Partner at Heidrick & Struggles as of September 1st.
(Photo: PR)
Dusseldorf The personnel consultancy Heidrick & Struggles is strengthening itself at the top level. Banking expert Manuela Klos will start as a partner at the international headhunter on September 1st. The Handelsblatt learned this in advance.
Klos previously held the same role for smaller consultancy Odgers Berndtson. Klos is the fourth female partner to join Heidrick from outside since 2021 – and the third to come from competitor Odgers Berndtson.
When headhunters go looking for their own personnel, poaching them from the competition is somewhat normal. After all, the talent pool in the small and discreet industry is limited, especially at partner level, the highest hierarchical level below management. However, Klos’ change is obvious because it is the third poaching from the same competitor.
Digital expert Kristin van der Sande joined Heidrick from Odgers in January 2021. In April 2022, Silvia Eggenweiler followed, who was considered an important source of sales for the consultancy. With Klos, important industry know-how is once again being lost to the competition.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Before she switched to the headhunter scene, Klos was sales manager at Fürstlich Castell’sche Bank. The 51-year-old is considered to be well connected in the young German fintech scene.
Joined Heidrick from Odgers Berndtson in January 2021.
(Photo: PR)
Nicolas von Rosty, Head of Germany at Heidrick & Struggles since 2021, explains that his advice is currently being strengthened in the areas of fintech, digital banking and asset and wealth management. “Manuela Klos, with her experience in private banking, is clearly the ideal choice for us.”
Headhunters: Heidrick & Struggles wants parity at partner level
With Klos, the proportion of women at the top level at Heidrick is also growing. Eight of the 18 partners in counseling are now women. “If the economy becomes more female, then we as personnel consultants must become female too,” explains von Rosty. He is aiming for gender parity at the top level of his unit.
Heidrick & Struggles has been able to gain some ground in the industry recently. Among other things, the advice is said to be behind the change from financial manager Harald Nippel to the auto supplier Leoni. Heidrick is said to be currently involved in the search for a successor for the CFO role at ZF Friedrichshafen.
According to the management, the German business has recently grown at an above-average rate. Above all, the turnover per consultant is developing “very positively”, according to von Rosty. Industry experts are assuming sales growth of around 30 percent for Heidrick in Germany last year. Heidrick & Struggles and Korn Ferry are the only ones of the five big headhunting companies in Germany that are listed on the stock exchange.
More: Strategy consulting in Germany – McKinsey, BCG and Bain earn more in Germany than ever before