Sandra Berger-O’Brien, Managing Partner
The European recruitment partner of choice for market-leading global companies, Montclare Executive Search represents some of the most iconic brands looking to strategically build out their Irish and European presence.
With our in-depth industry experience, we understand the challenges our clients face. We are reimagining executive search to consistently overdeliver on our assignments with a partner-led, client-centric, and candidate-focused approach
Some recent examples of Montclare’s work include building treasury teams for listed multinational clients as stand-alone entities and in-house. Its recent treasury salary survey highlighted increasing salary levels, reflecting the demand for experienced talent in a growing market.
“With our in-depth industry experience, we understand the challenges our clients face. We are reimagining executive search to consistently overdeliver on our assignments with a partner-led, client-centric, and candidate-focused approach. Essentially, no stone is left unturned to find the best candidates,” says Sandra Berger-O’Brien, managing partner of Montclare Executive Search.
Market Insights and Trends on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
European ESG reporting requirements and directives are on the rise, making their way into legislation over the coming months and years. It is increasingly important for companies to authentically address these topics.
• The European Union’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan (SFAP) and Taxonomy are at the forefront of propelling the transition to more sustainable investment products.
• The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) requires financial market participants to transparently report on sustainable investment products and avoid greenwashing.
• The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will mandate certain corporations to report their progress against ESG best practice benchmarks from 2024.
•The European Union’s Pay Transparency Act was introduced in 2022 to achieve equal pay between men and women through transparency, requiring companies to report on gender pay gaps.
Overall, we are seeing many companies working through various market challenges post-COVID, including managing liquidity and increased cost of capital as well as navigating general economic uncertainty.
In times of uncertainty, making changes and taking perceived risks are challenging. When it comes to ESG targets, everyone agrees that it is the right thing to do, but more incentives and support should be in place to enable organisations to implement change.
Why Ireland
• Gateway to Europe with global time zone coverage from the U.S. to APAC
• Attractive corporation tax and extensive tax treaty network.
• Single Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
• Common law legal system.
• An English-speaking, exceptional talent pool.
While environmental and climate targets are supported by a growing amount of green finance products to incentivise change and effectively lower the cost of capital, there is a real opportunity to do the same for social targets like gender diversity, equity, and parity.
How does ESG impact Hiring and Retention?
From a candidate’s perspective, a compelling company strategy is important, but the company’s values are becoming ever more important. This change in candidate priorities is here to stay. Candidate journeys are evolving from transactional to more value-driven discussions. This means while extrinsic factors like compensation and benefits are still important, candidates focus on intrinsic factors such as whether a company demonstrates concern for the wider environment. A genuine and transparent ESG strategy can enhance a company’s employee value propositions (EVP), which often plays a significant role in attracting exceptional talent.
Regarding gender diversity, Montclare Executive Search has developed a step-by-step best practice handbook, based on hundreds of candidate conversations, to attract and retain female leaders. Upon completing the research, it became clear that the report is gender-agnostic and makes the work environment more inclusive and attractive for everyone.
Merit-based selection will always trump everything else and executive search can contribute significantly towards fairness and transparency in appointing senior leaders.
What’s Ahead for Montclare Executive Search?
Montclare Executive Search’s suite of services will evolve with many exciting projects on the way as it continually challenges the status quo and reimagines executive search. Like its clients, the company plans to take calculated risks in its growth journey, strategically investing in its team and discovering the best talent possible. Executive search—done right—can deliver tremendous value to client organisations and individual careers.
Making an impact in strategy execution by finding exceptional talent is at the core of Montclare Executive Search’s operations, passionately achieving positive results for clients. Creating value will always remain at the epicentre of everything Montclare does. Being independently owned, the Montclare team has the liberty to take the long view and strategically work on client assignments.
Why partner with us?
• Executive Search Partner of choice for leading multinational companies.
• Track Record - We have an unparalleled success rate on search assignments.
• Led by experts with deep industry experience.
