Featured Article on Capital Business - THE TRIALS OF EXECUTIVE EMPLOYMENT IN DUBAI

1. BUSINESS & FINANCE MAGAZINE I
WWW.CAPITALBUSINESS.ME
Vol 8 - Issue 9 I
Capital
B siness
F DING HE
BEST A D
BRIGHTEST
STANTON CHASE'S PANOS MANOLOPOULOS DISCUSS
THE TRIALS OF EXECUTIVE EMPLOYMENT IN DUBAI
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2. STANTON CHASE
E RN A T o N A L
Executive Search Consultants
F I
T E
5
AN STANTON CHASE'S PANOS
MANOLOPOULOS DISCUSSTHETRIALS OF
EXECUTIVE EMPLOYMENT IN DUBAI
G T 5Panos Mallolopoulos, a Global Vice
Chairman to one of the leading executive
search consultant worldwide , began his
career as a bright intem3tional student and
a truly global citizen.
Following degrees from of Harvard
Business School 011 Executive Education .
Wharton Business School and CorneH
Uni versity on Executive Leadership , as
well as his undergraduate program at
University of Athens, Panos started his
career as a University Lecturer in Wales
UK. Soon after, he assumed the role
General Manager and later CEO of one of
the biggest law firms in Southeast Europe.
Manolopoulos Joined Stanton C hase in
2003, serving as Regional and lobal
Practice Leader of Consumer Product &
Services , Vice President EMEA and G lobal
Vice C hairman of Regions before rising to
the positions of Global Vice Chailman of
Stanton Chase International and Managing
Partner for the Middle East. Today, he is
one of the main shareholders in Stanton
Chase Balkans and a critical player in
Stanton Chase's internal ional reach;
thu s far, Panos has visited more than 75
countries.
In 2006 he moved to Dubai as the
Managing Paltner for the Middle East and
he was elected as the Vice President for
Europe Midd le East and Africa. Since
2009 , he bas been elected as the Vice
Cha irman Regions, being thus a member
of the Board of Directors overviewing 4
Regional Vice Prc, i de nt~ in Nortll America.
Latin America, Europe M iddle East &
Africa and lsia Pacinc.
He bas written more than 200 articles in
most of the major n w, papt:rs, lllagm:ines
and journals , he h a ~ been feature as
cover page to many financial and bu,incs,;
publications and he ilas given over 50
interviews in most of the maior TV and
Radio networks ( NN , 'N Bc' CBS ) while
he has been invited as a key note speaker
in over 100 internalional panels with
governments and sci nlists from aII over
the world.
As a world traveler and l ng-l ime m mber
of the international business community,
Panos Manolopoulos brings a global
insight to the unique l1'ials of executive
employment in Dubai.
"In Dubai we are Jiving in a very
speculative ~ nv ironmen t." M;molopoulos
points out. "It's like living in the slock
market." Factors such as Expo 202() and
ambitious devclopment proJcch- whilc
vital to business development- inject
instability into the already dislinctly
challenging employment market that is
Dubai.
This exceptional busincss climate, coupled
with D ubai's lllll lticultLl ml. internati mal

3. COVER STORY
foundations, all in the end " makes it not a
very stable market. 1t's very sensitive to the
intern~tional market. Something that happens
in the region , or something that happens in the
rest of the world , has a positive or negative
influence on the city," Manolopoulos explains.
"So you can imagine that when you are in a
company, and you are the CEO or a board
member within this environment, you have
also to look at your company in the same way
that you are playing your sales in the stock
market."
So how does Stanton Chase respond to such
factors? To Panos Manolopoulos, the singular
most distinguishing factor of Stanton Chase's
recruitment is it is process, or rather, it's
interaction with the searching companies
throughout the process.
"We are trying to add value [ 0 the organization
and so we're focusing on quality," he explains
"So when we do recruitment [or a compa ny,
we're not looking for the best fit available, but
simply the best fit. We' re actually acting as
ambassadors for the company. And by acting
as ambassadors for the company, organization,
or government, it means we are spending a
considerable amount of time with the group,
understanding its stnlcture, its practices ... and
we are able to act as consultants fi.rsl. When
we st8.Ji a search, the process for us is very
thorough ."
Rather than the end point of finding a new
employee , Manolopoulos insists on the critical
nature of the spaces in between. "We're trying
to add value to all the parts of the process,
the process for us requires a mapping of the
industry, These processes are so important that
sometimes we're changing the course of our
action during the process. We'll start going
ill one direction, and then for instance we'll
identify that the market is not what we thought
it to be."
"The ' best practice' process is very important
for executives in these companies. It is what
distinguishes us from recruitment agencies
1113t will simply send interesting CVs to a
company. To an extreme, we've sometimes
concluded a search without find ing someone,
yet still received very high assessment marks
from our client, because they've appreciated
the process ," Manolopoulos said.
Ultimately, with Stanton Chase there is a lot
of back and forth interaction between recruiter
and client as they search for tile peJfect
candidate, an important development for the
recruitment industry considering the relative
ease with which a person can now publicize
their own CV through job search engines and
online communities.
"A lot of recruitment agencies will just go
out and find CVs, which at the end of the day
are fairly easy to spot," Manolopoulos notes.
"1 remember when I. joi ned 15 years ago, the
important element of our selling is how global
you are , your reach. In the past ten years, the
focus has shifted. It's not just how we can get
the best , but how we can fit this person into a
particular organization.
Ultimately, Manolopoulos says, that's why
Stanton Chase emphasizes their process so
strongly, "We give emphasis to the process
and the quality, because right now what we sell
to the client is not our ability to spot a talented
person, because that's relatively easy, but to
spot the best fit for them."
THE CHANGING WORLD Of
EXECUTIVES
As an intemational executive search firm
p31iicularly focused on CEO and board
member matches, Stanton Chase bas its finger
on the pulse of management and employment
trends. So when asked w hat has changed for
top management in these past few years, Panos
Manolopoulos has a fairly good idea of what it
takes to run a company these days. At the least,
he knows what organizations are looking for.
WHAT WE SELL TO
THE CLIENT IS NOT
OUR ABILITY TO
SPOT ATALENTED
PERSON,
BECAUSE THAT'S
RELATIVELY EASY,
BUT TO SPOT
THE BEST FIT FOR
THEM,"
"We are living in a very rapid, very volatile
world . And the challenge for the CEOs and
Board of Directors of today is to understand
that they have to play different roles, and
they have to play very diverse roles, within
different environments," Manolopoulos says
fi rst and foremost.
"The whole notion of a traditional board
member that has a particular way of thinking,
and is not involved in the development of
the company ... that doesn't work anymore,"
he added. Meanwhile, "CEOs have to adapt
themselves to very rapid changes in their
environment, and they have to play the best
roles; in the past, each CEO was wearing the
hat of the salesperson and dipl omat. A good
CEO was selling and promoting; he was
working at the top-line, without worrying
about the bottom line. Now thi ngs have
changed,"
Today, Manolopoulos says , "We are looking
at new expectations for CEOs, who need
to understand how to keep both the top and
bottom line, in order to keep their companies
sustainable . They are more financially
sensitive in many aspects, And in general, the)'
have to be open to constant change ."
One part of the constant change has been
a reassessment in many global market
of the ideas of diversi ty and corporate
social responsibility (CSR) While most
organizations Champion these buzzwords as
part of their company ethos, the execution of
both practices in the workplace proves to be a
challenge, palticularly in the Middle East.
Manolopoulos admits that promoting diversity
can be as especially challenging task in the
region, "[Diversity and CSR] are very popular
nowadays and a number of organizations are
using these words just to use them , and say
that we 8.J-e practicing the best methods ," he
said. "Companies wi ll come to us, talking
about diversity, and they're talking more about
putting a woman on their board of directors.
For Stanton Ci1ase, we're talking about other
problems of diversity," he explained, referring
also to ethn ic, national, and age diversity
within an organization, besides the ever
important gender diversity.
"But we do experience a lot ofbias,"
Man%pol/los said bllllltly,
"It's time to change the cunent outlook
towards talent. For us, we're trying to recruit
talents that fit for an organization, but at
the same time with diversity, regardless of
ethnicity, regardless of gender, and regardless
even of age, because right now we have Baby
Boomers, Generation Y, Generation X, and
each brings something different," he said.
"We are trying to encourage organizatiolls
to practice diversity, but there is a long way
to go to reach a point where we can say that
diversity is really something that we practice
in this part of the world."
134 i wV",.capttJibl1s.incss,.nH: ("{,18 - i~Sllt Y)

4. TALENT MANAGEMENT
Another very relevant challenge in
Dubai and the region is the nature
of talent management, an issues
thai ties directly into organizations'
apprehension about diversity,
particularly when it comes to young
remllts.
From an executive search
perspective, many companies
seek great talent but resist
younger finds, claiming
that they do not have the
required experience.
This, Manolopoulos says, can be a loss for the
company itself. "Unfortunately, experience
issometimes misinterpreted, and only
assessed on paper, including how old you are.
Anumber of organizations are excludin" a. b
certam percentage of candidates because of
age,gender, ethnicity, and it costs them."
But these misconceptions lie under the lar"er
scope of talent management, an ultimatelyb
challenging strategy for many companies in
this region to cultivate.
"It's not only what you see today but you
have to see the potential within these
younger talents," Manolopoulos explains.
"Good organizations will have ways to
attract, retain, and develop talent. But the
talent management, in general, in this part
of the world is not very well developed. The
allrition numbers within companies have been
relatively high, even during the period of
recession," he pointed out.
"At Stanton Chase, we are trying to express to
organizations a lot of emphasis on the second
and third aspects of talent management;
retaining and developing. We are not looking
at emphasis on one aspect; when we are
searching for a talented person and we're
making a successful placement , our input is
on which organization can best reach their
passion, and not only to keep the talent, but
also develop it. Talent management is an
art. With the exception of some exceptional
multinational corporations or very good family
conglomerates that have invested in talent over
the past 50 or so years, it is certainly an issue
here. It is of high importance for companies to
strategize on talent management."
At the same time, Manolopoulos views the art
of talent management as a learning process
for a fast-growing market. "Once this market
matures, these notions like talent management
wIll really become more and more important,
and require more emphasis," he says, pointing
out that when Stanton Chase first established
in the region , the average stay of an expatriate
was brief, typically around a year.
But in the past few years alone, the average
stay has increased to three years, with an
expectation for the number to continue to
grow.
SO WHEN WE DO
RECRUITMENT
FOR A COMPANY,
WE'RE NOT
LOOKING FOR
THE BEST FIT
AVAILABLE, BUT
SIMPLY THE BEST
FIT.
"The vast majority of expats in the region
who lose their job or want to move jobs,
we're finding are looking for jobs still within
the region. So the rates of expats staying in
the regIOn has gone up. We call it 'internal
mobility.' A few years ago, 90 percent of our
candidates were only coming from abroad.
Now that has reversed, and 90 percent of
expatriate candidates can be found within
the region," Manolopoulos explains. With
internal mobility and expatriate stay on the
fISe, coupled with the looming boom of Expo
2020,. Manolopoulos predicts rapid growth in
Dubal to continue, particularly in the IT and
finance sectors.
But what is the future of executive
employment in the region , especially
following the economic crisis? Manolopoulos
says it's simple. "Ever since the crash,
companies have stopped looking for
'primadonnas.' They've stopped lookin" for
tllose highly paid stars, especially in fin~ncial
services. I think the biggest impact of the
economic recession was that companies now
understand that not necessarily the highest­
paid individual-or the one with the highest
demands, or most successful track record - is
necessarily the best fit for their organization."
The person that is the best fit, he concludes,
"take a process."
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