H.I. Executive Consulting Partners with KPMG – Connect On Board

January 16, 2025 – Global search firm H.I. Executive Consulting (HIEC) has formed a partnership with KPMG – Connect On Board, a U.K.-based board-level talent platform. KPMG Connect On Board helps organizations build stronger, more diverse boards by connecting them with top senior talent. This collaboration connects KPMG’s board-level talent platform with H.I.E.C’s global expertise in board-level search. Melissa Reed, managing partner, is leading the efforts for this alliance. “Building on a successful last year, where we saw significant growth in chair and NED appointments across listed companies and investor backed portfolios, we’re keen to support our clients in developing even stronger, more diverse boards in 2025,” H.I. Executive Consulting said.
Ms. Reed joined HIEC in May 2018 and has over 20 years’ experience in retail and consumer executive search. She has worked with a large number of leading international quoted, private, and investor-backed clients on key positions including CEO and non-executive director as well as a wide range of general management and functional leadership roles. She also advises on CEO succession planning and leadership assessment.
H.I. Executive Consulting is a global transformational executive search firm founded in 2007, focused on hiring transformational board, CEO, and senior-level executives globally for digital focused clients. The firm operates across 13 offices in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
Past Alliance
HIEC recently formed a strategic alliance with Software Club (SWC), a fundamental business value research platform focused exclusively on the analysis of public and privately owned software and technology companies for private equity funds and professional investors. “This partnership is an opportunity for HIEC’s network of world-class chairs, chief executives, private equity funds and family offices to benefit from access to Software Club’s analysis and insights, the extensive and close knit community Software Club has generated and the robust and often proprietary data and market insight brought together on a daily basis,” the search firm said.
Related: HIEC Expands Industrial and Consumer and Retail Practices
Software Club was established to forge an advanced, qualitative and quantitative methodology for insight gathering into the top European and U.S. software and technology companies to invest in, learn from and connect with. “Helping private equity funds form precise origination strategies, valuation metrics and creating an invaluable network around specific subsectors or themes,” HIEC said.
A Look at the Trends Impacting Executive Search Today
Recruiting top talent today is more complex than ever. Return to work, the ban on non-competes, and the critical importance of company culture are changing the way we approach executive search. But these are not the only factors influencing recruiting practices, according to Alissa Henriksen, co-founder and co-president of Grey Search + Strategy. “More trends continue to develop in the world of executive recruiting,” she said. “Companies and employees seek diverse leadership with a new definition of executive presence.”
“Candidates continue to evaluate potential employers’ diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I) efforts,” Ms. Henriksen says. “New technologies like artificial intelligence are impossible to ignore. These trends bring many complexities for recruiters and companies to navigate, but taking time to understand the nuances can help you leverage them to your advantage in today’s competitive job market.”
HIEC was already supporting the SWC community of global leaders and private equity funds by bringing an overlay of global leadership insight, talent and organizational advisory services, market access and connectivity to those building and leading top software, technology and data businesses across an array of subsectors and scales.
“Where Software Club brings unparalleled depth of specialist company data and insight, HIEC brings the equivalent in talent, leadership and global network across private equity and listed technology and software businesses,” HIEC said. “The partnership between HIEC and Software Club marks a significant milestone and allows both businesses to bring new levels of support to our clients and board and executive communities, with informed decision making tools and a platform through which to build trusted connections.”
Related: H.I. Executive Consulting Appoints CEO
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media