February 7th, 2013 - Riga, Latvia - Pedersen & Partners' Evita Lune, Partner & Country Manager for Latvia, recently commented to Latvian newspaper “Dienas Bizness”, regarding Executive Search for state owned companies.
Evita Lune added, “In eight years we have fulfilled more than 300 projects, and only five of them were for state companies. Professional executive search is rarely used for public sector or state owned companies; therefore there is a lack of professional and objective assessment. When it comes to hiring an executive for a state owned company, political factors have significant meaning. Executives are not assessed by professional criteria, but the most accessible and politically beneficial candidate is selected.”
Ms. Lune further discusses the option for the State Chancellery to take over the executive search process for state companies: “I would be very surprised if the State Chancellery would have the resources and knowledge that executive search companies have. Of course, clients [referring to the State Chancellery] should have some institution on their side, that would be responsible, but the outsourcing of certain services should be required. It is necessary to have high level professionals with comprehension of different fields and with specialization in executive search as well as trained call centre staff and other specialists that would provide assessment throughout the process at the highest standards. The State Chancellery would need to invest a lot to achieve that.”
Furthermore, “It would be commendable if young, talented professionals would join the ranks of public administration and if state run companies would work fairly and effectively, by using high professional standards, not only political motivators.”
Written by Jana Gavare for Dienas Bizness