The Swiss management consulting firm Egon Zehnder International (EGI) announced on September 23 that they had finalised plans to expand into Slovakia. The principal activities of EGI include executive search (the search for and selection of executives), management appraisal (the external assessment of management teams) and board appointments (advice on appointments to corporate boards).
At a press conference in Bratislava's Hotel Forum, representatives from EGI Prague said that their firm brings impressive credentials to the country.
"We were responsible for finding the head of the Olympic Committee in Atlanta and for finding the chief engineer for the construction of the tunnel connecting France and Italy," said EGI Partner Erik Slingerland.
EGI was founded in 1964 in Zurich, while EGI Prague has been operating since 1990. EGI boasts a global network of 50 offices in 33 countries with more than 700 employees.
EGI will run its Slovak operation out of Prague. According to EGI Prague Managing Partner Thomas Allgauer, the firm does not need to open a branch office in Slovakia immediately. "Today, we are operating out of Prague, and we have all the contacts and data base contacts to remain working from Prague, but that could change," he said.
Allgauer added that modern technology made a Bratislava office unnecessary because EGI is "connected to people all over the world."
"In this market, a physical office with people sitting in that office is a thing of the past," he said. "Nowadays, where your desk is is irrelevant." EGI currently has offices in the central and eastern European cities of Budapest, Vienna, Warsaw and Moscow.
Allgauer added that EGI enjoys high success rates for their executive search. "It can happen that the market develops so rapidly that a position no longer needs to be filled or there is a qualifications change," he said. "This happens less than 20% of the time, therefore our success rate is above 80%."
