A New Identity: From Starge to Person/ally

Three years ago, Éva Gombás founded Starge with the belief that executive search needed a fresh perspective. What started as a solo endeavor has since grown into a dynamic team united by a shared vision. With this evolution came the need for a name that truly reflected their mission. Enter Person/ally—a brand that embodies their people-first philosophy and commitment to meaningful, long-term partnerships.

Éva explains, “Our new brand is the result of teamwork and creativity. It really shows off our people-first approach in how we live our lives, do our jobs, and support our clients. This isn’t just a new name; it’s a new chapter.”

A Vision Rooted in People

Imagine having your own personal ally in the search for the perfect candidate or the ideal job; someone who understands not just the skills required, but the human connection that turns a placement into a partnership. This vision is at the heart of Person/ally, a pioneering executive search firm that believes in breaking away from outdated, transactional recruitment methods to build a more personal, people-centric approach.

For Éva Gombás, managing partner of Person/ally, the journey began with a dream. After 30 years of leading executive search at a multinational firm, she wanted to create something that truly reflected her values—a business that placed people, not just positions, at its core. But to make this vision a reality, she needed the right allies. This is where Viki came in.

Bringing Marketing to Executive Search

Viktória Vándorfi took a bold leap from marketing leadership to executive search, bringing fresh insight and a dynamic perspective to the industry. With two decades of experience in multinational corporations, she understands not only business strategy but the human motivations behind career transitions. Her ability to ask the right questions and see beyond the surface makes her a driving force in reshaping how talent is matched with opportunity. For Viki, joining Person/ally was not just a career change, it was an opportunity to redefine the standards of executive search and create a lasting impact.

Historically, marketing played little to no role in executive search, Person/ally is pioneering a cutting-edge approach, recognizing that personalization and storytelling are the future. “My experience has taught me that real organizational change requires the right leaders, the right culture, and an understanding of the bigger picture,” Viki explains. Together, she and Eva are reshaping executive search by offering real, actionable feedback and building long-term relationships instead of one-off transactions.

Person/ally strongly believes in being an agent of change and advocates for the transformation of the executive search industry. “This industry is stuck in the nineties, it needs to break free from its outdated, elitist approach. We aim to move away from that overly formal world while maintaining professionalism,” explains Eva.

More Than a Business—A Commitment to People

Person/ally is built on a strong foundation of vision, collaboration, and a dedicated team that brings its mission to life. More than just an executive search firm, it is a movement led by women redefining the industry. Their work is driven by innovation, authenticity, and a shared commitment to meaningful change. Person/ally stands for long-term partnerships, curiosity, and impact. The name itself—Person + Ally—embodies this mission: to be the personal allies of leaders, clients, and candidates alike.

“In a world where rapidly evolving technologies are reshaping businesses at high speed, we need leaders who are flexible, innovative, and capable of engaging their teams and organizations,” Eva notes. Viki adds, “Today, even consumers expect exceptional, highly personalized experiences from the services and products they use. Why should executive search be any different?”

New brand, New Possibilities

Rebranding opens new possibilities for both clients and stakeholders. For Person/ally, it’s a chance to expand its vision and services. A key initiative in this new phase is the Career Health Check—an objective tool that helps leaders and organizations assess their career potential and direction. Beyond business, Person/ally is committed to giving back, ensuring that ambition is met with opportunity without bias.

The Future of Executive Search: A Human-Centric Approach

Person/ally is fundamentally about people—not CVs, not organizational charts, but real individuals with stories, ambitions, and potential. With this philosophy, it goes beyond recruitment to serve as a true ally, standing beside clients and candidates alike, shaping the future of leadership with a human touch.

Their manifesto is simple: You might be a candidate today, a client tomorrow, and a candidate again in the future. These roles change, but the person behind them remains the same. You.

How to succeed at work when your manager is a legacy employee

When you are in a junior position, almost any manager can help you learn. Whether it’s perfecting technical skills like sales or coding, or learning to understand and reflect corporate culture, almost all advice is helpful. Fast forward 15-20 years into a career, and your team leader plays a very different role in your career. They might not even share the same technical skills or background. People management and office politics might be the expertise they are teaching you. Or they may no longer be in a position where they are teaching you much at all. At that point, it is likely that your boss is a legacy employee. They have value, they can do the job and do it well. But they may be less integral to the organisation than they once were. At this point, they may be planning for retirement or a consulting role or a very different opportunity elsewhere. What does this mean for your own advancement?

Promoter or problematic? Not all legacy employees are an obstacle to your career advancement. For example, if you are still a couple of levels below your manager, they can support promotions and pay increases and expanded responsibility, without any personal conflict. Others may even welcome your transition into their role, if they are, for example pre-retirement. Both scenarios, however, require a legacy manager who is aware their own advancement path has ended and content with that reality. So how to handle the ‘other’ situation?

Your future first. Your network and allies should always be fresh and expanding. So, your first solution should be in place long before you are in this situation: never rely on one person for complete success at anything. Your manager is an important and natural first line of supporters, but they should never be the only one. You should have other people in the organisation that recognise your potential and will advocate for you. This includes not only people senior to your but direct reports (you don’t always know who their own allies are!).

Second, don’t let your manager’s future get into your present state of mind. Continue to do the things that made you a high potential team member in their eyes. If their attitude or opinion seems to change, keep in mind that might very well be an emotional reaction to their own vulnerability. At the same time, do not be dismissive of their advice or opinions. For one thing, they still can provide a lot of wisdom and inside perspective: they are living the role you want for yourself. But more fundamentally, show empathy and generosity towards people who have supported you. The road to the C-suite is paved with opportunities to build relationships, have empathy and navigate difficult moments. This might be one of the first times you can show true top-level engagement.

Your boss is not your brand. Some of my clients have become such good team players that they sometimes lose a little of their own identity along the way. It’s not unlike a marriage, where one spouse becomes so wrapped up in the others’ success that they fail to value their individuality. No matter how close you are to your manager, they will have both good and bad qualities that you cannot mirror. If they are now a legacy member of the organisation, this could be a good opportunity to push yourself to differentiate yourself from them. That doesn’t mean be disparaging of what their flaws are; it does mean recogising the gaps in their contribution and emphasising your own. Were they better at strategy than detail? Did they communicate better in groups than one-on-one? Perhaps you can demonstrate your project management or mentorship talent.

Reporting to a leader that is now legacy is a disappointment, not doomsday.

Many people discover that their boss is no longer the asset to the organisation that they once were, and panic. Our own egos make us fear that people we like, or who like us, are us. If they are no longer valued by the company, than we no longer are. As I have written before, the reality is that organisations who are successful today are run by people who value and embrace constant change, frequently reposition to meet the current needs, and will adapt their talent supply to the latest opportunities. This means that the person who was perfect for a role five years ago might not be now—simply because the circumstances have changed. Be gracious and calm. One day it might happen to you. They’ll live. So will you.

In terms of my background and expertise, I have spent my entire career working as a trusted advisor to senior leaders wanting to improve the effectiveness of themselves, their teams and their companies. Prior to starting my own consulting firm, I led the global executive assessment and development team for Cisco. Earlier in my career I  held leadership roles with RHR International, PepsiCo, Ashridge Executive Education, Hult International Business School and the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.

Dr Robert Kovach
PSYCHOLOGY. LEADERS & TEAMS.

The goal of these meetings is to exchange information, help each other, and share what we are currently working on to see if we can collaborate. To strengthen relationships between members, it is important to have API and each other in mind while working day to day.

Eva Gombás led our discussion on Management Assessment to share valuable information and best practices among members, aiming to enhance collective knowledge and efficiency.

For Starge Leadership in Hungary, the primary purposes of Management Assessment are to support customers in the external and internal selection process and assist talent development through discovering leadership and growth potential of their leaders. Approximately 150-200 assessments are conducted annually. They manage large-scale projects such as currently a post-acquisition integration for four companies involving around 6000 people. This includes assessing about 100 senior managers and directors to help select management for merged companies and provide development recommendations for those selected and those remaining.

The assessment process begins with evaluating client needs and project purpose, aligning with company strategy, and focusing on six core competencies (for example customer and solution orientation, change, resilience, ownership, alignment and cooperation, and learning agility). Additional technical skills and cognitive abilities are included as needed. Methods used include the Hogan Personality Questionnaire, supplemented by interviews, case study and situational examples.

Effective communication with candidates is crucial. Participants are informed about the process and receive detailed information, ensuring transparency and objectivity. Each participant receives a detailed report and can provide feedback before the final report is sent to the client. The assessment report typically includes key objectives, a high-level review of major competencies, overall advice on meeting requirements, development potential, detailed explanations of conclusions, opportunities, and risks, and proposed actions for development. Reports are customizable based on the project and presented to the client.

Key strengths templates are used, and often scale from 1 to 8 for competencies, depending on the project’s requirements. After the assessment, presentations are made to the client about each participant individually, accompanied by an executive summary of the overall process results. For instance, statistics from the Hogan assessment provide valuable information. Different cultures and leadership styles within the assessed group can be analysed, allowing several conclusions to be drawn from the statistics. Additionally, Hogan profiles can be presented in one chart for a comprehensive overview to discover potential factors which enhance or obstruct cooperation in the management team. This type of representation is often implemented within a summary of the top executives’ profiles.

During the meeting, Ken McGovern asked why Hogan was selected over DISC or other tools. Eva explained that Hogan was chosen because it can be easily translated into competencies. They use all three Hogan modules, emphasizing competencies such as resilience and change. Eva then asked the team about other questionnaires they use.

Marina Vergili from Brazil mentioned that DISC is a popular tool already widely used within companies, leading to lower demand in assessments. Instead, they use Hogan and OPQ due to their strong relationship with competencies, though establishing a direct relationship from Hogan to competencies remains a challenge. She noted that business cases, once common in Brazil, are now less frequent due to time and cost constraints, with the executive summary being reserved for very senior positions. Additionally, assessments in Brazil are conducted for both local and international recruiting, and there is potential for collaboration with members of API Network outside Brazil.

Purificación Mora from Spain shared that DISC is a reliable, time and cost-effective tool for identifying communication styles. It is useful for assessment and selection processes, professional promotions, executive coaching, career development, and understanding how professionals prefer to be managed and communicated with. As headhunters, using DISC helps improve placement efficiency and differentiates us in a crowded market.

Peter Mason explained that while they offer assessments for final candidates in their searches, this is usually an exception. He recommended assessing both the candidate and their prospective supervisor to ensure a good fit. Purificación asked Eva about the length of the Hogan report, to which Eva responded that it depends on the client agreement. The full insight report is 20 pages, while the flash report is 4-5 pages. In addition to individual assessment reports, a comprehensive report on the entire project is shared. She also adds that previously, accessing well-written business cases was challenging, but now they use AI to create these cases.

Håkan Svennerstål highlighted that recent research shows personality is more important than intelligence. He stressed the need for Psychology as a science to better understand and measure personality. Hakan no longer uses Hogan, preferring tools supported by recent research. He emphasized the importance of including 360-degree feedback in assessments to gain insights from colleagues, managers, and subordinates, which can expedite the assessment process. Hakan recommended separating assessments for senior executives, middle management, and talent, noting that senior assessments should focus more on societal and business aspects, while talent assessments are more online based, with top executive meetings being conducted in person. However, 360-degree feedback is not suitable for executive searches.

The meeting provided a comprehensive overview of the current practices and preferences in Management Assessment across various regions. The discussion highlighted the importance of selecting appropriate assessment tools, with a strong emphasis on the Hogan Personality Questionnaire due to its competency alignment. The participants shared valuable insights into regional preferences, such as the use of DISC and OPQ in Brazil and Spain, and the evolving nature of business cases.

The exchange of ideas underscored the necessity of effective communication with candidates, and the integration of 360-degree feedback for a holistic assessment approach. The meeting also brought attention to the differing needs for senior executives, middle management, and talent assessments.

Overall, the session fostered a collaborative environment for sharing best practices and highlighted the continuous improvement in assessment methodologies, ensuring that all members can benefit from shared knowledge and experiences.

Here are the best ways to recognise and address a team member who is now legacy.

Performance is personal. When I say someone who is legacy, I mean the person has reached the limits of their potential, in their current role, or within the current strategy of the company. This is an important distinction. I have managed or advised leaders who had team members who weren’t performing well in another organisation or even in just another department. In a different role, they thrived. So potential is personal and specific to the organization and the role. As a leader who is making the most important strategic decisions of the company, it can feel like a personal failure when someone is moving into a legacy status. And that’s not just due to ego—a bad hire can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Leaders love to be right (you’re so surprised, right?) and it can feel like a personal failure when someone they saw as a long-term fit, ceases to be so.

But it doesn’t mean that person is a “failure”. It simply means that person’s strengths no longer align or have reached the extent of their potential with the goals of the organisation. It’s important for leaders to recognise that as painful as a legacy team member is, it doesn’t mean that the employee or the leader has failed.

Honest communication is vital. Second only to my clients’ resistance to recognising that an employee is underperforming, is their resistance to tell the person. This is easy to understand—you don’t need a licensed psychologist to explain why. If we have any humanity or decency, we feel badly when we know we are going to disappoint someone. We all avoid pain—physical and emotional—and we go to surprising lengths to minimize that discomfort. Add to that the fact that leaders take it personally when a team member has outlived their potential in a role, and it’s excruciating. I tell people on the receiving end of this conversation all the time—it’s really not personal, it is a business decision. And we work with their emotional response to what is happening, with sensitivity. But for people giving this news, it’s more blunt: tell them. Do it today, preferably yesterday. It’s not going to improve. It’s not going to be easy. But it’s unfair for someone to come to work each day, presumably doing their best to contribute, unaware that others no longer have confidence.

What’s even worse: many legacy team members sense it. They might think they are having a rough week, or not communicating clearly, or blame someone else. But most of us are self-aware enough, especially those reporting to C-suite or senior leadership teams, when our contributions simply aren’t landing the way we want. They might be initially upset, but on another level, it is likely not a complete surprise.

A team member who is now legacy doesn’t reflect a failure of the leader or the member.

The most important thing to remember is that people lose jobs and leave jobs and go on to thrive elsewhere. Companies change, and with that change comes differing needs. Leaders move on and bring in their own teams and styles and not all of the existing employees remain the best person for the role. In other words, it is critically important to recognize when a team member is now legacy. And it’s vital to communicate it. At the same time, it isn’t indicative of a crisis in the organisation. I advise leaders across a variety of industries, generations, cultural backgrounds and geographical locations—this comes up again and again. It’s the inevitability of the constant evolution and adaptation that good leaders embrace. It’s a painful situation, but not necessarily a bad one.

In terms of my background and expertise, I have spent my entire career working as a trusted advisor to senior leaders wanting to improve the effectiveness of themselves, their teams and their companies. Prior to starting my own consulting firm, I led the global executive assessment and development team for Cisco. Earlier in my career I  held leadership roles with RHR International, PepsiCo, Ashridge Executive Education, Hult International Business School and the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.

Dr Robert Kovach
PSYCHOLOGY. LEADERS & TEAMS.

There is also the aspect of how much you report out to the organisation and the general public—call it the communications transparency continuum. At the one extreme, there is so-called corporate speak, including official statements to the public, which is usually heavily vetted and scripted and edited. Then there’s the other extreme, including reluctance to say anything at all, to the point of risking the appearance of obfuscation. That’s rarely intentional: it can either bely a lack of agreement at the top about what to say, or handwringing about committing publicly (and thus permanently, in the era of the internet) to whatever decision was arrived upon. But the cost of such poor communication can be more problematic than the decision itself: one survey found that 60 percent of North American employees didn’t know the company’s vision and couldn’t articulate the mission or cultural values. This might not be lack of articulation of core values: it might be that communication (or lack thereof) wasn’t consistent with those values.

Even when you are avoiding those extremes, you will operate along that continuum: it’s just unavoidable. That said, people will always read between the lines, and that is when trust becomes a huge issue. For leaders of public companies, what is said officially will be held to another set of official statements: all the legally required disclosures that public companies make to the government. Remember that employees of public companies are very savvy about acquiring additional context. And the requirements of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange or New York Stock Exchange mean those organisations regularly disclose compensation for leadership team members or key business decisions. What you say in your official statements, on social media, even comments by leaders picked up by the press all feed into the narrative.

What you say is permanent because of the internet. And thanks to social media, it will spread—an active living statement, not a static communication. It may even make its way to sites like The Vault and layoff.com because current and potential employees rely more and more heavily on these kinds of sources to get information—and importantly, form an opinion—about a future employer based on them. The point is that how you communicate will impact climate and culture long after any particular executive leaves, and it will always be a public record of how honestly and respectfully the company communicates difficult decisions.

The communication you make will last much longer than the decision.

In the digital era, corporate communications can be interpreted as a value judgement about how you treat people. If the organisation says very little about a departing executive, for example, it may be because the leadership doesn’t want to hurt their reputation, either out of mere politeness or because they might become a competitor or client. On the other hand, if the departure was associated with public-facing issues (they were high profile and there were unfortunate circumstances attached to them), then the decision to be quiet can be interpreted as a very different tactic. In fact, the worse the underlying circumstances, the more dangerous the decision to try to say as little as possible. If you sacked lots of people, admit it—people will be panicking anyway. If it was one person, with no extraneous issues, then perhaps you can say the company policy is to not discuss details because we respect everyone, current employees and former, and wish them well. Leaders today must understand the power and permanency of communications today and that style, tone and transparency are all part of the corporate culture and the public record. Be careful what you say but say something and say it well.

In terms of my background and expertise, I have spent my entire career working as a trusted advisor to senior leaders wanting to improve the effectiveness of themselves, their teams and their companies. Prior to starting my own consulting firm, I led the global executive assessment and development team for Cisco. Earlier in my career I  held leadership roles with RHR International, PepsiCo, Ashridge Executive Education, Hult International Business School and the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.

Dr Robert Kovach
PSYCHOLOGY. LEADERS & TEAMS.