seem odd
🔷 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗣𝗘𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗦𝗢𝗣𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺
Almost every company, listed or unlisted, is offering ESOPs to CEOs. So the battle has shifted to quantum instead of whether ESOPs is given – 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 6–7c, 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 you’d like to discuss leadership trends, let’s talk
