We are in 40 countries

Executive Search in China,
Asia and worldwide

  • Acropolis Associates is an Executive Search consultancy that assists multinational organizations, medium sized enterprises as well as smaller niche companies to attract and retain senior managers, directors, and C-Level executives (CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, CTO …).
  • In addition to executive hunting, which is our core business, we provide recruitment services to identify technical experts for our clients whose expertise is rare or in very specialized technical niches, such as Deep Tech (AI, Advanced materials, Biotech, Block chain, Digital, Drones, Electronics, Photonics, Quantum computing).
  • We originally started by specializing on mainland China and Asia based positions, or any China and Asia related positions based at our client’s headquarters in Europe, Middle East, or Americas.
  • During the 20 years where our expertise has grown, we have extended the scope of our missions worldwide. Since 2018, our attachment to the international human resources group FMA (Future Manager) has strengthened us in the 40 countries where our colleagues are based.

Acropolis Associates'
strategic advantages

  • Proven rigorous & systematic Executive search Process: digging “deep” and introducing most suitable candidates, not those that are easy to identify.
  • Team expertise to implement “Direct Approach” process (real head hunting): we are not middlemen downloading CV from websites or databases.
  • Specialized China & Asia knowledge which constitutes our DNA, and which then extended geographically as our expertise strengthened.
  • Commitment to implement same process and full commitment when searching Middle Managers than hunting very senior roles: we don’t invest our time and energy proportionately to the potential fee amount.
  • The delivery date of the shortlist is contractual, and our client knows it precisely when he contracts with us.
  • We rank firmly in the Top 8 Retained Executive Search firms in China (criteria: senior positions / 100% direct approach in retained mode / Asian focus).
  • We believe that our consultants’ commitment to customers is unmatched in our industry and in our region (China and Asia).
  • Our fee is, as far as possible, adapted to the hiring budgets of our clients: we don’t compete to be the less expensive one, but we ardently fight to deliver the most valuable service.

What makes us different?

The competition is fierce; our clients want results, not talk or sales pitch.
That's how we keep them. It's our signature, we're proud of it.

The best indication of “future” success is “past” success. The numbers speak
for themselves:

  • 87% Client Repeat Business & Referrals.
  • 96% of Candidates accept offer.
  • 92% Placement retention of 5 years and more.
  • 97% Placement Success rate.
  • 99% of Short lists delivered according to the contractual short list delivery date (indicated in our contract).

Results proven by exceptional customer loyalty:

In 2020, despite an extremely difficult first 6 months due to Covid, the turnover of the recruitment business unit doubled compared to 2019.
In 2021, it increased by +20% compared to 2020.
The trend for 2022 is excellent.
We explain it by 3 main reasons:

  • The great loyalty of our clients who call on our services when they have an important or a difficult recruitment.
  • There were fewer recruitments in volume in the Asia-Pacific zone, but the recruitments entrusted to us by our former clients and by our new clients were of trategic importance, when they need to secure the services of a reliable partner.
  • For many clients, we do not carry out a position from time to time but it is frequent that we are entrusted with recruiting complete management teams, either during reorganization or during mergers and acquisitions.

Are we able or not?

Before sending any proposal or before signing any contract, the very first step for us is to evaluate if we are totally sure to be able to find the right candidate and effectively fulfill a position. We don’t chase contracts and fee: we accept to handle assignments only if we can guarantee to deliver.

The precise date when a short list of relevant candidates will be provided by our team is contractual deadline. When signing contract with Acropolis Associates, client will know, before to start the search, the precise date he will receive its short list.

We are not
Harry Potter

We are not magicians; we are not able to create candidates if they don’t exist according to client expected profile. If client’s expectations are unrealistic, it is our duty to advise and to help define the right relevant profile.
One of our clients compared us to Sherlock Holmes!
Our methods are very similar to those used by investigators; we have the ability to identify most of existing candidates matching to a profile in a specific area.

We don't like bombastic
superlatives

We don't like bombastic superlatives like "outstanding candidates". We prefer to use the term "best fit candidates for your business, those who will do the job".

Duration of search, 3 scopes

To identify, contact, meet, evaluate, and compare candidates, we set up 3 different durations for contracts:

  • 4 weeks / Nationwide: searching candidate only in 1 targeted country: i.e., China or France or USA,
  • 6 weeks / Regional: hunting in one region like Asia or Europe or North America,
  • 6 to 8 weeks / Worldwide, We are contractually committed to the deadlines and short lists delivery dates.

We focus on what we do best ...

To meet our client needs precisely, our consultants work in global practices defined by industries and organizational functions in which they have significant experience. We stay on the leading edge of what matters most in your world and maintain close personal connections with the best talent in your field.

Local expertise with worldwide facilities to handle assignments in 40+ countries

Acropolis Associates is part of Acropolis Group and part of FMA Group. Acropolis Associates is FMA’ sole agency in charge of China Mainland and Hong Kong. In 24 hours, for our clients’ human resources needs, we are able to set up a dedicated team in virtually any part of the world.

Worldwide presence:
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China & Hong Kong, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Portugal, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and USA.

On December 10, 2021, Acropolis Associates Group received the “伯乐” Award

Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Department. 伯乐: Means the one who knows how to discover talents, the one who is a good talent scout and assessor.

This prize rewards human resources companies that have contributed to the recruitment of executives and managers and have the ability to attract high-level foreign executives to China as well as technical experts, or Chinese with professional expertise obtained outside China with a higher level of education such as PhD.

Acropolis Associates, having demonstrated its ability to attract executives to China, is now assigned by the Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Department to support Chinese companies in their international operations.