For organizations we offer 

Executive Search

 and 

Leadership Consulting

 services.

If your organization is a Startup, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) or Non-Profit Organization (NPO) we gladly offer special conditions (pro bono if you qualify too). 

Executive Search

  • We love the art and science of executive search
  • We love technology and the transformation it brings
  • We believe in tailor made solutions with a twist
  • We believe in transparency, collaboration and creativity
  • We are convinced the secrete sauce is happiness

The fundamentals of locating and attracting highly skilled senior leadership talent to an organization (executive search) haven’t radically changed over the last decades. What has changed is the pace of technological innovation and business transformation. Given these dynamics we see plenty of opportunities to continuously improve, innovate and digitize parts of our business to further increase our value proposition. We are actively working on this constant transformation and feel privileged to live in times of change. We embrace VUCA and are sure that the human element will be of increased importance as digitization continues. 

Consulting in the field of executive search involves two contrasting elements which we find truly fascinating: Art and Science.

Science: The typical search process is and used to be sequential in nature (“waterfall”). Each step is conducted once and only started if the previous is completed. Our “agile” approach on the other hand uses best practices initially developed in the software industry (iterations, sprints, continuous testing) resulting in a more efficient, adaptable and collaborative approach emphasizing cultural fit. 

We use both methods with lots of success but prefer as an increasing number of our clients do the latter.

Ten step process:

  1. Analyzing client requirements
  2. Creating position profile
  3. Identifying possible profiles
  4. Contacting individuals
  5. Evaluating interested candidates
  6. Producing candidate reports
  7. Presenting top contenders 
  8. Conducting reference checks
  9. Assisting selection 
  10. Supporting integration 

Art: Evaluating the cultural fit between our client and a potential candidate takes much more than a simple discussion about the organization’s culture and the candidate’s career path and skills. Only a holistic and consultative understanding of the industry, the company, the position and the candidate results in a perfect match. This is why we look behind the curtain to get to the essence of success: happiness.

Technology

We use state of the art technology in all our processes and in both aspects (art, science) of executive search. Given our keen interest and past experience in this topic we continuously scan the market and evaluate new and exciting solutions. If you are a startup active in HR-/Recruiting-Tech or similar we would love to hear from you.

Features

Choosing the right executive search partner is not easy. There are many differentiating factors such as size (boutique, SMB, Multinational), geographic reach (local, international, global), model (integrated, franchise, network), ownership (equity/non-equity partnership, single owner), payment structure (retained, contingency) and no shortage of providers in this space. This is why we would like to list a couple of our service features:
  • more than ten years of experience in top-tier consulting companies
  • broad industry and functional experience (T-shaped profiles) at the board and c-level
  • based in Switzerland with international ties to the USA, Nordics and Central Europe
  • high rate of successful placements and repeat clients (happy to share our failures and consequent learnings too)
  • partners highly involved in all steps of the search process (quality before quantity)
  • fixed compensation model (candidate renumeration doesn't matter)
  • big enough to deliver and small enough to care (you are part of the journey not a number)
  • no business hours (available when you are)
  • high level of client commitment (we don't have jobs but follow our passion)
  • combining structure and intellect with hands-on, down-to-earth execution
  • highly agile (VUCA loving), creative and uncomplicated to work with
  • open to creative partnership models (e.g., gamified compensation schemes)
  • relational not transactional & diversity by design

Experience

As stated above we have successfully worked in numerous industries as we focus on leadership and mission-critical positions, recognize industry convergence and strongly believe in cross-industry experiences and the power of specialist generalists.

We are passionate about technology which is why we are specially versed in technology driven industries and functions. All things digital greatly appeal to us which is why we developed and use a digital leadership framework to find the right leaders combining the three essential non-digital digital traits. 

Leadership Consulting

We offer a diverse range of services assisting organizations in increasing their happiness by 

  • evaluating and improving their executive leadership teams (assessment)
  • developing leadership continuance strategies (succession planning)
  • growing their leaders
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Aalto AG – Alfred-Escher-Str. 17 – 8002 Zurich – happiness@aalto.ch – www.aalto.ch – +41 43 549 5474

Impressum/Nutzungsbedingungen – Datenschutz

fostering organizational and professional happiness
executive search, leadership and career consulting

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Patricia
Widmer

Managing Partner

Dr. Patricia Widmer is Founder & Managing Partner at Aalto AG – fostering organizational and professional happiness through executive search, leadership and career consulting.

Patricia studied business administration at the University of Zurich with an emphasis on banking and finance and worked for several years in private banking and wealth management for a large Swiss bank. During her subsequent time abroad in the US and Germany, she held leadership positions with several charity organizations. Patricia has been with the University of St. Gallen since 2014, where she established the English-speaking certificate programme “Women Back to Business” (WBB) as well as the “Women’s Leadership Programme” and is now Programme Director for Diversity and Management Programmes. In addition, she is facilitating and moderating workshops as well as presentations about Diversity & Inclusion and unconscious bias. She wrote her dissertation about “Gender Disparity on Top of Companies”.

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Mike J. Widmer

Founder & Managing Partner

Dr. Mike J. Widmer is Founder & Managing Partner of Aalto AG – fostering organizational and professional happiness through executive search, leadership and career consulting. 

He began his professional career by founding an internet startup and thereafter joined the software company BSI Business Systems Integration AG as a Project Manager and Legal Counsel. After complementing his PhD in law at the University of Zurich, Switzerland with a full-time MBA at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan he joined McKinsey & Company in the USA. Next Mike returned to BSI to set up the company’s German subsidiary in Frankfurt as Country Manager. 

Prior to founding Aalto in 2020 he worked for almost 10 years in two top-tier executive search companies at international and local levels.