2022: A year in review
This year has been an extraordinary one for executive search and certainly for our interim practice, which has grown at pace. It remains a candidates’ market as roles remain plentiful and strategies are adapted to an ever-changing economic backdrop – the competition for talent remains fierce.
As 2022 draws to a close, it’s the ideal time to reflect on what we have achieved as a team and to plan for the year ahead.
This year, we are proud to have:
Supported more women into senior leadership roles
61% of our client's roles were offered to women, as organisations work hard at levelling up senior leadership teams. This is significant at a time when there are just 12 female CEOs in the UK, meaning that 96% of CEOs in FTSE 350 companies are men (Women Count 2022 report, The Pipeline).
Celebrated the achievements of exceptional marketers
We congratulated candidates and contacts, including the appointment of Margaret Jobling as ISBA President and her ‘Marketer of the Year’ title, awarded by Marketing Week. Margaret is an inspiration for women in marketing, paving the way for greater gender parity by reaching changemaking positions in her career.
Developed our interim practice to meet growing demand
This year, our interim practice experienced exceptional demand, as clients looked for strategic and operational support during challenging times. This included the rise of fractional CMOs, who provide enormous value to organisations with less financial risk.
Formalised our commitment to achieving positive change
We have spent time reviewing our environmental, social and governance framework, and actions, formalising our commitment to achieving positive change in the world. We can’t wait to share our commitments, in full, when our report is published in January.
Organised four fully booked Career Conversations events
It was a pleasure to re-launch in-person events in March this year, welcoming groups of C-suite, Director, and Head-of candidates to our Career Conversations events, offering two hours of career insights, discussion, and support. “It was a really great event. The best I’ve been to in many months... I would have been happy to stay another couple of hours.”
Wrote four commissioned articles for theHRDIRECTOR magazine
theHRDIRECTOR is an independent, thought-led publication for senior HR practitioners. We were delighted to share Suzie’s expertise in the articles Equilibrium, Business with Pleasure and Room at the Top, with another due for publication in the New Year.
Published more than 70 articles in the Content Hub
The Content Hub is packed with guidance and resources for candidates, including career questions to ask yourself, making the most of social media, writing a stand-out CV, polishing your interview skills and finessing your elevator pitch. In addition, we write regular updates for clients, covering changes in the market and how interim roles can benefit organisations when budgets are tightened.
Supported charitable organisations
We supported high-performing women into senior leadership programmes with our partner, The Pipeline - a leading diversity organisation. We also helped students from disadvantaged backgrounds by championing upreach.org.uk - a charity that believes in equal access to top jobs, regardless of social background. In addition to financial contributions and exposure, we are part of their volunteering database, and look forward to supporting them further in the year ahead, mentoring students and providing CV writing and interview skills training.
We end this year feeling inspired for 2023 and hope you do, too.
We wish you all a restful festive period and look forward to supporting you in the New Year.
Warmest wishes,
The Suzie Walker Executive Search team
Suzie Walker Executive Search is a firm of specialist headhunters with an expert team recruiting interim and permanent senior leaders for marketing and digital roles in consumer-facing FTSE 350 and private equity-backed companies. Find out how we can support you by connecting with a Consultant below.