PARIS, February 7, 2008 – Approximately 600 CEOs and senior managers attended a conference last night at the Musée de l’Homme on the “War for Talent” sponsored by Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY), a premier global provider of talent management solutions. At Korn/Ferry’s annual event in Paris for top business executives, the findings of a survey conducted by the firm among 250 French companies in December 2007 were presented.

The survey revealed that French executives consider a lack of career opportunities and ineffective leadership to be the two biggest reasons why executives leave their jobs. At the same time, they believe that better employee assessment and development programs, more attractive compensation packages and a clearly defined corporate strategy are the most powerful factors in retaining talent.

The survey also found that more than half of executives predict that the war for talent will be just as fierce in five years compared to today.

According to the survey, executive demand in France today is primarily focused around the functional areas marketing and communication, production, research and development, and general management. Additionally, it is starting to be felt at the middle management level, including those with less than a decade of experience.

The event featured a roundtable discussion with a panel of distinguished CEOs that echoed one of the key findings of the survey – that the war for talent is a reality that concerns companies everywhere, regardless of industry, size or country. The panel was comprised of Nicolas Bordas, TBWA; Dominique Senequier, Axa Private Equity; Françoise Gri, Manpower; Geffroy Roux de Bezieux, Virgin; and Guy Lebeau, Johnson & Johnson.

“Many French companies tend to focus too much energy on their corporate image and not enough on individual career progression, despite the latter being at the core of the war for talent,” said Michel Tobelem, a client partner with Korn/Ferry in Paris. “Additionally, companies often recruit from outside without benchmarking the talent that already exists within the company. We feel that the solutions proposed by our survey are very implementable with the possible exception of compensation, due, in part, to the French ‘ambiguity’ when it comes to questions about this topic.”

Review the "War for Talent" survey (in French)

About Korn/Ferry International
Korn/Ferry International, with more than 80 offices in 39 countries, is a premier global provider of talent management solutions. Based in Los Angeles, the firm delivers an array of solutions that help clients to identify, deploy, develop, retain and reward their talent. For more information on the Korn/Ferry International family of companies, visit www.kornferry.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:  
Derek Fromson
Los Angeles
+1 (310) 843-4117
derek.fromson@kornferry.com

Rozenn Hautrive
Paris
+33 1 45 61 86 46
rozenn.hautrive@kornferry.com