March 1, 2021 – China – Pedersen & Partners, a leading international Executive Search firm with 54 wholly owned offices in 50 countries, is pleased to announce that Caroline Qian has joined the firm in the Shanghai office as a Principal.

Caroline Qian is a Principal with Pedersen & Partners. Ms. Qian has over 15 years of Executive Search and Management Consulting experience focused on senior level executive search, leadership advisory, talent management, and coaching. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Qian was a Senior Management Consultant with a leading global Executive Search and Talent Advisory firm, where she led senior level searches across Industrial, Consumer, and Technology sectors, as well leadership assessment engagements. Ms. Qian is an International Coaching Federation Certified PCC Business Coach.

“We are delighted to welcome Caroline to Pedersen & Partners as we continue expanding our Greater China team. Caroline brings a level of industry depth and executive search experience that is built on a thorough understanding of the senior leadership talent challenges, pressures, and opportunities. I am certain that Caroline will augment the firm’s capabilities through her ability to identify and attract top leaders, her dedication to transforming organisational culture through building successful teams, and her extensive network in the marketplace,” stated Jed Van Voorhis, Client Partner, Head of Greater China, Industrial Practice, Asia Pacific.

“Pedersen & Partners has won the respect of clients and candidates worldwide, and its global footprint provides excellent opportunities to partner with the C-suite of clients ranging from emerging to international players to attract not only the best leaders, but the right leaders. I’m excited to become a member of this dynamic team, with its unique client and candidate focus that ensures high quality standards in all undertaken assignments,” added Caroline Qian, Principal at Pedersen & Partners.

The late US Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously said that “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” In corporations, however, it has historically been difficult to find women in places where decisions are made – in leadership roles.  In the quarter-century since the concept of workforce diversity was added to the principles of business operation, emerging and mature economies have made commitments to increase female representation at all levels. While some progress has been made, global social movements such as #MeToo have unearthed the underrepresentation of women at all levels. According to the European Commission’s Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, only 7.5% of board chairs and 7.7% of CEOs are women. [1] 

In different geographies we see similar signs of female under-representation in business as one of our respondents, Monica Contreras Esper, points out stating that “In Colombia independent female non-executive board members represent only 7%.” To uncover the application of corporate diversity strategies in the consumer sector, we spoke to executives at leading global FMCG companies about their views on gender diversity, the measures taken, and the results that have been achieved. 

Gender Balance on the Top Leadership Agenda Within the Consumer Industry

When engaging with industry insiders it does seem that companies in the consumer industry are having gender balance on their leadership level agenda as indicated by former VP GM for the Andean Region at Pepsico, Monica Contreras Esper: “In recent years, diversity and inclusion have become key factors in the consumer-packaged goods sector. Increasing female representation has been even more important, as we understand the critical role of women as decision-making agents.”

The Coca-Cola Company also has the topic top of mind as explained by Nicoleta Eftimiu, the company’s Central Europe General Manager: “Diversity and inclusion are the heart of our values and crucial to Coca-Cola’s success. Gender equality is an important driver of business and key element of our values. Creating a diverse workforce and inclusive workplace is a strategic business priority.”

From a talent pipeline perspective, Executive Search firm Pedersen & Partners further noticed a clear trend among its consumer clients: “Today’s progressive corporations seem to not only realise the added value that their female employees bring, but require candidates who are representative of the changing social structure of our economies, and can impact the ways in which a more balanced leadership team builds a healthier and more productive corporate culture,” says Kristian Pedersen, Global Consumer & Retail Practice Head at Pedersen & Partners.

While there seems to be consensus that more women in leadership is something to strive for it does beg the question of how to ensure this. 

Gender Diversity Starts by Setting Clear Goals

In 1996 Scholars Robin J. Ely, Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and David A. Thomas, H. Naylor Fitzhugh Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School published “Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity,” [2]  and were among the first to argue that companies adopting a radically new way of understanding and leveraging diversity could reap the real and full benefits of a diverse workforce.

In 2020, almost a quarter of a century later, they opine that “organisations have largely failed to adopt a learning orientation toward diversity and are no closer to reaping its benefits […] Increasing diversity does not, by itself, increase effectiveness; what matters is how an organization harnesses diversity, and whether it’s willing to reshape its power structure. [3]

In order to really make progress towards greater gender balance in leadership it seems that companies need to start with strong goals that are well formulated and communicated internally and externally so that they become an integral part of the company identity.

“Globally, our goal at Coca-Cola is to be 50% led by women” said Nicoleta Eftimiu. A good gauge that this clear goal setting is working is the progress the company is making towards its stated goal and Nicoleta continues “At Coca-Cola, women currently make up 34.7% of all senior global leaders, up from 23% in 2008; and 44.8% of mid-level managers are female, up from 28% 12 years ago. Five of the company’s 13 board members are also women.”

Unilever is another early proponent of inclusion strategies, that in 2010 set the clear goal of reaching gender parity across management by 2020. At that time Unilever had women in 38% of managerial positions and they achieved their goal of 50/50 gender representation one year early even reaching 50% female representation on their non-executive board.  Rizwana Butler, Unilever VP for HR East Europe says that 

“Looking back at the beginning of my career, gender balance was not top of the business agenda… but gender equality has become a policy that is not just good for business, but for society as well”.

…And Continues in the Hiring Process

Having the goals and intentions to reach gender balance is great but getting it implemented is a longer road. The executives we spoke to on the subject point to hiring as a key part of this process when ensuring that management and executive teams are representative of the fabric of the society where the company operates, both on regional and global levels.

Dorota Palysiewicz, HRD for Poland and Developing Europe, of spirits maker Brown-Forman notes that the company has implemented “gender balance requirements in the recruitment processes – at both the CV and interview level.” 

“At Unilever,” says Rizwana Butler, “every senior position has a 50:50 shortlist regardless of whether candidates are external or internal” and at Coca-Cola, Nicoleta Eftimiu mentions that “we have a global policy that states women are to be represented in all job interview panels and women are on the shortlist of candidates for all positions.” Likewise, in Pepsico where Monica Contreras Esper points out that “In the case of open positions, the same proportion of men and women are presented for the hiring process.”

“Business growth as a company strategy is no longer geared exclusively towards financial results and expansion. Clients look for gender diversity and multicultural backgrounds in the shortlist when recruiting for critical roles, as these executives lead diverse teams across the world. As teams grow more remote, bridging perspectives and encouraging exchanges among employees will be vital for the success of companies,” says Kairi Raudmets, Consultant with the Global Consumer & Retail Practice Group at Pedersen & Partners.

Institutionalising Gender Diversity 

Ensuring you have women represented in the hiring process is crucial but it does not ensure that they are staying, growing, and ascending in the roles or in any given company as many women find it difficult to work in an environment that is otherwise male-dominated. 

Therefore, committed companies have implemented various support systems and policies to enforce gender diversity.

Mars has implemented gender diversity policies in a formal way, appointing a Global Inclusion and Diversity Officer. Meanwhile, “local units split the responsibility for gender balancing among local leadership, usually HR”, according to Mindaugas Rupsys, Corporate Affairs Manager Multisales Factories, Pet Nutrition Europe, Mars. As of 2018, women held 41% of all leadership roles across Mars Europe according to Rupsys.

Pepsico has implemented a Female Executive Council across the regions, with associations of women in the countries where it has a presence, and frequently connects with governmental programs to develop and execute more robust diversity plans. 

In Coca-Cola Nicoleta continues “Our Global Women’s Leadership Council created the Women in Leadership Program, and has helped accelerate the careers of more than 850 women so far. Women’s Linc (Lead Inspire Connect) is a Business Resource Group designed to help women grow in their careers. It’s the largest Business Resource Group at Coca-Cola, with more than 5,000 members from more than 70 countries and 14 chapters.”

“At HEINEKEN Global there is a dedicated I&D department that shapes the strategy and drives the I&D agenda, bringing the inclusive behaviours to life, by building awareness, content and shaping a large community around the world. This community consists of almost 200 I&D Ambassadors – I am one of them – that put together and implement the I&D agenda together with senior leaders at Head Office, Regional offices and operating companies,” notes Codruta Berbecaru, Heineken Company’s Global Consumer & Market Insights for International Brands & Craft.

Networking and Coaching Female Leaders

It is also worth noting that programs for networking and coaching are common practices in order to support female inclusion. “At Pepsico, as a part of the different initiatives you can find a robust agenda about coaching, mentoring and sponsorships where women are supporting other women, and also the programs of ‘They as Allies,’” mentioned Monica Contreras Esper.

Spirits maker Brown-Forman has implemented a leadership development initiative – Female Championship Program that prepares women from local markets to take more senior roles, with international mentoring and coaching put in place.

Mindaugas Rupsys from Mars added: “In particular, we’re looking at roles where women have historically been underrepresented. We’re also mentoring high-potential women and ensuring that all interview panels include to advance women in those roles. e.g. Women of Mars, whose goal is to provide women and men within Mars an opportunity to grow, learn and meet other professionals.”
 

The Way Forward for Gender Balance and Diversity

For the industry overall as well as for individual companies there is still work to be done as noted by Dorota Palysiewicz of Brown-Forman who says “that while the company is strong on setting an agenda, it has been weaker on process, with the KPIs being more informal.” In some cases it might also be a role bias for which a lot of paradigms and approach to the roles need to change in order to drive a more intentional outcome in terms of gender balance. For example, women in Sales where Codruta Berbecaru from Heineken notes “that Female candidates do not often apply, because it is somehow believed that a woman is not really suitable for a sales role in beverage categories due to various reasons.” 

However, for companies having made great strides on the gender balancing it is now about the next frontier. For Unilever having achieved 50% female representation [4], it is about broadening the scope of the challenge. The company intends to continue its success by driving a generally inclusive culture, overcoming unconscious bias in the workplace against groups such as disabled people and sexual minorities, with a seven-member Global Diversity Board reporting directly to the CEO.

In conclusion, we believe the evidence from these discussions is clear: gender diversity is not a fad. However, it is also clear that consumer companies will have to press on and deploy a skilful and dedicated combination of the diverse techniques, policies, programs, and goals discussed by our interviewees in order to achieve meaningful results. As we have seen, some of the world’s best-known brands have implemented complex and effective gender diversity initiatives that have yielded real outcomes and improved gender balance at leadership level.

Strategies include goal-setting, balanced candidate shortlists and recruiting panels, as well as leadership programs, training, and mentoring. We hope other consumer companies that are on the gender balancing journey will take note of the learnings from this article and take action toward gender balance at leadership level so we can get more women in places where decisions are made.

Introduction

On a global scale, the packaging industry is an enormous economic generator. The global packaging market, valued at $589.9 billion in 2015, will be worth $770.5 billion by 2020. Smithers statistics indicate that demand for the world packaging industry will reach $1.05 trillion by 2024.

Consumer Trends

Environmental impact is becoming increasingly important for consumers, and packaging companies are responding to the trend and acting accordingly. The traditional criteria of price, quality, hygiene, convenience and brand are still very important, but sustainability is the new watchword, and has become one of the highest consumer priorities when choosing a packaging model.

Consumer trends, habits and attitudes have changed, and their preferences and packaging demands have changed accordingly. Concern about single-use packaging and a strong preference for recyclable materials are developments that are here to stay. Consumers prefer fully recyclable plastic films and containers, more paper and board-based packaging, and films that are compostable.

In 2020, e-commerce has continued to grow. Packaging has become one of the highest priorities for e-commerce providers, and must satisfy high consumer expectations. The increasing focus on sustainability means that companies must adopt strategies to reduce the plastic waste that they generate. Every company that deals with packaged goods should consider joining the green wave; it’s all about responsibility through sustainable goods and environmentally-friendly products.

Consumer Goods and Retail Trends

A growing number of companies are moving to e-commerce, and a lot of organisations are looking to transition online. E-commerce is one of the driving forces in sustainable packaging, and many companies have announced their sustainability strategies, which include a target of using 100% reusable, recyclable, and compostable packaging.

Consumer Goods and Retail companies are making a great effort to push sustainability by revising their packaging portfolio, reducing the use of plastics and betting on the innovation of new and more recyclable materials in order to minimise waste. These companies are rethinking and redesigning their packaging portfolio, replacing plastic materials with fibre-based packaging and bio-derived products, and constantly looking for more eco-friendly forms of packaging.

Indeed, sustainability can be a competitive advantage, as consumers become increasingly aware of the importance of preserving the environment. Packaging is a tool that has often been used by marketers to make products stand out and appeal to both local and international customers. A corporate branding strategy that focuses on the sustainability of their product’s packaging is a marketing tool to show the company’s commitment to the environment.

However, sustainable packaging requires a high level of commitment. Companies are replacing non-recyclable multi-material flexible packaging with mono-material (polyethylene) packaging solutions; they are using low-emission technologies in their plants; they are replacing plastics with biodegradable polymers; they are using paper board which is specifically designed to be recycled in regular waste processing plants. That said, the sector needs more advanced recycling technologies in order to effectively manage packaging waste.

Bioplastic Trends

The packaging sector is a leader in the usage of bioplastics, and this is increasing due to growing environmental concerns across the world. The development of the plastic recycling business environment is having a deep impact upon the incentives and urgent demand for the development of biopolymer solutions. Many consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and beverage manufacturers are using bioplastics in their packaging, and are gradually incorporating the use of recycled plastics.

The challenge for this industry is to introduce compostable, recyclable, and fibre-based packaging at competitive prices, but the truth is that people are willing to pay a little bit more for products if the packaging used is recyclable.

The challenge of sustainability creates a new model of partnership and a much closer collaboration between all the parties involved, to pursue the objective of sustainability: packaging converters, consumer goods companies, retailers, recyclers, packaging machinery and automation solutions, companies innovating advanced recycling technologies, and additive business companies that promote biopolymers, presenting their environmental benefits and low carbon footprint alternatives to fossil-based plastics.

Sustainability Regulations

There are two main drivers of packaging sustainability: consumer awareness and government regulatory requirements. Governments and consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of plastic waste, and there is a great commitment to solving this problem.

Many countries have begun to take the concept of sustainability very seriously, promoting recycling standards and limiting or prohibiting the use of plastics to reduce environmental impact. Nevertheless, there are questions ahead regarding sustainability regulations: how can governments balance incentives and regulatory actions? Finding the right mix between subsidies and tax relief for companies that initiate sustainable practices with the harsher action of fines is a tricky balance for governments to accomplish.

In the G20 virtual summit, President Xi restated China’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. As consumption rises in China, there is a pressure to reduce the environmental impact of packaging, and China plays a critical role in reducing carbon emissions.

It is important to consider where companies are positioned in the push for sustainability regulation, as many corporations commit to adopt the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and sign the Paris Agreement. The concept of sustainability is no longer seen as a bonus, but as integral to business operations.

One final question remains: how will regulation affect companies on their path to sustainable growth? It will certainly impact companies’ long-term growth and ROI, particularly environmental regulation. However, if governments implement tax incentives for sustainability, these regulations could be seen as an opportunity rather than a financial or administrative burden.

In a recent Bannerflow survey[1], 90% of brand clients are confident about taking the step to go in-house. Brand owners are reaping the benefits of ditching marketing agencies and moving more and more of their digital operations in-house, with nearly three-fifths (58%) of the surveyed client marketers witnessing a positive return on investment from the switch, including enhanced use of data, greater collaboration, improved efficiency, and boosts to creativity. Of the client marketers who observed an increase in ROI, 74% report that their level of creativity had been strengthened, 56% have set defined KPIs in place for creativity, and 83% have implemented a creative management platform. 

The global pandemic has accelerated e-commerce growth globally, and brands in sectors such as FMCG are seeing rapid increases in online orders, which has prompted a ten-year growth spurt in an eight-week period. Subsequently, the need to in-house e-commerce marketing and CRM has become a priority.

Brands are showing successful in-housing in numerous areas, and as a result, businesses are developing their in-house teams and adapting their external digital marketing requirements from experts and agencies.

Businesses list increased transparency, cost-saving and greater agility as the top three benefits of in-housing, and over a third also listed greater control over brand messaging and creativity.

Why in-house?

In-housing is transitioning from a trend to an established way of working. To better understand its growing popularity, it helps to see in-housing as a continuing process rather than a one-off event, and as a product of our culture of self-sufficiency.

Transparency, control over brand messaging and creativity are cited as some of the biggest reasons to in-house, although the economic savings are also significant. The ROI from in-housing is linked to enhanced efficiency, boosted creativity and improved collaboration within the new team setups, due to improved relationships with a new breed of agencies and renewed control over data.

Finding leaders, building teams

A 2018 study by the ANA[2] found that talent recruitment and retention was a challenge for 38% of in-house agencies. Attracting and retaining world-class talent is a challenge across the marketing industry as a whole, although the appeal of working for clients has grown amongst creatives in recent years.

To gain a picture of the skills and resources missing from in-house teams, marketers who cited ‘lack of existing talent and skills’ and ‘lack of resources’ were asked to list the capabilities that are unaccounted for. The responses showed that one-third are missing digital marketing knowledge, followed by creative thinking and organisational skills. This explains why there are several in-housing models for brands to use, as teams look to fill the gaps they are missing with support from creative agencies and experts who are skilled at organising teams.

“The percentage of retail done on digital channels has gone up one percent each year. And as of 2020 it was at 18%, and then in eight weeks it went to 28%! We had a decade in eight weeks.” Scott Galloway, July 2020

There is a wide headcount range for in-house teams. The ANA research found that a plurality of in-house agencies (35%) have 5-25 full-time people on the team, with 16% having fewer than 5 people. At the higher end, 15% of agencies have 26-50 people, 13% have 51-100 people, and 11% have 101-200 people. Only 5% of in-house agencies employ more than 200 full-time personnel.

In-house teams vary widely in headcount. According to the Bannerflow research, a plurality of brands have between 11-20 people (40%), followed by 6-10 people (32%), 1-5 people (22%) and 20+ people (6%).

In-house teams also show a range of skills and creative competencies when it comes to deliverables. According to the ANA research, at the top end, 88% of in-house production teams are capable of making web videos, and 85% can create internal corporate communications. This drops to 59% of teams able to produce animation, 57% capable of making responsive content for social media, and 56% able to produce sales videos. However, only 25% of in-house production teams are capable of making broadcast-quality TV commercials, and of these, in 2017 only 28% produced more than 20, 25% produced between 5 and 20, and 47% produced fewer than 5.

It is clear that many creative teams feel they can take on some but not all the complexities of in-housing, and for this reason 90% of respondents continue to work with external agencies to some degree. In addition to their wider range of skills and higher capacity, external agencies are also able to complete more complex jobs and support teams in specialised areas, either as part of an internal team or as an external partner. This corresponds to the ANA report’s finding that the top two challenges for in-house agencies are managing workflow due to increased demand, and efficient scaling and resource management. The Bannerflow research shows that teams of more than 20 people are more likely to adopt a hybrid model, housing the agency in their building alongside internal marketing teams, but that the use of hybrid models has dropped 36% since 2018, with over a third of brands now having full digital competency.

On average, around 58% of work is done in-house, with one-third of the surveyed in-house teams having moved at least three-quarters of their work in-house. Around half of the surveyed brands have already in-housed creative strategy, brand identity, social media, and influencer marketing. Moreover, some 60% of content marketing has now been brought in-house. When it comes to future in-housing plans, digital transformation features heavily, with 40% of brands planning to in-house artificial intelligence, and 38% augmented reality.

While marketers try to figure out how to build in-house agencies with the appropriate balance of skills and competencies, the question of who should lead this new model also deserves attention. The CMO? A senior marketer? The Creative Director?

CMOs are already stretched as the scope of their job continues to expand, and do not have the time to attend to the constant stream of process and production issues that agencies face every day. Marketers with no agency background struggle to understand how to get the best creative output from their in-house team. Creative Directors without corporate experience will find it frustrating to negotiate the priorities set in the boardroom.

What makes a great in-house leader?

Successful leaders of in-house agencies will possess the unique DNA of being able to speak the language of both the commercial and creative sectors of the business. They will have the respect of the C-suite as they translate corporate mandates into strategy and action, defend agency boundaries and motivate teams to produce great work.

Sourcing such a leader is not quite a unicorn hunt, but neither is it as simple as expecting strong results to automatically transfer from one environment to another. An executive who gets results in a particular field does not necessarily have the skills to lead others to the same success.

C-suite leaders looking to hire for in-house leadership roles should look for three key skill sets:

• Understanding the creative and corporate process: A leader who can develop a common vocabulary that both corporate and creative teams can understand is crucial to the success of any in-house agency model. According to Project Aristotle, Google’s study into effective teams, psychological safety is the most important characteristic of top-performing teams, and the way to develop trust is by creating mutual understanding. This could be the ability to translate the details of an earnings call for a media-buying team, or to justify agency costs to a CFO when the marketing spend is dramatically decreased. Clear communication on both sides will prevent vague or inadequate briefs, and ensure alignment on strategies and KPIs.  
• Clear definition of roles: Strong in-house leadership is needed to maintain and defend a critical distance between marketers and in-house agencies, while juggling complex relationships with external partner agencies. At the start of 2019, Unilever had 18 U-Studios, co-located with marketers in 15 countries. This kind of close proximity provides easy access to creative talent and enhances the speed, quality, cost and agility of work. On the other hand, it also makes teams vulnerable to scope creep and exposes them to unplanned demands on their resources, which can lead to burnout.
• Truly understanding the nature of the creative process: Creatives within in-house agencies love the opportunity to see their creative work applied across all categories. They also appreciate the fast decision-making and shared agenda that comes with working for the same company. With in-house agencies, there is less client confrontation, as everyone is looking to achieve the best results for the business. The major challenge for any in-house agency leader is the lack of motivation and decrease in creativity that can arise as a result of a flat business structure. As staff are focused on servicing a limited portfolio, it is important for leaders to bake creative diversity and tension into their agency model at the outset.  

In-housing will continue to evolve, developing new models, skills and agency relationships, and accelerated by the clear benefits of creative expertise, cost savings and confidentiality. Technology and data are clear enablers for creativity, and as the adoption of digital tools boosts efficiency, time becomes less of a limiting factor. 

May 5, 2020 – Singapore – Pedersen & Partners, a leading international Executive Search firm with 54 wholly owned offices in 50 countries, is pleased to announce that Jonathan Whitehead has joined the ASEAN Team as a Client Partner.

Jonathan Whitehead is a talent management professional with approximately 15 years of experience within the search industry. Jonathan possesses international experience with global search firms in the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Singapore. Prior to joining Pedersen & Partners, he served as the Country Manager for a global search firm based in Vietnam. Earlier, Jonathan was responsible for leading the development of the Vietnam business for a global search organisation. Jonathan’s search experience covers Industrial, Consumer, and Supply Chain & Logistics industry sectors, delivering country and regional leadership search assignments across multiple disciplines.

“Having spent almost a decade within the search industry in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore, Jonathan has been able to develop deep understanding of the markets and industry sectors to drive tangible value to clients. These capabilities will be invaluable as we continue to partner with our clients as they pursue their growth plans in the emerging markets within ASEAN.  We are excited to welcome Jonathan to our ASEAN Team,” commented Reza Ghazali, Client Partner, Head of ASEAN & Board Services ASEAN at Pedersen & Partners.

“I am very pleased to be joining Pedersen & Partners and to be part of the growth in ASEAN. With the firm’s global fully integrated platform, as well as the focus on emerging markets, I am confident that we will be able to provide unparalleled value to our clients within the emerging markets of ASEAN,” added Jonathan Whitehead, Client Partner at Pedersen & Partners.

Pedersen & Partners is a leading international Executive Search firm. We operate 54 wholly owned offices in 50 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia & the Americas. Our values Trust, Relationship and Professionalism apply to our interaction with clients as well as executives. More information about Pedersen & Partners is available at www.pedersenandpartners.com.

If you would like to conduct an interview with a representative of Pedersen & Partners, or have other media-related requests, please contact: Diana Danu, Marketing and Communications Manager at: diana.danu@pedersenandpartners.com

March 16, 2020 – Vienna, Austria – Pedersen & Partners, a leading international Executive Search firm with 54 wholly owned offices in 50 countries, is pleased to announce that Katharina Kaiser has been promoted to the position of Country Manager for Austria. Josef Buttinger, who has led the Vienna office since he joined the firm in 2015, will move on to global Industrial Practice and will focus on developing the client network and business in addition to supporting clients headquartered in Austria with their global expansion plans through our consolidated Industrial Practice Group.

Katharina Kaiser has over fifteen years of expertise acquired in international Executive Search companies, having successfully completed over 200 senior-level and executive-level regional search assignments during her career. Ms. Kaiser has a wealth of experience in C-level assessment and recruitment of senior professionals in Austria and throughout Europe, with a focus on the Industrial, Consumer Goods and Retail sectors.

“Katharina joined Pedersen & Partners in February 2012, and has been a valuable team member and colleague throughout these years – partnering and collaborating with teams across the firm and embodying our values every step of the way. She constantly cooperates with many of our consultants across the globe, supporting clients mainly in the areas of FMCG, Retail and Industrial. Katharina’s mandate will be to take our current Vienna team and business to the next level, building the local business further and enhancing cross-border collaboration, while expanding the team and adding new capabilities,” stated Petra Grabmayer, Partner and Country Manager for the Czech Republic at Pedersen & Partners.  

“I’m excited to start a new chapter of my journey with Pedersen & Partners, in the year that marks our sixteenth anniversary on the Austrian market. We have built a solid reputation with an excellent team and a track record of successul assignments for regional and global clients. As a Country Manager, my goal will be to adapt our transformation efforts and continue to advance the established direction of growth. I look forward to ensuring seamless collaboration between my team and our global offices for the benefit of our clients,” added Katharina Kaiser, Country Manager for Austria at Pedersen & Partners.

If you would like to conduct an interview with a representative of Pedersen & Partners, or have other media-related requests, please contact: Diana Danu, Marketing and Communications Manager at: diana.danu@pedersenandpartners.com

Consumer & Retail Practice Group

The unprecedented technological disruption of the Consumer & Retail industry has sharpened the realisation of consumer-driven companies that their true competitive edge is built through people. More than ever before, consumer product companies need to make the right executive appointments: visionary leaders who are strategic, adaptive, innovative, disciplined, collaborative, and with a keen awareness of the paramount importance of technology in driving the business forward.