Russell Reynolds Associates Adds Former BP HR Leader to Staff
April 17, 2019 – The executive search field continues to be a welcoming landing pad for HR executives and other top corporate executives looking for a career change. Executive recruitment firm Russell Reynolds Associates recently named veteran HR executive Helena Fyda as a consultant in the firm’s corporate officers’ practice.
Based in Houston, Ms. Fyda will work closely with C-suite-level executives to help drive greater effectiveness and transformative business partnering for corporate functions, particularly the human resources function.
“Helena brings more than 20 years of human resources, diversity and inclusion, and oil and gas industry experience to the team,” said Constantine Alexandrakis, leader of Russell Reynolds’ Americas region. “As regional head of human resources at one of the world’s oil and gas supermajors, her experience advising business leaders and partnering with global teams will bring valuable benefits to our team and pragmatic solutions to our clients.”
Prior to Russell Reynolds Associates, Ms. Fyda worked for nearly 20 years at BP, where she was most recently vice president of human resources for BP America. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing more than 14,000 employees and represented the HR function on the BP America Board and the Diversity & Inclusion Council. During her tenure, Ms. Fyda worked in both the HR and finance functions, leading change management across several verticals. She also has global experience, having lived and worked in the U.K., Russia, India and the U.S.
Russell Reynolds Associates is a global leadership advisory and search firm. Its 425+ consultants in 46 offices work with public, private and non-profit organizations across all industries and regions.
The New York City headquartered firm recently added another HR executive to its staff. Earlier this year, veteran HR executive Eren Rosenfeld joined Russell Reynolds as chief human capital officer. She leads the firm’s global talent strategy, new talent development and human resources functions. Ms. Rosenfeld was previously the global head of talent development at BlackRock.
“Eren’s experience in creating and executing global talent strategies at some of the world’s largest financial institutions to realize business outcomes is critical for organizations to adeptly respond and compete within the fast pace of transformation in business today,” said CEO Clarke Murphy.
HR Leaders Transition to Recruiters
For CHROs, chief talent officers and other C-suite HR executives, the cross-over skills required in the search business are nearly identical, and Hunt Scanlon Media has recently tracked a number of successful transitions. We have taken note of the trend among top-ranking HR executives reestablishing themselves as executive recruiters. Here’s a look at some of the more prominent ones:
The Human Capital Group, based in Nashville, TN, expanded with the addition of former HR executive David Alexander as managing director. Based in the firm’s Dallas office, he is charged with supporting the firm’s ongoing growth of its executive search and leadership advisory services. Previously, Mr. Alexander was chief people officer of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers.
Brazilian search firm EXEC added former HR executive Cintia Bortotto as partner. She works in the business division focused on leadership advisory. Ms. Bortotto has more than 24 years of professional experience, including 20 years in the human resources area, with more than 18 years in leadership positions in multinational companies, with a global and Latin America focus.
M&A Executive Search & Consulting named Rick Copeland as a senior vice president. He comes to the executive recruitment industry after more than 25 years in HR. “What makes this an exciting hire for the firm is that Rick has spent the past 25 years as a human resources executive,” said Dave Magnani, M&A Executive Search’s president, consulting services.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
