My story
I started my career in the human capital programme at Ernst & Young. It jumped out at me as focused on what shapes and delivers the part of business strategy that depends on people. I moved around between share scheme design, executive compensation, M&A and global mobility, and had a portfolio role in graduate recruitment. Despite successfully qualifying as a tax accountant, I realised that this career wasn’t focused enough on the individual for me, so decided to think again about my strengths and where I would be best placed to make a niche for myself. I knew someone who worked in executive search and will always be grateful that they introduced me to this.
My focus
I have been partnering with CEOs and CHROs since 2011 to advise and support the building of first-class HR teams in a range of different businesses around the world.
HR is an area of deep personal interest, and the impact that the right HR team will have on commercial and cultural success must not be underestimated. I have worked across every facet of HR, in varying sizes of business and ownership models, and am lucky enough to help leaders solve their people challenges through making introductions, leading assessments, or even just thinking out loud together about team structure and offering market insight.
Alongside working for clients, I put a lot of time and energy into helping people reflect on their own careers and how they can best grow and develop as individuals.
My motivation
Executive search done right is based on relationships and partnership. I take very seriously the responsibility that comes with the trust clients and candidates place in me. It’s a genuine pleasure to spend my days talking to talented HR leaders, and hopefully being of use to them.
I have worked hard to nurture a global network and love that I can pick up the phone and have insightful conversations with people from different cultures and backgrounds. No two days or interactions are the same!
Why I like working at Savannah
I initially joined Savannah because I felt the company’s culture was a true differentiator. What keeps me here all these years later, is that this has been proved to be true. When we say we care deeply about our work, we mean it. Clients value us for our authenticity, challenge, and candidate insight. From a personal perspective, Savannah supports me growing my career, but also in being a Mum – without this flexibility and trust I couldn’t do both.
Lisa and Katie worked with us on a very challenging and critical senior HR leadership role. They were partners and advisors from the very early stages of refining the brief through to a highly successful conclusion. Our role was very specific and we knew there would not be many in the market with this skillset, so we needed a global approach. The added complexity of the search was the accelerated pace we asked them to work at, which they successfully did without compromising on quality. What really stood out was the deep market knowledge and candidate insight they have. They had an excellent understanding of each candidate and what they could bring to our business and culture. We would not hesitate to work with them again.
– Maria Kokkinou, Vice President, Talent Acquisition, Management and Development, Coca-Cola European Partners