Top Ten Headhunting Firms in Germany
The pressure of competitiveness among headhunting firms are growing. The living space of small companies are extruded by the large ones. A new study reveals the ten market leaders in Germany.
1. Egon Zehnder
The German market leader of head-hunters is the firm which is headquartered in Zurich, the economic and financial metropolis of Switzerland. Harvard graduate Egon P.S. Zehnder was mentored by the American pioneer Spencer Stuart and founded his company in 1964. Today, the Indian Rajeev Vasudeva conducts Zehnder’s business from New Delhi. The owners are the partners of the company. Zehnder employs more than 400 consultants and has 69 offices in 41 countries. Egon Zehnder has six offices and 50 consultants in Germany. Its turnover in Germany has reached 83.1 million euros, around 517 million euros worldwide.
2. Kienbaum Executive Consultants
The headquarter of Kienbaum Executive Consultants is located in Gummersbach near Cologne. It was once a traditional management consultancy and only ran personnel consulting as sideline. Kienbaum was well-known for large-format job advertisements, which were appeared in weekend editions of national daily newspapers for decades. Nowadays, Kienbaum is widely positioned with offices in numerous countries, focusing on Human Resources. The offer mainly includes executive search, outplacements, compensation consulting, management diagnostics, communication consulting. According to the estimation of the industry portal ConsultingStar, Kienbaum achieved approximately 30 million euros in fee turnover with Executive Search in Germany in 2014.
3. Spencer Stuart
Industry pioneer is Spencer Stuart, who was a headhunter in the Executive Search department of Booz Allen Hamilton (the US consulting firm for which whistleblower Edward Snowden also worked). In 1956, Spencer Stuart became self-employed and worked across borders from the very beginning. His first assignment took him to South America, and he was also one of the first consultants to expand their business to Europe. Currently, the company has 56 bases in 30 countries around the world. Spencer Stuart has been active in Germany for half a century. According to ConsultingStar's estimate, 18 consultants achieved about 23 million euros turnover in 2014.
4. Korn Ferry
The company was founded in 1968 in Los Angeles. Internationally, it is now the giant in the industry. Unlike the world number two Egon Zehnder, Korn Ferry is a listed company with a wide range of services: Executive Search, Board Services, Leadership & Talent Consulting, Recruitment Process Outsourcing. Branches in Germany are located in Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf and Hamburg. According to ConsultingStar, Korn Ferry generated sales of around 22 million euros in Germany in 2014 with 20 consultants.
5. Russell Reynolds Associates
Founded in 1969, the company is one of the Big Five in the headhunting industry. Company founder Russell Reynolds has sought top managers for many well-known US companies, such as insurer Aetna and computer company Hewlett-Packard in the US. Russell Reynolds also worked for well-known organizations such as the National Football League. In Germany, for example, Russell Reynolds won the contract in 2014 to find a manager for the insolvent wind power company Prokon. 350 consultants, 44 offices in America, Europe, Africa and Asia/Pacific. According to ConsultingStar, the turnover in Germany are around 20 million euros.
6. Odgers Berndtson
For more than 40 years, the network-like structured organisation has been one of the leading international headhunting firms with 600 employees at 52 locations in 29 countries worldwide. The German branch was founded in 1971 in Frankfurt am Main. If you look closely into the commercial register, you will find a holding company called Poseidon Marktforschungs- und Service ltd. company, which in turn holds 100 percent of the shareholder shares in Odgers Berndtson Unternehmensberatung ltd. company and 2-Steps-A-Head Consulting ltd. company. The owners are the 20 partners of the company. According to ConsultingStar, Odgers Berndtson reached sales of around 17 million euros in Germany with about one hundred employees
7. Mercuri Urval
Through organic growth, Mercuri Urval, founded in Sweden in 1967, has become a leading consulting company with more than 700 employees in over 25 countries on five continents. It is considered by industry experts to be a world leader in management diagnostics and potential analysis. It has six offices in Germany. According to the company data, 62 consultants achieved 15.9 million euros turn over in Germany in 2014.
8. Rochus Mummert Executive Consultants
The consulting firm, founded more than 40 years ago by former industrial manager Rochus Mummert, has searched for staff almost exclusively through job advertisements in print media over several decades just like Kienbaum. Customers are mainly family business and medium-sized companies. In recent years, Rochus Mummert has transformed itself into a provider of executive search, and is based in Munich and has three other offices in Germany. With more than 20 consultants, the company reported sales of around 13 million euros.
9. Heidrick & Struggles
In 1953, Gardner Heidrick and John Struggles were among the first to come up with the idea of creating a business of systematic search and direct telephone contact of executives. The two former business consultants were pioneers with their company based in Chicago (US-Federal State Michigan). They laid the foundation for the search business, so to speak. The company's shares are now listed on the Us technology exchange Nasdaq. Heidrick & Struggles has more than 50 offices with 1600 employees worldwide. Their business in Germany is doing slightly better than in previous years, since numerous high-turnover consultants had stepped down. ConsultingStar estimates the turnover of the German branch at 11.5 million euros
10. Amrop / delta Management Consultants
Delta Management Consultants ltd. company is headquartered in Düsseldorf. Founded in 1983, the company is owned by its managing partners. These consultants swear by a special corporate culture and attach particular importance to discipline, adherence to deadlines, and precision. Delta is part of the global Amrop Hever Group, or Amrop for short. Although the members of this group are economically completely independent, the group is more than just a loosely established network of consulting firms. ConsultingStar estimates that the turnover in Germany will reach 11 million euros.