Executive search firms make a beeline for India

NEW DELHI: The HR space is seeing more action, with three multinational companies in various stages of making a foray into the country. While Flex-i, a temping company, has recently set up an office in Bangalore, it is learnt that two executive search firms — Christian & Timbers and AT Kearney Executive Search have stepped on the gas in India.

This trend is in keeping with the fact that most international players in the temping and executive search space are already present in the country. And it is now one of the hottest labour markets in the world.

While Flex-i is a start-up temping firm with investments from an existing executive search firm Hunt Partners, Christian & Timbers is a top five boutique executive search firm from the US. The AT Kearney search firm, on the other hand, is separate from the consulting arm that already exists in the country.

Flex-i will be headed by Ravish Dhamija, an ex- Hewitt APAC service delivery leader and the firm is planning a headcount of between 3,000 and 5,000 people by year end, with offices in Bangalore and Gurgaon.

With non-existent entry barriers in the temping industry, Mr Dhamija is planning to concentrate on processes to carve a niche for his firm. “When it comes to temping, the market is still unorganised and we plan to focus on the basics of people, processes and technology,” said Mr Dhamija.

Sources say Umesh Ramakrishnan, vice-chairman of Christian & Timbers, is due to visit India next month, with an eye on setting up an office and recruiting people. He has already been in talks with several headhunters as part of the due diligence process, which may include buying out an existing firm or going solo in the same vein as Russell Reynolds.

When Christian & Timbers enters India, it will be the third big-league executive search firm to enter India after Spencer Stuart in ’05 and Russell Reynolds earlier this year.

As far as AT Kearney Executive Search is concerned, it had tried to foray into India earlier and sources say that they are now looking at entering India by year end.