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Two pilots at the controls of the company

2021-12-27T05:14:54.522Z


Global listed companies divide the power of CEOs, often promoted from within The coronavirus pandemic has dethroned many business leaders and brought a multitude of replacements at the top of the world's listed companies. Not as many chair movements were remembered as in the first half of this year since 2018, according to the Route to the top 2021 report, prepared annually by the executive selection firm Heidrick & Struggles. Probably determined in part by the transfer pa


The coronavirus pandemic has dethroned many business leaders and brought a multitude of replacements at the top of the world's listed companies.

Not as many chair movements were remembered as in the first half of this year since 2018, according to the

Route to the top 2021 report

, prepared annually by the executive selection firm Heidrick & Struggles. Probably determined in part by the transfer paralysis of the second half of 2020. The headhunter counts 103 CEO appointments in the 24 markets he studies, 22% more if comparable data is taken into account, in this case for 14 countries. since this year the sample has been expanded in ten markets. The dance of positions has had a special incidence in the companies of the Stock Exchanges of Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States. And, according to Stefano Salvatore, co-CEO of Heidrick & Struggles in Spain, these movements will continue through 2022.

Two aspects stand out among the newly appointed top executives of companies, Spanish and worldwide. First, that companies have put aside the search for profiles with great experience in crisis resolution and older that characterized the year of the pandemic, when they turned to signing in the market, and have turned to look towards the quarry , especially on the lookout for division directors who have successfully navigated the crisis. 62% of the hires were internal in the first half of 2021, compared to 53% during the same period in 2020. This is one of the trends that prevails and of which Indra is a clear example in Spain. Cristina Ruiz Ortega and Ignacio Mataix have been appointed CEOs after leading the consulting and aerospace and defense technology area,respectively.

"If you earn cum laude doctorates at the head of your division, with its particular number of results, it is the ideal quarry to make the leap to the leadership of the company," says Santiago Álvarez de Mon, professor at IESE Business School. The downside, he adds, is that sometimes these CEOs

micromanage

as if they were in the area they came from, instead of raising their eyes as the position demands.

The Spanish technology company has also closely followed the other trend that has advanced in recent months: the owners of the companies have decided not to give up the scepter to a single executive, opting for bicephaly. As has happened in companies such as Netflix, where content manager Ted Sarandos joined the executive management of Reed Hastings; like Workday, in which the Spanish Chano Fernández joined Aneel Bhusri in making decisions, or Salesforce, with co-drivers Bret Taylor and Marc Beniof. Although there were also companies where the double dome did not work, as SAP recognized, since it implied slower decision making that could not be allowed in times of pandemic. Or in those that responded to a moment of transition, as in the German Metro or the French Danone.

“There is no doubt that four eyes see more than two, but bicephaly demands a level of trust, complementarity and enormous respect between the two executives and, if there is a battle of egos, it is unacceptable. In addition, responsibilities can be diluted, hiding behind the duo ”, appreciates Professor Álvarez de Mon, who assures that those he has seen work are the least.

"They have always been infrequent and they continue to be, despite the fact that there are more cases," says Ramón Pueyo, partner of Sustainability and Corporate Governance at KPMG. In his opinion, on paper the advantages are undeniable, given the growing size and complexity of organizations, which makes it very difficult for a single person to be in charge of everything. However, the boundaries are difficult and you can easily fall into overlaps and duplications that create inefficiencies, as demonstrated by those who reverted to a single CEO after proving dual title. The key is, adds Pueyo, in the correct assignment of functions and in the close supervision by the board of directors.

Along with the changes in Indra, in Spain there were relays at the top of Sabadell (César González Bueno), Almirall (Gianfranco Nazzi), IAG (Luis Gallego), Siemens Gamesa (Andreas Nauen) and ArcelorMittal (Aditya Mittal) between June 2020 and 2021. Four of the six relays have occurred this year.

The one who comes Inditex will be the protagonist of them with the promotion of Marta Ortega to the presidency and of Óscar García Maceiras to the position of CEO.

More women

During the first part of 2021, the proportion of women appointed to head listed companies increased to 13% from 6% in the previous six months. Ireland starred in these signings, followed by the United States and Singapore. These appointments are the result of the combined impact of many countries' gender balance legal requirements,

stakeholder

pressure

and the decision to gain new perspectives through a fairer gender balance, the report notes.

The headhunter also appreciates a change in the experience of CEOs elected in the past year. The proportion of those who have held other executive roles doubles and the weight of CFOs reaching the top suffers a notable drop. Instead, other members of the management committee climb to the top, most notably risk, strategy and technology managers. But the biggest springboard to leadership is division headquarters: 41% of those appointed had held this role. "Companies are looking for new profiles capable of finding different formulas for growth", justifies Stefano Salvatore. And it is that the role of the chief executive is extending far beyond the day-to-day operation of the business."Today's CEOs have a need to advocate (both internally and externally) for issues like sustainability, human rights and cybersecurity." They are more vetted than ever, which is why leadership needs skills such as agility, empathy, modeling organizational purpose, and fostering inclusion. "They have to know how to manage situations that their teams were in charge of before," according to Salvatore.


Source: elparis

All business articles on 2021-12-27

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