Searchlight Newsletter – Q2 2018

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                        Q2 2018

keith pearson

A Message from Keith Pearson, President & CEO

If you live and work in North Texas, you already know what so many others around the world are even now discovering: The Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is a fantastic place to live and work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dallas had the highest job growth rate of the 12 largest metropolitan areas in the United States last year, and with the first half of 2018 behind us, there are no signs we’re slowing down anytime soon.

If you’d like to study a microcosm of the DFW metroplex’s success, look no further than Richardson, a small metroplex city that is doing big things to attract business. Renowned for its telecom corridor since the 1980s, Richardson today is stronger than it’s ever been, thanks to strong city leadership, attractive amenities, an engaged community and some innovative approaches and incentives that draw new businesses to the city and keep them there.

Clearly, Richardson is doing things right, and we wanted to find out why. So, we invited Don Magner, First Assistant City Manager of the City of Richardson, to our recent Spotlight SeriesSM breakfast to give us the inside story. Don discussed what makes Richardson a great place for a business to call home, as well as the unique Economic Development Partnership that’s been put in place to help businesses put down roots. We’ve summarized the highlights of Don’s discussion in this issue.

Here at Pearson Partners, we are very proud of and would like to congratulate our very own Renee Arrington for receiving the prestigious Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) Commitment to the Community Award, which recognizes leadership in executive search combined with a strong commitment to community service. Renee was also selected as a 2018 C-Suite Award Winner by Fort Worth Business Press for her business leadership as well as the civic and social contributions she has made to the community of Fort Worth and its organizations. This award came from nominations by Fort Worth business leaders.

We are also very proud to have been honored by Forbes as one of America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms for the second year in a row. Because the list is built on recommendations from recruiters, job candidates who have worked with recruiters over the past three years and human resources managers, we want to extend our thanks to all of our fantastic clients and friends. We wouldn’t be where we are without you and we look forward to sharing a busy and productive second half of 2018 with our clients.

In This Issue


Quarterly Spotlight SeriesSM Breakfast:
Richardson’s Telecom Corridor and Economic Development Partnership: North Texas Business Drivers

Deep in the heart of North Texas, Richardson is thriving. The fast-growing city of 107,000 has been famous since the 1980s for its booming telecom corridor, which today boasts more employees per square mile than any other part of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. To learn the keys to the city’s success, we invited Don Magner, First Assistant City Manager of the City of Richardson, to our recent Spotlight SeriesSM breakfast, where he shared how city leaders and an innovative Economic Development Partnership are attracting new investment and jobs. Read a summary of his remarks in this issue.

Read More

White Paper:
The Chief Talent Officer: The Rising Star in the War for Talent

A growing number of organizations are winning the war for talent by adding a chief talent officer who is laser-focused on acquiring and managing the human resources needed for long-term success. But just how common is the CTO role today, and how does it differ from the human resources roles of the past? Our newest white paper by Vice President Lisa Thompson, LPC, PCC, summarizes the findings of our recent Chief Talent Officer survey of CTOs and human resource executives, including the scope of the chief talent officer role, which other executives are fulfilling these duties, and talent-related challenges and unique approaches to meet them.

Read More

Special Feature:
Diversity & Inclusion Report 2018—IIC Partners

It’s widely understood that a successful workforce depends on diversity of thought and experience. Yet, according to a recent survey by our partner organization IIC Partners Executive Search Worldwide, companies still struggle to tap adequate sources of diverse talent. A new report summarizing the survey’s findings reveals the biggest barriers to identifying diverse candidates, as well as some surprising statistics about how few companies that say they value diversity actually make diversity hiring a priority.

Read More

Pearson Partners HR Roundtable:
#UsToo: Bridging the Global Gender Gap

How can we bridge and heal the global gender divide? At the June 2018 Pearson Partners HR Roundtable, “power leader and exclusion exterminator” Debjani Biswas shared insight from her book, #UsToo: Bridging the Global Gender Gap. A bestselling author with global executive experience, Biswas walked the audience through a process of uncovering unconscious gender bias—we all have it—and helped them understand the cultural, societal and personal factors that drive unconscious behavior. For more about how the #UsToo concept can help repair gender power imbalances, read our summary of the Roundtable discussion.

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Pearson Awards:
Forbes Designates Pearson Partners a Best Search Firm—Again

For the second year in a row, Forbes has named Pearson Partners to its exclusive list of America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms. This year’s list was generated based on feedback from 30,000 recruiters as well as 4,500 job candidates and human resources managers who have worked with executive recruiting firms during the last three years. Pearson Partners is honored to rank as one of the best executive search firms in the United States, and we thank our valued clients and candidates for their nominations and continued business.

Read More

Featured Search

We are conducting a search for an Assistant City Manager for a metropolitan city government entity.

Learn more or provide a confidential referral.

View more featured searches.

Recent Placements

Chief Operating Officer, Multi-Level Marketing Company

Chief Financial Officer, Asset Management Firm

Chief Financial Officer, Truck & Trailer Manufacture

Chief Financial Officer, Management Consulting Firm

Chief Financial Officer, International Real Estate Group

Chief Compliance Officer, Commercial Banking Institution

Associate Chief Financial Officer, Global Membership Organization

Executive Vice President, Administration
Transportation Services

SVP Development, Airline Solutions, Global Airline Data Company

Vice President, Human Resources, Information Technology Services

Vice President, Human Resources, Commercial Construction Company

Vice President, Sales & Services Technology, Global Securities Brokerage

Senior Director, Infrastructure, Food & Beverage Distribution Company

Director of Talent Management & Acquisition, Financial Services Company

Director of Finance, Internet Publishing, Broadcast & Search Company

Director, Financial Planning & Analysis, Manufacturing Company

Finance Manager, Truck & Trailer Manufacturer

Market Leader, Construction Company

Other news

Pearson Partners is honored to have been recognized as one of America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms by Forbes for the second consecutive year. We earned the same honor in 2017 and we couldn’t be prouder of our hard-working team.

Renee Arrington has been honored with the Association of Executive Search & Leadership Consultants’ prestigious Commitment to the Community Award, recognizing excellence in executive search and leadership consulting together with a strong commitment to community service and volunteerism toward charitable causes.

Renee Arrington has been named a C-Suite Award Winner by Fort Worth Business Press. The award is a result of nominations by fellow Fort Worth business leaders and honors business leadership as well as civic and social contributions made to the community of Fort Worth and its organizations.

We have appointed Linda A. Wilkins to our Advisory Board, made up of thought leaders who lend us their business insight and industry-specific acumen as well as assistance in forging business relationships.

Heather Joiner was a panelist at the annual AESC Executive Research Forum on June 19 at New York City’s Penn Club. Heather and her fellow panelists discussed the role of the research team in executive search and leadership consulting as well as trends impacting the future of the profession.

Renee Arrington continues her national speaking circuit at the HMG Strategy CIO Summits, an industry-leading series of events across the U.S. that focus on critical trends shaping the agenda for today’s technology company leaders. Most recently, she was a panelist speaker on Beyond Leadership: What Makes a Technology Executive Successful at the CIO Summit in Detroit on June 8. Next up, look for Renee at the CIO Summits in Denver on September 6 and Philadelphia on November 8, and at the Financial Services CIO Executive Leadership Summit in New York on December 6.

Renee Arrington is speaking at the IANS (Institute for Applied Network Security) Information Security Forum in Charlotte on September 26. Chief Information Security Officers and their teams look to IANS Forums for guidance, peer networking and information gathering related to their most difficult challenges.

Renee Arrington has been appointed as Director, Americas of our global partnership, IIC Partners, by the board of directors chair for the remainder of the current term. Join us in supporting Renee to continue this important post after IIC’s upcoming October board elections.

Renee Arrington is moderating a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) North Texas Chapter panel discussion on Building a Next-Gen Board to Boost Long-Term Value Creation and Create Disruption Resilience in Dallas on September 11.

Congratulations to Ruth Curran, chair of our global partnership, IIC Partners, and managing partner of MERC Partners, for being named one of Ireland’s Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN). The award identifies and celebrates the outstanding contributions of 25 Irish women holding the most senior positions in Ireland’s largest companies.

Our global partnership, IIC Partners, has expanded its Consumer & Retail practice in EMEA by welcoming The Orcid Partnership, based in Liverpool, UK.

We appreciate your feedback. Please let us know how we may improve the quarterly Searchlight newsletter or our service.

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