Companies that are looking for a new CEO place severe demands on candidates. Which characteristics are decisive when selecting a new CEO? Most large companies hire executive search agencies to explore the potential leaders market. NPM Capital asked three experts - Arnoud Maas and Wim de Weijer, both supervisory directors on behalf of NPM Capital, and Rob van den Bergh, member of NPM’s Advisory Committee – about the selection of leadership talent.
You have business card file managers that offer little added value but there are also reliable agencies", Wim de Weijer, supervisory board member at PGGM and several businesses in the care sector and business services, tells us knowingly. "They only accept a broad assignment, really immerse themselves in the business, the team and the profile and come up with some surprising candidates. That requires time and costs money but thoroughness pays for itself. The agency monitors the process before and after."
This does not mean that supervisory board members can also outsource the responsibility for the selection, warns Rob van den Bergh, supervisor at companies such as Ahold, TomTom and Pon Holdings. "Ultimately a supervisory board member must support his or her man or woman. Not because an agency says that you should but because you are convinced of his or her qualities."