As of 1 May, Holtrop Ravesloot (IIC Partners: Amsterdam) is part of the Leeuwendaal Alliance. The combination creates a unique proposition in the Dutch executive search market. Holtrop Ravesloot brings its in-depth knowledge of leadership diagnostics and its extensive network across the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Leeuwendaal, in turn, has a rock-solid foundation in the public sector and strengthens executive search for strategic positions with its broad, multidisciplinary expertise.

The combination makes both organisations stronger, not only in scale but above all in substance. The Holtrop Ravesloot brand will be retained, while the consultants will move to Leeuwendaal’s office in Utrecht. There they can count on the support of a well-run organisation.

People at the heart of everything we do

Holtrop Ravesloot was founded in 1960 and is regarded as the first executive search firm in the Netherlands. The firm finds and selects directors, executives and supervisory board members for both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Drawing on diagnostic methods originally rooted in psychology, the consultants explore each candidate’s motivations, leadership style and personal values, in order to assess whether they are the right fit for the organisation, its culture and its future.

The consultants at Holtrop Ravesloot work from the conviction that the best candidate is not necessarily the one who most closely resembles the existing team, but the one who complements it. The firm deliberately seeks what it calls ‘a careful contrast’: enough connection with the existing culture, but innovative enough to bring different questions and perspectives. This creates leadership teams that keep one another sharp and are future-proof. The firm operates from two disciplines: executive search and governance. Themes such as digitalisation, sustainability and diversity guide its work. Through the international network IIC Partners, which Holtrop Ravesloot co-founded in 1986, the firm also has international reach.

From Amstelveen, managing partners Jan Beerling and Gerald Knol work with their team on what has been the core mission since the firm was founded: making organisations future-proof by connecting them to the right people. In their vision and approach, Holtrop Ravesloot and Leeuwendaal fit together remarkably well. And here too, the principle applies: a careful contrast. Enough common ground to work well together, and enough variety to strengthen one another.

Just as at Holtrop Ravesloot, people are at the heart of everything Leeuwendaal does. Leeuwendaal’s executive search consultants assess not only whether a candidate has the right competencies, but above all whether there is a good fit: with the organisation, with the challenge ahead, and with the people the candidate will work alongside. After all, leading is never something you do alone; it is teamwork. A new executive changes the dynamic and must not only fit the organisation, but also form a strong team with the existing leadership.

That systemic perspective is reinforced by the fact that the executive search team is embedded in a multidisciplinary consultancy. Colleagues from a wide range of disciplines, from organisational and change consultants to leadership specialists and assessment and organisational psychologists, are at clients’ premises every day, and therefore know what is at stake, what is at play, and what leadership requires. That breadth makes the difference: not only in the search itself, but also in the onboarding and the further development of executives and their teams.

Jan Beerling, managing partner at Holtrop Ravesloot: ‘For decades, we have been driven by one question: who is the right leader for the future of this organisation? At Leeuwendaal we encounter that same drive, across the full breadth of people and organisation. The combination makes us stronger together for the clients and candidates we work with.’

Gerald Knol, managing partner at Holtrop Ravesloot: ‘What convinced us is the added value of being embedded in a multidisciplinary firm. Leeuwendaal knows organisations from the inside. Their culture, their challenges, their people. This makes the conversation about leadership richer and the match more lasting.’

Edward Hermans, managing director at Leeuwendaal: ‘Holtrop Ravesloot is a firm with an exceptional reputation and an approach that aligns seamlessly with our philosophy. Their diagnostic perspective on leadership enriches our advice to clients and enhances our ability to make a difference at the very top of organisations.’

Jeannette van der Vorm, director of executive search at Leeuwendaal: ‘In Holtrop Ravesloot we welcome a team known for craftsmanship, care and an impressive network across the for-profit and non-profit sectors. That fits precisely with the ambition of the Leeuwendaal Alliance: renowned firms that collaborate from their own strengths and reinforce one another.’

About the Leeuwendaal Alliance

The Leeuwendaal Alliance is a partnership of renowned consultancies that pool their expertise from one shared conviction: organisations flourish when people can fully realise their potential. Within the Alliance, Leeuwendaal, Hiemstra & De Vries, Lagerweij and Holtrop Ravesloot work together to strengthen a people-centred organisational culture and to create sustainable societal value. We support clients in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors in discovering, developing and deploying talent, and in strengthening agility and collaboration. In this way, we help organisations achieve their societal and strategic goals.