PARTNERSHIP AS EQUALS IS THE BASIS FOR OUR JOINT SUCCESS.
We understand our markets.
More than 20 years’ experience
in staffing top positions.
Who we are //
What we do
KLEINEN ADVISORS is an executive search & leadership advisory consultancy. We are one of the leading addresses for the sectors we support in Germany.
We specialise in searches in consumer-centric markets (b2c, d2c, b2b2c), because our clients see themselves confronted with the effects of digitalisation and the transformation of their business models.
We successfully and sustainably staff positions at 1st and 2nd management levels as well as selected specialist roles. In addition to general management and marketing & sales, our activities focus on searches in the sectors of digitalisation and e-commerce, as well as sustainability/CSR.
Recruitment consulting is a People Business – internationally we cooperate exclusively with consultants we already know from direct collaboration. We recommend independent consultants – not firms or networks. Based on long-term experience and networking we can expertly accompany our clients in selecting the right partners in many foreign markets. On request, we can also manage these clients or consultants.
All of our consultants have many years of experience in recruitment consulting, which they have predominantly acquired at reputable executive search companies. They are specialists in this sector with a functional focus on recruitment.
Our services
OUR SUCCESS IS BASED ON MARKET KNOWLEDGE AND THE CLIENTS' AND CANDIDATES' TRUST IN OUR SERVICES.
In a market environment in which demand for top profiles exceeds the supply of mobile talent willing to change jobs, identifying and acquiring managers / top specialists has become a decisive competitive factor for success.
Due to its federal structure, the German labour market is fundamentally different from those in other countries in Europe. Added to this, since Covid the challenge of acquiring top profiles for your own company has become even greater. Almost every candidate expects a contemporary “New Work” concept from their future employer.
Identifying suitable candidates and moderating the different expectations of clients and candidates is an important aspect of our searches.
In the past few years, searching for qualified advisory board members or non-executive directors has become steadily more important. Nowadays, family-owned companies in particular rely increasingly on advisory board members with specific expertise. Owners and management want advisory board members as sparring partners, who can contribute sound know-how on key issues. Searching for advisory board members with proven expertise in digital transformation or sustainability/CSR is currently a focal point of our search assignments.
Other skills in demand are: IPO experience / M&A expertise / multichannel know-how / global supply chain understanding / brand building / internationalization experience / generational change moderation
We also fill interim CEO and CFO positions from our candidate network. The generational change in family businesses can often be effectively accompanied by the temporary support of an experienced CEO.
The filling of strategic key positions can now be supported in a targeted manner by various supplementary initiatives and tools.
A leadership assessment will help decision makers to better assess the leadership qualities and future potential of a candidate. The increasing heterogeneity of teams requires a modified, modern understanding of management. This is the only way to actually leverage the potential in a team.
Christoph Kleinen and Dr. Hans-Joachim Strüven can look back on many years of expertise in conducting individual assessments and assessments of entire leadership teams. Our team of consultants, mostly certified, is accompanied by experienced experts. For complex, specific issues, such as optimal cooperation between generations, we cooperate with the company WiseForce Advisors, a leading provider in this field (www.wiseforceadvisors.com).
We offer our customers the opportunity to access experienced coaches who have been certified by KLEINEN ADVISORS.
We cooperate exclusively with business coaches we know from many years of collaboration and who we are convinced have an excellent reputation. Finding out which coach will fit which client and for which task is a basic pre-condition for later success.
Examples of accompanied coaching projects include:
Team Effectiveness –
collaboration in the leadership team
A new CEO, or also the period after a merger, can cause the make-up and management culture of a leadership team to completely change. We will support our clients to enable their management team to work optimally together in the shortest amount of time and to achieve the best-possible performance.
Onboarding Coaching –
new company, new culture, new role
Onboarding coaching minimises the risk of not finding your feet or not doing so quickly enough in a new company and within a new corporate culture. It is equally decisive for the company and the manager to actively accompany this process from Day 1 in order to allow the new employee to integrate as well as possible.
StepUp Coaching –
from a colleague to a manager
The first C-level role. How do I conduct myself in this new role now as the manager of my former colleagues? This step is a very special challenge for many internally developed candidates.
Digital Transformation –
a complex, company-wide project
Companies cannot transform themselves into digital players overnight or just by establishing a CDO.
Transforming an organisation is a complex process. It mostly begins with the leadership team and then has to be consistently accompanied across all levels of the company. The CHRO and their team play the decisive role here.
We will be pleased to support you here and will place senior HR leaders with transformation experience from our network. They will be able to accompany this process, including on an interim or project basis. Conceiving a project and consistently accompanying the implementation phase can make an essential contribution to a successful and sustainable digital transformation.
We offer our customers the opportunity to access experienced coaches who have been certified by KLEINEN ADVISORS.
We cooperate exclusively with business coaches we know from many years of collaboration and who we are convinced have an excellent reputation. Finding out which coach will fit which client and for which task is a basic pre-condition for later success.
Examples of accompanied coaching projects include:
Team Effectiveness –
collaboration in the leadership team
A new CEO, or also the period after a merger, can cause the make-up and management culture of a leadership team to completely change. We will support our clients to enable their management team to work optimally together in the shortest amount of time and to achieve the best-possible performance.
Onboarding Coaching –
new company, new culture, new role
Onboarding coaching minimises the risk of not finding your feet or not doing so quickly enough in a new company and within a new corporate culture. It is equally decisive for the company and the manager to actively accompany this process from Day 1 in order to allow the new employee to integrate as well as possible.
StepUp Coaching –
from a colleague to a manager
The first C-level role. How do I conduct myself in this new role now as the manager of my former colleagues? This step is a very special challenge for many internally developed candidates.
Digital Transformation –
a complex, company-wide project
Companies cannot transform themselves into digital players overnight or just by establishing a CDO.
Transforming an organisation is a complex process. It mostly begins with the leadership team and then has to be consistently accompanied across all levels of the company. The CHRO and their team play the decisive role here.
We will be pleased to support you here and will place senior HR leaders with transformation experience from our network. They will be able to accompany this process, including on an interim or project basis. Conceiving a project and consistently accompanying the implementation phase can make an essential contribution to a successful and sustainable digital transformation.
Our markets
DIGITISATION AND SUSTAINABILITY WILL BE DECISIVE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
FMCG
Retail
Luxury / Lifestyle
Travel / Hospitality
Special Offerings
SPECIAL CHALLENGES DEMAND TAILORED SOLUTIONS
FORMING NETWORKS AND REACTING PROMPTLY
Talent pipeline projects focus on top talent, for example, digital talent, female talent, young leaders, etc. With our know-how from observing the market for more than 20 years we succeed in identifying future leaders and top experts and in accompanying them during their careers.
Some of our clients have used this special offer for continuous market observation for years. This talent mapping builds up a network and, if required, allows us to approach candidates at short notice who have already been identified or who we already know.
ONLY WITH MARKET EXPERTISE AND NETWORKING
A special situation demands a specific approach. Dr Hans-Joachim Strüven and Christoph Kleinen have many years of experience in working with reputable financial investors, such as 3i, Advent, Antin, Apax, Apollo, BC Partners, Blue Horizon, Bridgepoint, Partners Group and many more.
Particularly in “pre-deal” situations, our clients look for quick and targeted support. For understandable reasons, financial investors look for partners with extensive networks, have an excellent understanding of the relevant sector and direct access to C-level profiles.
We will be pleased to give you more information about reference projects in a meeting in person:
- Chairman, NED, Senior Advisor
- Buy-in Manager: CEO, CFO, COO, CRO
BEST-IN-CLASS MONITORING
On request, we will map organisational structures of best-in-class or competitor companies.
In order to identify the management structure and map the team structure, we use all publicly-accessible information (while complying with data protection directives and in absolute confidence).
MUST BE ACCOMPANIED
Particularly in family companies, a change of generations and the associated transfer of overall responsibility in the company repeatedly causes special challenges.
We will help to make this transfer go as smoothly as possible, including with the support of an experienced senior manager (e.g. as an Interim CEO or Senior Advisor). These senior managers will often accompany a succeeding family member for a certain period so they can learn the ropes for the new role as far as possible.
A VALUABLE ASSET
Many companies face challenges that go beyond the issue of recruitment.
We offer our partners the opportunity to use our extensive C-level network in order to discuss specific tasks and expand their own network. We have to understand these special challenges precisely to do so. We can frequently provide contacts who will help to master the relevant scenarios better.
Our Team
KLEINEN ADVISORS is an executive search & leadership advisory consultancy. We are one of the leading addresses for the sectors we support in Germany.
We specialise in searches in consumer-centric markets (b2c, d2c, b2b2c), because our clients see themselves confronted with the effects of digitalisation and the transformation of their business models.
We successfully and sustainably staff positions at 1st and 2nd management levels as well as selected specialist roles. In addition to general management and marketing & sales, our activities focus on searches in the sectors of digitalisation and e-commerce, as well as sustainability/CSR.
Recruitment consulting is a People Business – internationally we cooperate exclusively with consultants we already know from direct collaboration. We recommend independent consultants – not firms or networks. Based on long-term experience and networking we can expertly accompany our clients in selecting the right partners in many foreign markets. On request, we can also manage these clients or consultants.
All of our consultants have many years of experience in recruitment consulting, which they have predominantly acquired at reputable executive search companies. They are specialists in this sector with a functional focus on recruitment.
Our services
OUR SUCCESS IS BASED ON MARKET KNOWLEDGE AND THE CLIENTS' AND CANDIDATES' TRUST IN OUR SERVICES.
EXECUTIVE
SEARCH
BOARD
SEARCH
LEADERSHIP
ASSESSMENT
COACHING
BOARD SEARCH
In the past few years, searching for qualified advisory board members or non-executive directors has become steadily more important. Nowadays, family-owned companies in particular rely increasingly on advisory board members with specific expertise. Owners and management want advisory board members as sparring partners, who can contribute sound know-how on key issues. Searching for advisory board members with proven expertise in digital transformation or sustainability/CSR is currently a focal point of our search assignments.
Other skills in demand are: IPO experience / M&A expertise / multichannel know-how / global supply chain understanding / brand building / internationalization experience / generational change moderation
We also fill interim CEO and CFO positions from our candidate network. The generational change in family businesses can often be effectively accompanied by the temporary support of an experienced CEO.
EXECUTIVE SEARCH
In a market environment in which demand for top profiles exceeds the supply of mobile talent willing to change jobs, identifying and acquiring managers / top specialists has become a decisive competitive factor for success.
Due to its federal structure, the German labour market is fundamentally different from those in other countries in Europe. Added to this, since Covid the challenge of acquiring top profiles for your own company has become even greater. Almost every candidate expects a contemporary “New Work” concept from their future employer.
Identifying suitable candidates and moderating the different expectations of clients and candidates is an important aspect of our searches.
LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT
The filling of strategic key positions can now be supported in a targeted manner by various supplementary initiatives and tools.
A leadership assessment will help decision makers to better assess the leadership qualities and future potential of a candidate. The increasing heterogeneity of teams requires a modified, modern understanding of management. This is the only way to actually leverage the potential in a team.
Christoph Kleinen and Dr. Hans-Joachim Strüven can look back on many years of expertise in conducting individual assessments and assessments of entire leadership teams. Our team of consultants, mostly certified, is accompanied by experienced experts. For complex, specific issues, such as optimal cooperation between generations, we cooperate with the company WiseForce Advisors, a leading provider in this field (www.wiseforceadvisors.com).
COACHING – the right fit
We offer our customers the opportunity to access experienced coaches who have been certified by KLEINEN ADVISORS.
We cooperate exclusively with business coaches we know from many years of collaboration and who we are convinced have an excellent reputation. Finding out which coach will fit which client and for which task is a basic pre-condition for later success.
Examples of accompanied coaching projects include:
Team Effectiveness –
collaboration in the leadership team
A new CEO, or also the period after a merger, can cause the make-up and management culture of a leadership team to completely change. We will support our clients to enable their management team to work optimally together in the shortest amount of time and to achieve the best-possible performance.
Onboarding Coaching –
new company, new culture, new role
Onboarding coaching minimises the risk of not finding your feet or not doing so quickly enough in a new company and within a new corporate culture. It is equally decisive for the company and the manager to actively accompany this process from Day 1 in order to allow the new employee to integrate as well as possible.
StepUp Coaching –
from a colleague to a manager
The first C-level role. How do I conduct myself in this new role now as the manager of my former colleagues? This step is a very special challenge for many internally developed candidates.
Digital Transformation –
a complex, company-wide project
Companies cannot transform themselves into digital players overnight or just by establishing a CDO.
Transforming an organisation is a complex process. It mostly begins with the leadership team and then has to be consistently accompanied across all levels of the company. The CHRO and their team play the decisive role here.
We will be pleased to support you here and will place senior HR leaders with transformation experience from our network. They will be able to accompany this process, including on an interim or project basis. Conceiving a project and consistently accompanying the implementation phase can make an essential contribution to a successful and sustainable digital transformation.
FAST MOVING
CONSUMER GOODS
RETAIL
The high pace of transformation in retail is continuing. Last year showed that omnichannel providers have grown faster than purely online players. Following this development, many retailers who had previously positioned themselves purely online have to think about building up their own branch network. At the same time, bricks-and-mortar retailers will continue to invest heavily in further developing their online or omnichannel presence.
LUXURY / LIFESTYLE
Providers of luxury and premium lifestyle products are also expecting a return to growth in Europe from 2022. Generation Z will gain importance in the future and will become the strongest group of buyers in just a few years. The weighting of marketing and communications channels is also changing accordingly.
TRAVEL / HOSPITALITY
Customers are starting to think more about the carbon footprint of their travel. Combining work and leisure is also playing an ever-greater role. At the same time, there is a growing awareness in society of healthy nutrition and the importance of sport and wellness to a healthy life. Providers in the travel and hospitality segment also have to take these developments into account.
OTC / HEALTHCARE
Health and wellness continue to be trends that allow significant growth to be expected across all consumer health/consumer care segments in the future. Health expertise in society as a consequence of the pandemic and the openness of Generation Z to nutrition and health topics is continuously growing. As a result, so is the readiness to take proactive responsibility for your own health.
Our markets
DIGITALISATION AND SUSTAINABILITY WILL BE DECISIVE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
Special Offerings
SPECIAL CHALLENGES
DEMAND TAILORED
SOLUTIONS
Our Team
JOB POSITIONS & MARKET SEGMENTS
EXAMPLES OF SEARCHES OUR CONSULTANTS
HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ACCOMPANIED
CEO // FMCG / OTC
CEO // RETAIL / ONLINE / BEAUTY
CEO // ACCESSORIES
CEO // FMCG / Food
CEO // FMCG / Premium / Beauty
CEO // Retail / Omnichannel
CFO // FMCG / SHOES
CFO // FMCG / TEXTILES
CFO // Retail / Omnichannel
CFO // FMCG / Food
CCO // RETAIL / OMNICHANNEL
COO // FMCG / SPORTS
CMO // FMCG / Beverages
CPO // Retail / Fashion
MANAGING DIRECTOR // FMCG / Wine
MANAGING DIRECTOR Procurement // Retail / Food
MANAGING DIRECTOR Non-Food // Retail / Omnichannel
HEAD OF DIVISION TEXTILES // Retail / Discount
Marketing Director // FMCG / Spirits
Sales Director // Retail / Omnichannel
SVP Sustainability // FMCG / Non-Food
SVP Customer Centricty // Retail / Omnichannel
VP Human Resources // FMCG / Food
SVP Sustainability // FMCG / Non-Food
ADVISORY BOARD Digital // FMCG / Fashion
ADVISORY BOARD Transformation // Retail / Food
REVENUe RANGES
OUR CLIENTS’ REVENUES RANGE BETWEEN
€80 million and €5 billion
JOB POSITIONS & MARKET SEGMENTS
EXAMPLES OF SEARCHES OUR CONSULTANTS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ACCOMPANIED
CEO // FMCG / OTC
CEO // Retail / Online / Beauty
CEO // ACCESSORIES
CFO // FMCG / Shoes
CFO // FMCG / Textiles
CCO // RETAIL / Omnichannel
COO // FMCG / Sports
CEO // FMCG / Food
CEO // FMCG / Premium / Beauty
CEO // Retail / Omnichannel
CFO // Retail / Omnichannel
CFO // FMCG / Food
CMO // FMCG / Beverages
CPO // Retail / Fashion
MANAGING DIRECTOR // FMCG / Wine
MANAGING DIRECTOR Procurement // Retail / Food
MANAGING DIRECTOR Non-Food // Retail / Omnichannel
HEAD OF DIVISION TEXTILES // Retail / Discount
Marketing Director // FMCG / Spirits
Sales Director // Retail / Omnichannel
SVP Sustainability // FMCG / Non-Food
SVP Customer Centricty // Retail / Omnichannel
VP Human Resources // FMCG / Food
SVP Sustainability // FMCG / Non-Food
ADVISORY BOARD Digital // FMCG / Fashion
ADVISORY BOARD Transformation // Retail / Food
REVENUe RANGES
OUR CLIENTS’ REVENUES RANGE BETWEEN
€80 million and €5 billion
Ihre Anfrage
Wir verfügen über spezifisches Markt-Know-how und ein exzellentes Netzwerk.
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