Penrhyn International Marks 40th Anniversary with New Board Appointments

Penrhyn International, a global network of retained executive search firms, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, has announced the election of a new Chairman and Global Board to drive future growth.

Yanouk Poirier, a Partner at Leaders International, a pan-Canadian firm based in Montreal, will be Penrhyn’s new Chairman, while Frank Beyer of LAB & Company in Germany will be Vice Chair.

Yanouk is chair of Penrhyn’s Technology, Media & Telecoms group and brings to the role his extensive expertise in helping national and international business leaders of major companies to achieve their business strategies. He is the co-author of Leadership for growth and scale-up: going from 25 to 100 employees, a business report for CEOs.

Also joining the Board is Greg Gabel, Managing Director of US firm Coleman Lew Canny Bowen, who brings deep experience of leadership searches for technology companies, among many others. Current Chairman Michael Herst of Osprey Clarke in the UK will remain on the Board in the role of Treasurer. The Board is completed by Luce Nordon (Agora Search, France) and Rikke Dolberg (Unique Human Capital, Denmark).

The composition of the Board reflects Penrhyn’s commitment to adapting to meet the evolving needs of its global clients in a changing business environment of rapid digitisation.

The new Penrhyn Board has set out a strategy for the network designed to put Penrhyn in the best possible position to help its clients respond to change and digital disruption in the business world. The strategy is focused on three key pillars: client-centric business development; innovation and partnership; and membership engagement.

Yanouk says: “This is an exciting time to be taking on my role as Chairman. All businesses need to address technological change as part of their business strategies and be open to new ways of doing business. That means finding talented candidates at the highest levels with the skillsets and emotional intelligence to drive innovation, create sustainable growth and adapt to rapid and constant change.

“Penrhyn has been building a network of over 150 of the world’s leading search consultants for 40 years. We need to continue to be agile so we can respond to change and help our clients see what’s coming. It’s vital that we adopt a digital mindset across our network and speak the language of our clients.

“There are great opportunities for us to create new partnerships to leverages technology and enhance the services we provide to our clients through a modern and comprehensive approach to the recruitment process.

“One of our greatest assets is the diversity of our member firms across the world, which makes us stronger together. Through our distinctive client service approach, our global practice groups continue to share their market intelligence to better meet clients’ needs and help them connect with the right talent to embrace change.”

Outgoing Chairman Michael Herst (above right) says, “We are committed to keeping pace with the technology and AI developments of our client community and to deliver the global hiring solutions they require. The appointment of Yanouk as our chair, who is an authority in this field, sends a clear message that we can lead the market as the trusted partner to identify the business leaders of the future.”