An overnight transformation has taken Boyden Canada from a blip on the Canadian radar to one of the country's largest executive headhunting agencies.
Last month, Boyden joined forces with three offices of global rival Odgers Berndtson. Those offices – in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa – had been independently licensed under the Odgers Berndtson name, but last year the parent company decided to terminate those agreements, leaving the agencies open to join Boyden Canada.
As a result, Boyden Canada has grown from a handful of people in Calgary and Toronto to a roughly 90-person entity operating out of the four cities.
The move makes Boyden one of the top two Canadian agencies in its field, said Ken Werker, managing partner at Boyden Canada's new Vancouver office.
He said Boyden's extensive American network – with approximately 100 people in 13 major cities – is what attracted the independent agencies.
British-based Odgers Berndtson, on the other hand, has roughly a dozen staff in half as many cities in the United States, Werker said.
Both companies have global offices in more than 30 countries.
"We were the only country left in the Odgers Berndtson organization where there was any independent ownership," said Carl Lovas, Canadian chairman of Odgers Berndtson, "and we had to end that by the end of [last] year."
He added that industry trends, namely a growing demand for specialization in executive search, required greater integration across offices.
"If you're recruiting a CFO, you want to deal with someone whose expertise is to recruit CFOs. We need that person to be able to be brought to the table wherever they reside in Canada."
Lovas said that wasn't always possible under the independent licensing setup.
Odgers Berndtson plans to re-establish offices in the three cities to bring its Canadian operations back up to scale.
While this will increase Canadian headhunting competition, Lovas said there's no shortage of demand.
"We see Vancouver in particular as an exciting area of growth, not just from the perspective of the resource industry, but also as a gateway into Asia."
Lovas added that organizations worldwide are increasingly looking for people to complete special projects, deal with unique issues or temporarily fill in until a permanent candidate is selected.
"One of the fastest-growing parts of our business is that interim management piece," Lovas said. "This business for us has doubled in the last 18 months."
Changing demographics in North America are also affecting executive search.
"The baby boomers are starting to retire in force," Werker said. "We're being called upon more and more to recruit at that senior level to find those great, strategic, visionary leaders, but the pool is smaller."
Not only do incoming generations have fewer people, but globalization and consolidation have reduced the number of leadership roles, making it harder to find experienced candidates.
Another general trend is the shortening of executive tenure. Werker said employers no longer expect to hire for life.
"They're looking for that person for three to five years to do great things for them."
All in all, Werker sees this as good news for everyone in his line of work.
"We're optimistic for the future. There seems to be an underlying confidence in the economy now. That combined with the demographic factors bodes well for the executive search business."
