About Thomas Hammer


My services are individually tailored to the needs of each of my clients, be they privately owned or listed companies, foundations or public-sector institutions. The scope covers support in effective leadership succession and selection, executive assessments, board effectiveness reviews and executive leadership coaching.

Philosophy

Creating a basis for optimal people decisions


I advise chairmen, CEOs and nominations committees on strategic people decisions at board and Exco level.

I am convinced that people strategies and decisions are more than ever the main success factors in today’s fiercely competitive world.

I am pursuing my mission with deep passion. My long experience, both as a Partner of a leading executive search firm and as the Global Head Human Resources of a major financial services institution, has given me a professional ethos which is deeply rooted in the relationships and the trust I have been able to establish with both clients and candidates.

My personal integrity puts me in a position to advise and judge objectively and independently.

I consider it essential that I take personal responsibility for the execution of each assignment entrusted to me, which means that I carefully select all assignments I agree to take on and ensure that I have sufficient resources to devote myself to each project individually.

Services



Succession planning at board and executive level

A thought-through succession planning with a mid- to long-term time frame will ensure that the optimal strategic people decisions are taken. My role is to support clients with reaching realistic assessments of the current and future labour market developments; I help them establish internal processes and decision-making structures that will enable timely identification and development of potential succession candidates. Where needed, I support my clients also in the search for external candidates at board- and C-level.

Selection and assessment of senior management

My assessments of individual candidates are based on structured interviews, supplemented by thorough 360-degree reference checks.

Effectiveness reviews of executive committees will result in better collaboration and interaction which will lead to sustainable performance and increased effectiveness.

Board- and Team Effectiveness Reviews

I conduct board effectiveness reviews to enhance sustainable performance and effectiveness of a company’s ultimately responsible governing body.
Effectiveness reviews of executive teams will result in better collaboration and interaction which will lead to substainable performance and increased effectiveness.


Individual Assessments

My assessments of individual candidates are based on structured interviews, supplemented by thorough 360-degree reference checks.

Background



Born and raised in Solothurn, Switzerland, I studied law at the Universities of Geneva and Zurich and graduated with a PhD from the University of Zurich, before being admitted to the Bar. Following this part of my formal education, I gained a Diploma for Executive Development (PED) at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne and undertook a Senior Executive Education programme in HR at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA.

I worked for eight years in the legal profession, first as an Associate at Prager Dreifuss & Werder in Zurich and subsequently as General Counsel and Executive Committee Member of the Solothurner Kantonalbank.

In 1991, I joined Egon Zehnder in Zurich, where I became Partner in 1996. Initially I focused on financial services and then became leader of the Financial Services Practice Group EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Managing Partner for Switzerland in the Zurich and Geneva offices.

In 2002, I joined UBS as Group Head of Human Resources and Member of the Group Managing Board. In 2007, I rejoined the Egon Zehnder partnership, where I stayed until 2015, the last year as a Senior Advisor. In the second phase at Egon Zehnder, I broadened my focus by advising chairmen, nominations committees and CEOs across industries, including the public sector. I was engaged in several CEO succession projects in Europe and overseas, and performed numerous board appraisals and executive assessments.

In 2015, I started my own management and board consultancy. I am a member of several foundation boards, as well as of an advisory board of an international industry conglomerate. I am a member of the Board of Trustees of Avenir Suisse, Switzerland’s leading think tank, where I also chair the Trustees’ Support Foundation.

Thomas Hammer Board Consulting Zürich

Contact


Thomas Hammer - Board Consulting

Baselstrasse 98, 4500 Solothurn, Switzerland

Telephone: +41 44 388 52 55
Mobile: +41 79 401 19 02

Email: thomas@hammer-consulting.ch

 


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