Knight Gianella specializes in executive search and boardroom advisory services and assists owners, board members, and CEOs of Swiss companies and organizations in filling key positions. We advise our clients on key issues of corporate management and governance, guide them through complex succession processes, and support them in the strategic composition, evaluation, and development of boards and leadership teams.

Free from conflicts of interest and operating across industries, we have virtually unrestricted access to a national and international executive market. This allows us to open doors to individuals who would otherwise be inaccessible to the market and recruit them for top-level leadership and management roles. We have been established in the Swiss market since 1965 and maintain a network built over decades on the basis of mutual trust.

With discretion, the highest level of professionalism, and on an equal footing, each engagement is personally managed by an experienced partner and coordinated within the team. Our reliable research and evaluation methodology enables a comprehensive assessment of leadership competence, cultural fit, and personal integrity. On this basis, we create a sustainable foundation for our clients’ decision-making.

In the relationship with our clients and candidates, we attach particular importance to discretion and trusting cooperation at eye level.

Our business principles include:

• Highest professionalism towards all stakeholders
• Cooperation at eye level
• Discretion and trust
• Independence, no conflicts of interest
• Project execution in all phases of the consulting mandate by the mandate-leading partner(s)
• A deep understanding of the business model and culture is a crucial basis for each consulting mandate
• Client- and task-specific conception and execution of the consulting mandates
• Up-to-date network of partners supported by experienced in-house research and data management as well as professional project assistance
• Focus on (gender) diversity and inclusion by conviction
• Validation, calibration, and recommendation of the appropriate leader exclusively by the mandate-leading partner(s)
• Objective and solution-oriented negotiation support in the acquisition of the selected leadership personality

In the search and evaluation of key positions, we attach great importance to the highest level of professionalism towards all stakeholders and guarantee independent cooperation at eye level. At Knight Gianella, we observe the entire candidate target segment without conflicts of interest and without being constrained by parallel searches of similar mandates. As a result, we rarely have white spots on the longlist, minimizing the risk of bad hires and increasing the success rate for sustainable solutions.

This is made possible by Knight Gianella’s independent boutique nature. As a boutique, we grant each client exclusivity for the duration of a consulting mandate and guarantee not to take on any comparable assignment to exclude any competitive situation in the narrower candidate target segment. Knight Gianella also has comprehensive insider regulations to ensure that all employees can operate without conflicts of interest. At Knight Gianella, we embody the same values: Integrity, Performance, Collaboration, and Courage. We live by high ethical standards, act solely in the interest of our clients, and are entirely independent of third-party interests.

We acquire the necessary transparency in the national and international market through our professional and internationally oriented research. We either know or find the personality you are looking for. This is proven by our outstanding and sustainable track record.

The geographical search radius of our consulting mandates includes:

• Focus on clients with headquarters in Switzerland/Germany. Of these, around 40% of search assignments are from clients outside Switzerland.
• Around 80% of search assignments with a global search radius.
• Around 60% of shortlisted candidates are working and/or stationed outside their home market at the time of identification.

Our global reach operates from our headquarters in Zurich/Zollikon (Switzerland). For global searches, we selectively rely on experienced partners on other continents who share our business principles.