On Thursday 12th May 2022, the EMEA Recruitment team attended the Zug 2022: Competitive Advantage conference in Switzerland.

The CIPS Switzerland Conference is hosted annually by CIPS Switzerland, CSCMP Roundtable Switzerland and Kanton Zug.

EMEA Recruitment was proud to sponsor the event for the seventh consecutive year, with John Byrne, CH Country Director, Neil Cope, Manager of Procurement & Supply Chain, Charlotte Cruise, Senior Consultant, Sienna Grey, Senior Consultant, and Sasha Gill, Consultant, of our Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment team in attendance.

This year, the conference explored how to secure competitive advantage by linking Procurement and Supply to corporate direction, top-level strategy and executive decisions.

We were pleased to hear from a range of brilliant panellists, who shared their career experiences and challenged attendees with their personal opinions:

• Arnd Franz, CEO at LKQ Europe
• Alexandra Tarmo, Head of Partnerships & Social Procurement at Unilever
• Werner Lieberherr, CEO at Landis+Gyr
• Barbara Stolle-Amedick, Head of Supply Chain, BU Transformers at Hitachi Energy

The hybrid event was fully booked for in-person tickets, but guests could also join virtually.

CIPS and CSCMP conferences are typically attended by more than 200 Procurement & Supply Chain professionals in Zug.

Last year’s conference focused on Carbon + Circularity, exploring the consequences of business activity on others.

We are proud to continue our partnership with CIPS Switzerland and CSCMP Roundtable Switzerland, and look forward to joining future events.

In June, we co-hosted Procurement Perma-Crisis – Leading the Way? in Zurich with CIPS Switzerland, which explored how long-term strategic, solution-led, business impact/value stream approaches that centre around partnerships and wider business initiatives are crucial to survive and thrive in the current environment.

If you are interested in attending future Procurement & Supply Chain events in Switzerland, please reach out to Neil Cope, Associate Director, who will ensure you receive any upcoming information: [email protected]

On Thursday 20th April 2023, EMEA Recruitment joined IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) at the IMA European Finance & Accounting Conference: A New Frontier in Amsterdam.

During this event, leaders from across the Finance & Accountancy discipline investigated the current matters, trends and advancing technologies presenting themselves in the competitive market, including sustainability, cybersecurity and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I).

Along with the discussion of hot topics, this was an opportunity to engage with leaders and advance your professional network.

Michael Bentil, one of the Senior Consultants in our Dutch Finance & Accountancy recruitment team, presented our Career Consultancy: The Three Stages of a Finance Career – from the technical stage, to managerial and strategic.

Michael also provided insights into how to effectively plan a five to ten-year career path. 

EMEA Recruitment is pleased to offer you a trial membership of IMA’s career development resource, which can help you advance your Finance & Accountancy career. Find out more and take advantage of this offer through our website: https://www.emearecruitment.com/institute-of-management-accountants

If you have any questions or wish to attend similar events in the future, please contact Michael to register your interest: [email protected]

EMEA Recruitment were excited to host an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) Roundtable in partnership with Syngenta.

On Wednesday 19th October 2022, we hosted senior Human Resources and ED&I leaders in Zurich for a face-to-face Roundtable event.

We were pleased to be joined by Syngenta’s Group Head Diversity and Inclusion, Rubén Alejandro Ramirez, who was a recent guest on the EMEA Recruitment podcast: https://www.emearecruitment.com/podcasts/a-champion-of-dandi-ruben-alejandro-ramirez/204

In order to provide a safe space for attendees to discuss their ED&I journeys and to enable us to support leaders in their roles, we invited a select group from our network in Switzerland. We were proud to be bring together a vibrant group of professionals from a broad range of sectors, including financial services, chemicals, hospitality and pharmaceuticals.

Keely Straw, who leads our HR recruitment team in Switzerland, was the host for the Roundtable. She was joined by our Switzerland Country Director, John Byrne, and Senior Consultant, Charlotte Cruise, who has led a number of Women in Procurement initiatives in the past.

We explored the following topics:

• Identifying your momentum and stage in your ED&I journey – identify different stages
• How to design an ED&I global strategy – identify needs for each population and engaging that population
• How to engage leaders and the employee community
• How to identify and measure progress

We have received feedback from our network that there is a lack of this type of event taking place in Switzerland. We are proud to be leading the way in providing an opportunity for HR and ED&I leaders to discuss their journeys and network across different industries.

We enjoyed sharing the topics and ideas discussed at the event!

If you’re interested in attending similar events in the future, please get in touch with Keely, who will ensure you stay up to date: [email protected]

On Thursday 10th February 2022, EMEA Recruitment was proud to host a CFO & CPO virtual Roundtable, in partnership with Philips and Accenture.

This exclusive event, Finance & Procurement Join Forces – Digital Transformation to Unlock Value, explored how Philips and Accenture are strategically combining Finance and Procurement to capture the next value unlock for the C suite.

We were delighted to host the following leaders in this area, who also took audience questions during the roundtable:

Alexander Visser - Global Head of Indirect Procurement at Philips

Alexander is the Head of Indirect Procurement and Head of Spend Management at Philips. He explored the opportunities that bringing Finance and Procurement together can create.

Alwin Tulner - Spend Management Strategy and Performance Director - Digitization Lead Indirect Procurement at Philips

As the Digitization Lead Indirect Procurement at Philips, Alwin is overseeing the company’s digital transformation to merge Finance and Procurement.

René Van Heijningen - Lead of the CFO & Enterprise Value practice for Accenture Netherlands

René is the Lead of the CFO & Enterprise Value practice for Accenture Netherlands. He spoke about how to optimize the Source-to-Pay process through digital enabled transformation.

Martijn Van Den Nieuwenhof - Lead of Sourcing & Procurement Transformation at Accenture

Martijn Van Den Nieuwenhof is the Lead of Sourcing & Procuremenr Transformation. He talked about how digital enabled Procurement can support in achieving quartile zero performance.

To register your interest in similar future events, please email Hannah Mallia, our Director – Finance in the Netherlands: [email protected]

Thank you to those who attended the CFO & CPO Roundtable on 10th February. 

On Thursday 21^st September 2023, we held a roundtable for our Human Resources network in Switzerland on Neurodiversity at Work: For Flourishing People and Organisations.

Neurodiversity is gaining great attention at an exponential rate. But what is neurodiversity – in general, and at work?

Why is it important for individuals and organisations in the context of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (and beyond)? And how can neuroinclusive workplaces be created that benefit wellbeing, sustainable performance and flourishing for all?

Attendees of this event were invited to actively participate in exploring and understanding neurodiversity at work, raising awareness on key issues and the benefits of incorporating it in any ED&I and/or wellbeing strategy, and what actions they can take as a result.

Keely Straw, who manages our HR recruitment team in Switzerland, and Drew Larcombe, Recruitment Consultant, were joined by the wonderful Joanna Williams, Positive Psychology Coach, Consultant & Trainer, and Founder of Flourish.

Fascinated by people and science, Joanna facilitates individual and organisational flourishing. In practice, she uses evidence-based approaches and a strengths-based lens to offer pragmatic, accessible and thought-provoking learning experiences and consultancy.

Joanna shared her expertise with the group, before we held a Q&A session and break-out discussions in smaller groups.

It was a very open and honest discussion that started with: If you don’t understand the language someone is using, you can’t have a conversation.

It is essential to understand how we, as recruiters, can adapt our processes to ensure that we listen and understand those who are talking.

We would be keen to hear your thoughts and understand if you would be interested in future roundtable events, either dedicated to ED&I or broader HR topics.

If you have any suggestions, please reach out to Keely: [email protected]

On Thursday 16th March 2023, we hosted a virtual Q&A session with Clémence Jacqueri, the CHRO People & Culture at Lynk & Co in Amsterdam.

Our Human Resources recruitment team in the Netherlands was joined by Clémence to discuss Remote Working & Wellbeing in the Workplace.

We discussed the following topics, as well as answering questions from attendees:

• How best to manage remote teams effectively
• Strategies on keeping colleagues engaged while working from home
• Wellbeing initiatives & how best to drive these in a business
• The potential impact the current economic climate can have on colleagues at work & how to support them

Clémence explained the importance of communication through three tiers of the organisation: one-to-ones with direct reports, meetings and watercooler-style interactions with your team, and organisation-wide meetings. 

She has seen the move in Compensation & Benefits towards health and wellbeing packages, but is insistent that companies must avoid a one-size-fits-all model and ask for feedback from their people. For example, working from home may have improved work-life balance for some employees, but can remove personal boundaries for others.

Clémence described company culture like an ice cream sundae; we look at the candy on the top first (which could be office pool tables, coffee machines and free breakfasts), but it's the everyday behaviours and policies that shape a culture - whether people work remotely or in the office. 

We also found out which initiative is proving particularly successful at Lynk & Co. 

As we firmly enter post-pandemic working life, this is a topic that is regularly coming up with our clients and candidates. In her recent Executive Interview, Clémence explained how Lynk & Co is successfully leading its remote workers: https://www.emearecruitment.com/executive-interviews/clemence-jacqueri-chro-people-and-culture-at-lynk-and-co/141

If you’re interested in attending similar events in the future, please reach out to Katie, who will provide you with more information: [email protected]