MRINetwork Worldwide Blog

Last week I spent time with three talented individuals who are considering starting their own business in executive search. Each has the critical core competencies and previous track record to be successful and the desire to build a business of real value.

What became apparent during our conversations is that “smoke & mirrors” sometimes surrounds what actually happens during the recruitment process. Each had experience of working with and paying recruiters to find talent for the previous businesses. Each found it very difficult to actually explain how those recruiters had gone about the task.

If they found it hard to articulate the process and truly understand what an executive search business does. Then I am sure there are many more people like them that are in the same boat.

That is why I took some time to write this post to explain in more detail our MRINetwork way.

Read the rest of this entry »

This time last year I was busy preparing a submission for the HSBC award for enterprise based on two key initiatives. The first was based on our In-house recruitment service to our offices, and the second our advertised selection programme. Becoming a finalist in this category was a great feeling, the hard work of our passionate team of professionals exist to create, support and promote such initiatives.

This year we are entering two categories. International Expansion (our Latin American Master License) and Innovation in marketing (our Your Business Channel initiative). Each has an impact on the ability of our office to do more business and to further promote our global footprint.

Director General of the bfa Brian Smart, said: “Franchising is an excellent opportunity to expand a business and increase revenue. The most successful franchisors are those who continually develop their business model to support their networks, ensuring they maximise growth whilst building a sustainable and profitable business.”

We will keep you posted on our progress.

If you would like more information on our expansion in Latin America click here >> 

If you would like to view our content on Your Business Channel click here>>

MRI China Group was awarded the prestigious China STAFF/CCH Recruitment Firm of the Year Award for 2006. This comes on the back of their win in the same award category last year and takes their winning tally to three times in the last four years.

The award was presented to the Managing Director of the group’s Beijing office, Chris Watkins, at the gala event which was attended by nearly 200 HR professionals and line managers from some of the most prestigious multinational companies in China.

The judging this year was done by three HR executives based on what the firm had done to provide outstanding support to their clients and candidates as well as what innovative new products and services they used to enhance their talent acquisition and retention strategies.

As usual, there was stiff competition for the award with seven other companies nominated but MRI’s three case studies told a compelling story of success and innovation.

An elated Tony Dickel, CEO of the MRI China Group, said “This award is once again proof of our ability to differentiate ourselves as a world-class research driven search consultancy in one of the fastest-growing and competitive markets there has ever been in our industry. The war for talent continues to rage in China and we continue to innovate to keep ahead of the game. 2006 may have been the biggest year of change in our firm with the explosive growth of our staff to over 150 people, the launch of our RPO business and sales growing by almost 40% on our record year in 2005.

To have won this award three of the last four years is a testament to those who have helped build the organisation from a one person office in 1998 to the leader in Executive Search in China and the region in 2006. We are confident 2007 will see continuing growth in product and service development and even more infatuated customers” concluded Dickel.

If you would like to view more information on MRI China click here>>

MRINetwork Worldwide, one of the world’s largest executive search organisations, continues to make substantial investments in its business with a new corporate office in Singapore, the signing of a new Regional Development Agreement for the Middle East and four new Network Offices worldwide, bringing the total size of the network to over 1,000 offices in more than 35 countries.The Regional Development Agreement was signed with MRINetwork Middle East Group, an existing Network Office that has owned and operated offices in Kuwait City, Bahrain and Beirut since 2003. Chairman, Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah and CEO, Jacques Ashkar have aggressive expansion plans that will see three additional offices open in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, as well as Oman and Qatar in the next 18 months. This seven office network, together with the highly successful existing office in Dubai, owned by Praveen Manghawani, will position MRINetwork Worldwide as a market leader in the Middle East region.

In India, MRINetwork has opened its very first office as part of plans to expand its business in this region. This new office, to be based in Hyderabad, will specialise in IT consultants (SAP, ERP) working on global contracts, along with Engineering and Bio-tech.

In Europe, a number of new Members have joined MRINetwork Worldwide including two new offices in the UK, based in Bolton and Northampton with desks specialties in sales and marketing for FMCG, and IT and Telecoms respectively. Next month will also see the official opening of new offices in both Israel and Pakistan.

For the full article click here >>

MRINetwork WorldWide has joined the ranks of leading business celebrities and experts, such as Simon Woodroffe, founder of YO! Sushi and networking guru Ivan Misner, to share his knowledge and expertise on a new free online business TV channel. yourBusinessChannel brings business people hard hitting no nonsense advice from some of the world’s top entrepreneurs and business people at companies such as Skype, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and iStockphoto.MRINetwork has launched the first shows, covering two of the most important aspects of the recruitment process that will ensure the success of future career moves; The top five interviewing mistakes and how to avoid them and How to make smart career moves. More shows soon to be released will offer advice to clients and candidates alike, to help them make the right decisions and find what they are looking for.

MRINetwork Worldwide, one of the world’s largest search and recruitment organisations, today announced the appointment of a new master licensee for Latin America. Taking over responsibility for the support and development of existing Franchisees in Mexico and Costa Rica and with immediate expansion plans for key regions such as Brazil and Argentina, the CEO and President of the new master license, Carlos Rivera, will manage the development and expansion of the MRINetwork brand in Latin America.Rivera, a member of MRINetwork Worldwide for the past four years, sees an excellent opportunity in the Latin American markets and plans a balanced growth strategy for the coming years. He owns and operates one of the fastest growing offices globally and will add two partners to his team. He is joined by Sergio Torres currently General Director and World Partner of Mercer Human Consulting S.A, one of the largest human capital consulting firms in the world and Julian Garcia the Executive President of Profactum S.A. a private equity firm based in Mexico City. Julian also served as General Adviser to the Economic Cabinet of the Presidency of Mexico.

For the full article click here>>

MRINetwork Worldwide, one of the world’s largest executive search organisations, has awarded its Network Members for their outstanding achievements over the last 12 months, during its recent annual conference. Members from across the UK and Continental European Network were recognised during the gala awards dinner in Benalmádena, with many of the UK Network Members coming up trumps. The winners, reflecting on their own experiences, give an interesting insight into trends across the various industries within which they operate.

For the full article click here

MRINetwork™, one of the world’s largest search and recruitment organisations, announces that MRINetwork Japan is on schedule with plans to open over 100 offices and four company-owned offices in Japan by 2009.

MRINetwork Japan, owned by FujiStaff, holds the Master Franchise Licence in Japan. MRINetwork originally entered an agreement with FujiStaff to serve as the Master Franchise Licensee for MRINetwork in January 2004. This alliance saw FujiStaff, which placed candidates predominantly in temporary and interim placements, expand its services to include recruitment of mid-to-upper level executive, managerial and professional positions.

The first group of franchise owners, along with their executive management team, went to Cleveland, OH, in the U.S. to learn the MRINetwork way of doing business. Two further groups of franchise owners have subsequently undertaken the same induction during 2005 and there are currently 30 offices in multiple disciplines, with geographic coverage from Okinawa to Sendai. MRINetwork Japan is set for further expansion this year.

For the full article click here>>

Reflecting overall confidence in the UK economy, businesses are planning to increase hiring significantly over the next six months, according to the 57th hiring survey released by MRINetwork™, one of the world’s largest search and recruitment organisations. The study, which is conducted twice a year, was comprised of personal interviews with over 100 executives responsible for the hiring of middle management and professional staff in their companies.

Of the survey respondents, over half (51.3 per cent) indicated plans to increase their current staff size during the first half of the year. Another two fifths (40.2 per cent) plan to maintain their current staff sizes, and less than one in ten (8.5 per cent) plan to decrease staff levels.

For the full article click here >>