CEO Worldwide Bulletin: October 2019

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Welcome to the first issue of our new quarterly newsletter, bringing you the latest news from CEO Worldwide and the world of executive recruitment, and sharing insights from our vetted iCEOs around the world.

CEO Worldwide has a new website

We are thrilled to announce the launch of CEO Worldwide’s new website. We have been working hard to create an invaluable resource both for global business and our community of iCEO candidates.

It’s the latest stage in our mission to deliver a fast, easy-to-use and informed service to executive search candidates and potential employers.

If you’re a candidate, the new website will help you to:

  • Become a vetted iCEO
  • Create and update your iCEO profile
  • Promote your profile and develop your personal brand using innovative tools such as our free-to-use video studio
  • Browse our latest global job opportunities—and receive news of our non-disclosed offers

If you’re recruiting for executive talent, you can:

  • Submit a search mandate for our professional matching service, which can provide carefully selected interim and permanent candidates from our talented pool of 18,000+ pre-vetted executives within just seven to ten days
  • Access our iCEO candidate database and search for your next hire
  • Read through our latest global business insights, expert papers, candidate videos and case studies.
  • Learn more about the range of competencies of our candidates.

Please do explore and let us know what you think. All feedback is helpful!

Growth in Female Executive Search service

CEO Worldwide’s dedicated recruitment platform Female Executive Search continues to grow since its launch a year ago.

Designed to promote boardroom equality, Female Executive Search boasts an increasing roster of vetted iCEO female executives on its books and a detailed search function for global businesses seeking candidates for vacant positions.

Female Executive Search recently published its own research, showing that attitudes to gender equality in the boardroom appear to be shifting—but that there’s still work to be done. Their survey of companies across the US, Europe and Asia revealed that, among respondents, 40% of applications for senior management positions came from women. For 70% of respondents, this represented a change over the past five years.

However, respondents also suggested that reticence to recruit leading female talent remains noticeable within their businesses—41% of HR executives who answered the survey identifying this trend.

One business leading by example is Female Executive Search itself, which in July, appointed France Dequilbec as its new Managing Director. France knows from speaking to our female candidates that many of them still find it difficult to break the boardroom barrier.

“I have interviewed hundreds of very senior women and nearly all of them have told me how difficult it is for them to access those top executive roles.

“The survey results demonstrate that attitudes are shifting, but there’s definitely work to be done”

The gender gap in Venture Capital Funding

In a recent article, INSEAD draws attention to some dramatic statistics on who gets VC funding in the US.

Apparently, while 39% of all privately held businesses are owned by women, only 2.3% of total VC money goes to women-led businesses. In addition, women who do pitch successfully for VC funds get less than half the average investment given to men.

Surprisingly, it’s not just men making these decisions. Although only 11% of VCs have women on their investment committees, some women-led funds also choose largely to invest in men.

INSEAD questions whether the problem may lie in the requirement for an investment ‘pitch’ and how it delivered. They cite a study where identical narratives were read out by a man and a woman. 68% of the audience backed the male ‘pitcher’, seeing them as more ‘persuasive’.

Some VC funds are moving away from the dominance of the pitch in the funding decision while others are offering a ‘safe circle’ for women to pitch to women funders, hopefully to encourage more women to apply.

Nevertheless, INSEAD’s article concludes by suggesting that the time might have arrived to redefine how VCs fund companies.

Read the article now.

Do you speak Strategy?

In each newsletter, we invite one of our talented iCEOs to share their views on a current business issue. Here, Nina Gouas, an international Channel and Alliances Director, discusses the importance of strategic plans and how they should be shared by the whole workforce. 

Read Nina’s expert paper

Is there anything you’d like to see in the next issue of our newsletter? Let us know at [email protected]