“I am interested to participate and I am in talks with a major international executive search firm to represent them in this project in Romania. I guess my competitors are doing the same,” says Rudolf Fedorovici, consultant with Advice HR executive search company.
Headhunters are vying over a small EUR6-7 million market of services entailing the placement of about 200 top executives who make over EUR100,000 a year. Turning to professionals for help in recruiting managers is the first major attempt by the government to modernize public administration. The first “private managers” will begin their terms in office at state-owned companies next February.
The first state-run companies to get private management include Posta Romana, Tarom, CFR Marfa, Electrificare CFR, Societatea Nationala a Lignitului Oltenia, Hidroelectrica and Electrica Furnizare.
Headhunters will most likely submit bids next Friday to participate in the tenders organized by the Economy Ministry. ZF has put together a list of the people who run the largest executive search companies on the local market, which includes:
1. Radu Manolescu, 34, managing partner of K.M.Trust & Partners. He is the majority shareholder and managing partner of one of the largest executive search companies on the local market, has been working in this field for over ten years and has gained experience on most of the markets in the region (Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland and Slovakia). Before K.M. Trust & Partners, he worked for another executive search company, Target International Executive Search for four years (2002-2005), where his last position was managing consultant. His company posted over EUR600,000 revenue last year, up 15% on 2009.
2. Radu Furnica, 54, chairman and CEO of Leadership Development Solutions. He is one of the oldest and most expensive “hunters” of executives on the local market, with more than 16 years of experience in recruiting managers. Until August last year, LDS was the representative of Korn/Ferry, the world’s largest executive search company, on the local market, which embraced a new business strategy (creation of hubs in several European capitals to serve customers in Europe). Furnica has had almost 600 top management projects in his career. He has recruited top executives especially in the financial services sector. LDS posted EUR600,000 revenue last year, slightly up (2%) from 2009.
3. Werner E. Stein, 64, founder and chairman of Stein & Partner Executive Search South Eastern Europe. The German headhunter who runs Stein & Partners executive search firm has placed such executives as Cristian Rey, general manager of Intersnack Romania (maker of Chio Chips) and Sergiu Mititelu, general manager of Hochland, who have been running these companies for years. With over 17 years of experience in recruiting executives, he runs a business that posted over EUR360,000 revenue last year. The most important clients include IKEA, Henkel, Generali, E-ON, Actavis, Carlsberg and Metro.
4. George Butunoiu, 49, is one of the best-known local headhunters, who got into the recruitment business in 1992. In 1996 he joined the HR consultants at Ward Howell Euroselect, as managing partner, and bought the business in 2003. He later became managing partner of executive search company Alexander Hughes and started his own HR consultancy business in 2006. Specializes in recruiting executives for the financial services sector. Clients include Banca Transilvania (he got Robert Rekkers at the helm of the bank), Banca Romaneasca, BRD, Volksbank, Danone, Deloitte, Euroins, Lafarge and Samsung.
5. Mihaela Damian, 52, country manager of SpenglerFox is one of the best-known consultants in the field of top management recruitment on the local market. She worked for Stanton Chase International for seven years. Before that she worked as cellular phone retailer Germanos’ HR manager for one year and held various management positions with Compaq Computer Romania for nine years. As a headhunter, she specializes in financial services, telecom and industry. SpenglerFox is part of the Irish recruitment group Grafton Recruitment, whose local revenue stood at EUR430,000 last year.
6. Daniela Necefor, 46, is the managing partner and majority shareholder of executive search firm Total Business Solutions (TBS), which she created in 2000. Before starting her own business, she had worked for another middle and top management recruitment company, Antal International Consulting (1997-2000).
7. Dana Patrichi, 43, managing partner of Alexander Hughes Romania, has been working for Alexander Hughes International executive search consultancy firm since 1996, when she started out as a consultant. She is now managing partner of Alexander Hughes Romania, having initially worked for the French branch. She came to the Bucharest office as a senior consultant in 2002. Her expertise on the local market, as well as her contacts among French companies made the company officials choose her for the same position again and again.
8. Oana Ciornei, 38, managing partner of Amrop, started The Searchers together with Marius Predu, another executive who had worked in the top executive recruitment business for a number of years, at the end of 2009. Their company signed a partnership with international company Amrop at the end of 2010. Amrop is one of the largest executive search networks in the world, with operations in 58 countries and 89 offices. Oana Ciornei had previously worked for Leadership Development Solutions for four years and also for Cola-Cola Hellenic, the local bottler of Coca-Cola products.
9. Rudolf Fedorovici, 36, consultant with Advice Human Resources, has been running this company for over ten years and is considering a partnership with an international executive search company to participate in the tender to select CEOs for state-owned companies. He specializes in recruitment of executives for professional services, consumer goods and industrial fields.
10. Sorin Popa, 45, managing partner of Accord Group Romania, has been working for Accord Group since 2001 and in 2005 became the managing partner of the branch in Bucharest. He specializes in recruiting executives for industrial companies, but has also found managers for insurance companies.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)