State of the Market - Board and Executive Movements for December 2019

TOP KEY BOARD AND EXECUTIVE MOVEMENTS IN AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

“Blenheim Partners delivered beyond our expectations and showed us what true search can provide. They get to the heart of the matter, they are prepared to give us advice and not sit on the fence, something which is very refreshing. I have used the big 5 search firms over the years and have been told their international coverage will ensure international candidates. It is a fallacy, my experience has been they don’t. Their international colleagues are not incentivised to help the local firm. Blenheim Partners were clear about their model and their international capability. I met more A grade international candidates in my first engagement with Blenheim Partners than I had in five years with the others. Blenheim delivered an exceptional outcome.” CEO, ASX 50 Company •

BACKGROUND Blenheim Partners specialise in: ▪ Executive Search; ▪ Non-Executive Director Search; ▪ Board Strategy and Structure Consulting; ▪ External Succession Planning; and ▪ Executive Re-Engagement / Transition. Founded in 2012, our team have acted as specialist Psychologists, Coaches and exceptionally adviser to many of the world’s leading experienced Researchers. corporations on Board and Executive performance, capability and succession planning. Blenheim Partners is continually investing in knowledge and understanding as exemplified by Our consultants have worked with clients from all our Thought Leadership “The Challenges of sectors and a broad range of geographies. They Attaining Growth”, Industry Papers and monthly include over 80 of the ASX 100, 10% of the FTSE Market Intelligence reports. 100, Private Equity, Multinational, Private Family and Mutually Owned Companies. Our philosophy is to develop deep and committed relationships with a select number of clients and Our work includes assignments that are both local help them deliver a superior performance by and international in scope. optimising the composition of their Board and Executive team. Our team consists of senior Search Consultants, Human Resource Directors, Our culture is built on pride, professionalism, esprit de corps and client service.

THE BROADER LENS OF DIVERSITY WITH MILITARY EXPERTISE Blenheim Partners Executive Search and Board Advisory firm in association with Boral Ltd is working to support a small number of senior military officers to transition to civilian careers after completing highly successful careers with our Defence Forces. These career officers have vast and detailed expertise and experience in areas such as leadership, change management, technology (e.g. cyber security), logistics, supply chain and people management gained in challenging, complex and evolving environments. In the world of disruption and difficulties in attaining growth, diversity of thought and background is a valuable commodity. The individuals we are talking about are very astute, focused and dedicated Australians. They are great motivators, extremely visionary and well connected, (nationally and internationally). They thrive in ambiguity and are able to unlock complicated issues objectively with compassion and consistency, whilst empowering others along the way. In many cases these skill sets and how they were acquired are sometimes different from the commercial world with the potential value not clearly understood. To observe first-hand what these highly successful defence executives may have to offer your organisation, there is an opportunity to engage with them in a short term capacity to work in your company with no ongoing obligation on your part while they are in the process of transitioning from the Defence Force. This would provide you with an opportunity to really understand what their different experience and perspective can add to your organisation. In the United Kingdom and United States many Defence Force senior officers have become CEO’s, Board Directors and Global Consultants. There seems to be a gap between the Australian Defence Force and Corporate Australia in terms of opportunities for talented senior officers and as such, we are taking the initiative to introduce a new level of thinking to support those “taking the risk” through the creation of new programme that to help organisations engage the very best officers. Where diversity of thought is front and central to most executive team and board performance discussions, we have provided below two recent podcasts that illustrate the outstanding skills and leadership qualities such officers have to offer with the aim of dispelling many myths and held views about our defence leaders. Most have more than one degree, can read a balance sheet and with the appropriate support and structure have the capacity to bring an edge that others do not. Major General Fergus ‘Gus’ McLachlan AM Major General Marcus Thompson AM If you would like to explore how your organisation may be able to gain advantage while assisting these proud Australians transition from the Defence Force and learn more about this very important initiative, please contact [email protected] to arrange a teleconference call.

ENERGY AGL Energy Ltd: Markus Brokhof has been appointed to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer, effective April 2020. As a consequence, of bringing together Wholesale Markets and Group Operations under the role, the Chief Operating Officer will replace the current roles of Executive General Manager Wholesale Markets and Executive General Manager Group Operations, currently held by Richard Wrightson and Doug Jackson respectively. APA Group: Peter Fredricson has indicated his intention to retire from his position of Chief Financial Officer. In the interests of an orderly and smooth transition to a new Chief Financial Officer, Mr Fredricson will remain with the Company until December 2020 at the latest. AusNet Services Ltd: Mark Ellul has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer. Cue Energy Resources Ltd: Rebecca DeLaet has resigned as a Non-Executive Director, effective from 20 December 2019. Mercury NZ Ltd: Vince Hawksworth has been appointed Chief Executive of the electricity retailer and generator, and will commence in the role on 28 April 2020 replacing Fraser Whineray. William Meek will assume the role of Acting Chief Executive in the short time between Whineray leaving Mercury and Hawksworth starting in the role. Paladin Energy Ltd: Peter Watson and Peter Main have been appointed as Non-Executive Directors, effective immediately. ReNu Energy Ltd: Boyd White has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director, effective immediately. TerraCom Ltd: Philip Forrest has resigned as a Non-Executive Director, and Glen Lewis has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director. Both changes are effective immediately. Trustpower Ltd: Vince Hawksworth has resigned as Chief Executive. Director, David Prentice, will take over as interim Chief Executive. Woodside Petroleum Ltd: Goh Chen has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director, effective 1 January 2020. FINANCIAL SERVICES ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd: Antonia Watson has been appointed as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. Ms Watson has been ANZ New Zealand’s Acting Chief Executive Officer since May.

ASX Ltd: Robert Woods has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director, effective from 1 January 2020. Centrepoint Alliance Ltd: Alexander (Sandy) Beard has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director, effective 1 January 2020. Heartland Group Holdings Ltd: Shelley Ruha has been appointed as an Independent Director of the subsidiary, Heartland Bank Ltd, effective 1 January 2020. HUB24 Ltd: Mark Goodrick has resigned as Chief Financial Officer and Joint Company Secretary effective March 2020. Mr Goodrick has accepted a position with an international infrastructure manager. IOOF Ltd: David Chalmers has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, replacing David Coulter who will be leaving the company at the end of February 2020. Gary Riordan, IOOF’s General Counsel, will also be leaving the company, by the end of February 2020. NSX Ltd: Matthew Loughnan has ceased as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Chairman, Michael Cox, will be taking over the functions of the Chief Executive Officer on an interim basis. Michael Cox has resigned as a Director, effective 19 February 2020. Perpetual Ltd: Fiona Trafford-Walker has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director effective immediately. QBE Insurance Group Ltd: Fred Eppinger has retired as Non-Executive Director. Mr Eppinger has recently taken on a United States based Chief Executive position. Suncorp Group Ltd: Elmer Funke Kupper has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director effective January 2020. Lee Hatton has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Suncorp’s Banking and Wealth division and Jeremy Robson as Group Chief Financial Officer. Ms Hatton will commence her role in the first half of this year. Tower Ltd: Richard Harding will finish as Chief Executive Officer at the end of 2020 as he has decided to relocate back to Australia to be with his family. INDUSTRIALS/MANUFACTURING BlueScope Steel: Kathleen Conlon has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director effective 1 February 2020. Fletcher Building Ltd: Dan Beecham has been appointed Chief Information Officer effective 3 February 2020. Orica Ltd: John Beevers has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director, effective 1 February 2020.

Perenti Ltd: Andrea Hall has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director. Pro-Pac Packaging Ltd: Chief Financial Officer, Rick Rostolis has resigned to pursue a new opportunity at the end of May 2020. Protean Energy Ltd: Young Yu and Wayne Loxton have resigned as Non-Executive Directors, and Matthew Foy has been appointed as Non-Executive Director. All of these changes are effective immediately. Quickstep Holdings Ltd: Patrick Largier has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director, effective 18 December 2019. Service Stream Ltd: Linda Kow has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer, effective May 2020. MEDIA Donaco International Ltd: Chief Executive Officer, Paul Arbuckle has tendered his resignation and will finish effective June 2020. Mel Ashton has been appointed Chairman. Simon Vertullo has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director. Gordon Lo has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer, replacing Chong Kwong Yang. Mr Lo has been appointed effective immediately, with Mr Yang remaining in his role until the completion of a handover period. Enero Group Ltd: Matthew Melhuish has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, effective after a transition period ending 31 March 2020, when Chair Ann Sherry takes up her role. Prime Media Group Ltd: John Hartigan has advised the Board of his retirement as Chairman. Peter Macourt will act as interim Chairman. Seven West Media Ltd: Jeff Howard has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, commencing on 20 January 2020. Warwick Lynch will be leaving the business after 24 years. Tabcorp Holdings Ltd: Anne Brennan will join the Tabcorp Board as a Non-Executive Director subject to required regulatory approvals. In the meantime, she will act as an observer on the Board from 3 February 2020. Village Roadshow Ltd: Tim Antonie has retired as a Director. Anna Duran has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director effective immediately.

MINING AngloGold Ashanti Ltd: Ms Nelisiwe Magubane has been appointed as an Independent Non- Executive Director, effective 1 January 2020. Aurora Minerals Ltd: Tim Markwell has resigned as a Director. BHP Group Ltd: The Board of BHP has announced that Andrew Mackenzie’s retirement date will be 31 March 2020, three months earlier than previously announced on 14 November 2019. Mike Henry has assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer from 1 January 2020. Big River Gold Ltd: Andrew Richards has been appointed as Executive Chairman, replacing Stephen Copulos who retires as Non-Executive Chairman, effective 1 January 2020. John Cathcart and Beau Nicholls have also been appointed as Non-Executive Directors, effective 1 January 2020. Centrex Metals Ltd: Graham Chrisp will step into the role of Executive Chairman. John Parker has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director. David Klingberg AO has retired as a Director of the Company. Dacian Gold Ltd: Leigh Junk has been appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, replacing Rohan Williams. Ian Cochrane has been appointed Non-Executive Chairman. All changes are effective 6 January 2020. Highfield Resources Ltd: Peter Albert will step down as Managing Director to return to Australia effective 31 January 2020. Chairman Richard Crookes will be acting as Interim Chief Executive Officer during a global search. Metals X Ltd: Patrick O’Connor has been appointed as Non-Executive Chairman effective immediately replacing Simon Heggen who has resigned. Damien Marantelli has resigned as a Director effective immediately but will remain for a period of transition as Chief Executive Officer reporting to the Board. Yimin Zhang has indicated his intention to retire. Brett Smith has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director effective immediately. Mount Gibson Iron Ltd: Ding Rucai has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director as the new representative of Shougang Fushan Resources Group, the company’s second largest shareholder. Mr Ding succeeds Mr Li Shaofeng who has stepped down from the Board. OceanaGold Corporation Ltd: Dr Nora Scheinkestel has resigned from the Board, effective immediately. Panoramic Resourced Ltd: Michael Ball has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer replacing Trevor Eton who will retire from the company effective 28 January 2020. It has

been determined that the additional role of Chief Operating Officer is now redundant, accordingly, Boyd Timler has left the Company. Regis Resources Ltd: Stuart Gula has been appointed to the position of Chief Operating Officer effective immediately. Resolute Mining Ltd: Stuart Gale has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer effective 20 January 2020. St Barbara Ltd: Bob Vassie has advised the Board that he wishes to retire from his role as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in 2020 to pursue a non-executive career. The Board has appointed Craig Jetson as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer and will commence his role on 3 February 2020. Stellar Resources Ltd: Sim O’Loughlin and Simon Taylor have been appointed as Non- Executive Directors. Peter Blight and Phil Harman have resigned as Managing Director and Chairman respectively. All changes have been made effective immediately. Troy Resources Ltd: Raymond Parry has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, effective 6 January 2020. Mr Parry replaces Gerry Kaczmarek who resigned on 31 December 2019. PHARMACEUTICALS/HEALTH CARE AusCann Group Holdings Ltd: Max Johnston and Krista Bates have been appointed as Non- Executive Directors, effective immediately. Mr Johnston will also be appointed Chairman, effective from the departure of Interim Chairman The Hon. Cheryl Edwardes AM on 19 January 2020. CSL Ltd: Carolyn Hewson AO has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director effective immediately. EBOS Group Ltd: Nick Dowling has been appointed as an Independent Director, effective 1 February 2020. Invion Ltd: Dr James Campbell has retired as a Non-Executive Director and Melanie Farris, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director. Both changes are effective immediately. Ramsay Health Care Ltd: Martyn Roberts has been appointed Group Chief Financial Officer and will commence in the role in the first half of 2020.

Regis Healthcare Ltd: Rick Rostolis has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer. Mr Rostolis will commence with the company by May 2020. PROPERTY BWP Trust Ltd: Alison Quinn has been appointed to the BWP Management Board, the responsible entity for BWP Trust as a Non-Executive, External Director. Dexus Property Group Ltd: Patrick Allaway has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director effective 1 February 2020. GPT Group Ltd: Lim Swe Guan has advised the Board that he will retire as a Director effective immediately. Ingenia Communities Ltd: Phillipa (Pippa) Downes has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director, effective immediately. RETAIL/CONSUMER A.P. Eagers Ltd: Greg Duncan and David Blackhall have been appointed Independent Non- Executive Directors effective immediately. Greg and David were both directors of Automotive Holdings Group Ltd until its recent merger with A.P. Eagers. Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd: Gerard Masters has retired as a Director of API, effective 22 January 2020. Blackmores Ltd: Gunther Burghardt will join Blackmores effective immediately as the new Group Chief Financial Officer. Aaron Canning will transition from his current role as Chief Financial Officer to focus on a review of the Group’s portfolio. Broo Ltd: Adrian Siah has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd: Martyn Roberts has resigned as Group Chief Financial Officer. Cochlear Ltd: Michael Daniell has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director effective immediately. Collins Foods Ltd: Christine Holman has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director. Costa Group Holdings Ltd: Linda Kow has resigned as Chief Financial Officer, effective 1 May 2020.

Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd: Chris Galanty and Melanie Waters-Ryan will move into newly created Chief Executive roles responsible for FLTs corporate and leisure businesses respectively. Steve Norris will succeed Mr Galanty as Managing Director EMEA and James Kavanagh has been promoted to the new role of Managing Director Australia. Charlene Leiss will succeed Dean Smith as Managing Director Americas. Mr Smith will work alongside Ms Waters-Ryan in a strategic global leisure role through to June 2020 when he has decided to retire. GrainCorp Ltd: Robert Spurway will take up the role of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer after the completion of the planned demerger of the Company’s Malt business in early 2020 and will relocate to Sydney from New Zealand. As previously announced, Mark Palmquist will become Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Malt business and will relocate to the North American headquarters of Malt in Vancouver. Jane McAloon and Kathy Grigg have been appointed as Non-Executive Directors effective immediately. Longtable Group Ltd: Chantale Millard has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer. The a2 Milk Company Ltd: Geoffrey Babidge has been appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of Jayne Hrdlicka. In addition, China based Non-Executive Director Jesse Wu, will assume a direct oversight role of the China business. The Reject Shop Ltd: Andre Reich has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer effective 13 January 2020. Treasury Wine Estates Ltd: Toni Korsanos has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director, effective from 1 April 2020. Woolworths Group Ltd: Peter Hearl has been announced as Chairman-Elect for Endeavour Group. TECHNOLOGY/TELECOMMUNICATIONS BuildingIQ Inc: Gregory Pynt has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director, effective immediately. Carsales.com Ltd: Ajay Bhatia has been promoted to the newly created role of Managing Director Australia. As part of organisational changes, Simon Ryan will step down from his position of Managing Director Commercial effective December 2019. The Company has also announced it is conducting a global search for a Chief Product and Information Officer.

Citadel Group Ltd: Robert (Bob) Alexander has joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Computershare Ltd: Nick Oldfield has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer. Dicker Data Ltd: Leanne Ralph has been appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director effective immediately. FirstWave Cloud Technology Ltd: Bassam Saba has resigned as a Non-Executive Director, effective 20 December 2019. Gentrack Group Ltd: James Docking has resigned as Non-Executive Director. Darc Rasmussen has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director. Tim Bluett has resigned as Chief Financial Officer effective 31 January 2020. Hansen Technologies Ltd: Niv Fernando has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Utilities division. Simon Muderack has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Communications division. Both Niv and Simon will report to Andrew Hansen, Group Chief Executive Officer. As part of the transition to the new structure, Tim Spencer will be stepping down and will continue in a consultancy role for the Communications division. Sarah Morgan has resigned as a Non-Executive Director, effective immediately. Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd: Susan Mo Fong has been appointed as a Director. Reffind Ltd: Eugene Loy has resigned as a Non-Executive Director, effective immediately. Superloop Ltd: Chief Financial Officer Jon Tidd has been appointed as Chief Customer Officer. Current Deputy Chief Financial Officer Lidia Valenzuela will become the new Chief Financial Officer. Xero Ltd: Graham Smith will retire from the Board at the end of Xero’s current financial year ending 31 March 2020 and will step down as Chair of the Board on 31 January 2020. David Thodey has been appointed to succeed Graham as Chair effective 1 February 2020. TRANSPORTATION Air New Zealand Ltd: Sir John Key will retire form the Board effective 31 March 2020. Jeff McDowall has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer, replacing Stephan Deschamps who has resigned as Acting Chief Financial Officer, effective in the second quarter of 2020. K&S Corporation Ltd: Wayne Johnston has resigned as Chief Financial Officer.

HOW TO SELECT AN EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM FOR YOUR NEXT SEARCH ASSIGNMENT One of the most critical questions you will face is how to choose an Executive Search Firm to represent your organisation in the market to acquire key executives that can affect the success or failure of your business. If you choose the right Executive Search Firm then you should get a highly qualified Executive that meets your specific organisational needs who will contribute to the future success of your organisation. If however, you choose the wrong Executive Search Firm your problems will multiply, from the issues of managing the wrong Executive to the consequences of your organisation’s success being compromised versus competitors. To make the right choice is therefore critical, and the following provides some guidance on the factors you should consider in making your decision as to which Executive Search Firm. WILL THEY AND CAN THEY REPRESENT YOU AND YOUR ORGANISATION POSITIVELY IN THE MARKETPLACE? Employer brand is an important consideration in the process of attracting high calibre candidates to your organisation. It is something that is developed and nurtured over many years and the last thing you want is someone representing you who does not understand your brand, your culture and your organisational values. The Executive Search Firm you select will for all intensive purposes be representing your brand in the marketplace. As a consequence, you need to ensure that the firm and those in that firm representing you understand, and are able to pitch your organisation in the best possible light to ensure the attraction of high calibre candidates, especially passive candidates.

WHAT PROCESS DOES THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM UNDERTAKE IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF CANDIDATES? The role of the Executive Search Firm is to find you the absolute best candidates in the market that match your brief. The process they employ is critical to achieving this outcome. If the process is poor, such as using their database and using job boards, the reality is you will not get the best candidates. You will simply be conducting a recruitment process which is generally reserved for lower level rather than Executive roles. In Executive Search you want the best candidates and that definitely needs to include passive candidates in the market. The only way to identify passive candidates is by research. To assess the research capability of your Executive Search Firm, ask them to explain their process for identifying passive candidates and in your client reference checks specifically ask client references as to the quality and breadth of the identified potential candidates. WHO WILL BE THE LEAD PARTNER AND THE TEAM FOR YOUR EXECUTIVE SEARCH AND HOW STRONG IS THEIR DESIRE AND COMMITMENT TO YOU THE CLIENT? The Lead Partner or Lead Partners (if you are lucky enough) are critical to the success of the Executive Search. You want to ensure that they are absolutely committed to your assignment and have the desire to ‘leave no stone unturned’ in ensuring that you get the very best candidates available in the market for your consideration. WHAT ARE THE “OFF LIMITS”? As a client when you engage an Executive Search Firm you are working on the basis that they are finding you the very best candidates for consideration in the market. You need to test this and ask yourself whether they can put up candidates for your consideration from their other client companies who they have or are working for. This is where the term “Off Limits” comes in. This fact is very important to you because the larger the “Off Limits”, the less of the market an Executive Search Firm is able to cover to access the best candidates. In simple terms, this means they will NOT be able to get you the best candidates in the market. If you think this through, the consequence is significant, because if your Executive Search Firm cannot access the best candidates in the market, but only a subset, you are not getting what you want or are paying for. So why would you engage them in the first place?

DOES YOUR EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM UNDERSTAND THE ROLE YOU ARE SEEKING AND THE NATURE OF THAT MARKET? This is fundamental, because if the Executive Search Firm and the Lead Partner in particular does not understand the role or the market, how can they undertake a search to find you the very best candidates? IS YOUR EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM AND THE LEAD PARTNER ACTIVE IN THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IN THE MARKET? Thought leadership is the ability to be continually thinking and researching how the market is changing, both in the broader sense and in the specific market in which your organisation operates. The reason this is important is because you want your Lead Partner to be thinking of the role you have today and what it might evolve into tomorrow. By knowing this, or at the very least having some context of the potential changes, your Executive Search Firm and Lead Partner can be pro-active in putting forward to you candidates for consideration that are right for your business of today, and others who may be right for your business of tomorrow. IS THERE AN AT-RISK COMPONENT OF THE FEE THAT ENSURES THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM HAS SKIN-IN-THE-GAME? There is nothing quite like an alignment between client and service provider needs, to ensure in this case your Executive Search Firm is listening to your needs as the client and going the “extra mile” to deliver against them. While an at-risk or performance component is not common in the Executive Search Industry you should take the opportunity to ask if there is such a component in the fee structure of the Executive Search Firms you are considering. If there is such a component, it can give you some comfort that you and your chosen Executive Search Firm will be aligned in achieving the common objective of the very best candidates in the market for your role. HOW MANY OF THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM’S CLIENTS ARE REPEAT BUSINESS? The ultimate test for all businesses is the repeat client test. It is the ultimate measure of client satisfaction because if a client keeps coming back for additional services from the Executive Search Firm you are considering, then you can be reasonably assured that the quality of their offerings is high and meeting the client’s needs.

WHAT DO CLIENT REFERENCES SAY? At the end of the day, the test of what an Executive Search Firm tells you in their pitch for your work versus the reality of what they are doing is by client references. Ask for and take the time to speak to a number of the Executive Search Firm’s clients, and test their performance against all of the above criteria with the client references they provide. Ultimately, by following the above you will be far more confident in the Executive Search Firm you select being able to deliver to you and your organisation the very best candidates in the market for the role you are seeking for your organisation.

DO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND “OFF LIMITS” IN EXECUTIVE SEARCH? IF YOU DON’T, MAYBE YOU SHOULD “OFF LIMITS” – WHAT IT MEANS IN EXECUTIVE SEARCH Executive Search firms are professional services firms that undertake the process of Executive Search to find high quality executive candidates for their client companies. As a client when you engage an Executive Search Firm you are working on the basis that they are finding you the very best candidates for consideration in the market. But “are they” or indeed “can they”? By “can they” I mean can they ethically provide you the best candidates when they are working for other clients. That is can they put up candidates for your consideration from their other client companies who they have or are working for. This is where the term “Off Limits” comes in. “Off Limits” is a convention in the Executive Search industry that in simple terms means that an Executive Search firm who has been retained on a contingent basis by a client will place the interests of their client at the forefront, meaning that they: • Will not recruit from the department of a client where they have placed someone; or • Will not recruit from the company of a client where they have placed someone. Conventions vary but in general this period would be for two years following their last placement of a candidate and never the actual candidate.

WHY YOU NEED TO CARE This fact is very important to you and you do need to care as a client because the larger the “Off Limits”, the less of the market your Executive Search firm is able to cover to access the best candidates. In simple terms this means they will NOT be able to get you the best candidates in the market. If you think this through, the consequence is significant, because if your Executive Search firm cannot access the best candidates in the market and only a subset, you are not getting what you want or are paying for. So why would you engage them in the first place? BIG AND GLOBAL FIRMS VS BOUTIQUE FIRMS Thinking through the above it becomes abundantly clear the bigger your Executive Search firm, and further, if it is global, the less of the candidate market you have access to as a client. This may sound counterintuitive as you would normally think the bigger the firm and the greater their global footprint the greater their ability to find you the best candidates in the market. As can be seen from the above however this is not the case and the boutique firm will in most cases be better placed to provide you with the greater market coverage and access to the best candidates as it has less “Off Limits”. HOW BEST TO DEAL WITH “OFF LIMITS”? So how best to deal with the “Off Limits” issue as a current client and a potential client? Firstly, as a client, make sure you ask your Executive Search Firm two key questions: • What is your client list over the past two years and which of these can you not access candidates from for my search? • At the completion of my Executive Search how will “Off-Limits” apply to my company? That is will you now not target any of my staff for the next two years at the completion of my Executive Search? It is important to know this upfront, as clarity at this point will make the road smoother down the track in your dealings with Executive Search firms.