KEY POINTS:
There is growing anticipation among Telecom staff about the extent to which new chief executive Paul Reynolds will be ringing the changes as he begins his first day of work in the Auckland office in the next few days.
It is not unusual for incoming chief executives to
make their mark quickly with changes to the senior team, says George Brooks, head of recruitment company OCG consulting.
"Very few decent CEOs come in to do what was happening before them," says Brooks.
"The CEO is bit of a watershed and it gives a board or a company a chance to change what it is doing - a change of strategy or certainly of structure, how it's operating - and that generally causes a shake-up and a shake-out."
Brooks cites new Westpac head Brad Cooper's axing of staff in senior finance and human resources roles as the most recent New Zealand example of a new broom sweeping the exec team clean.
"They tend to want to have - particularly in the finance area - their own person that they know and have a working relationship and style with," said Brooks.
"HR is also an area they look to, making sure the 'people owners' have got the same philosophy or strategic HR view as they do."
Sheffield executive search principal Peter Ross said he would expect Reynolds to spend the first month "getting the lay of the land before he did anything precipitous".
However, he cautioned Reynolds against drawing too many early conclusions based on the notion there were similarities between the British and New Zealand markets - particularly given the differences in size and level of competition.
Ross is predicting a swelling of the ranks at Telecom with ex-BT people as Reynolds surrounds himself with people he knows and trusts.
Telecom has already appointed former BT executive Shelley Grey to head up its public affairs area, overseeing Telecom's communications and regulatory teams.
Ross said the "disturbed airflow" created by the current uncertainty meant everyone in the second tier was being approached by headhunters to fill any jobs going at the moment.
Already two of the six member executive team have announced their intention to leave the company - chief financial officer Marko Bogoievski and consumer business head Kevin Kenrick.
Both joined Telecom more than seven years ago, around the time Theresa Gattung took over as chief executive.
Bogoievski will depart in a style reminiscent of his predecessor. Jeff White.
White left the company and returned to the United States after missing out to Gattung for the chief executive's job.
Kenrick is leaving to head up another New Zealand company, the details of which are unknown.
Brooks said it was quite common for any internal aspirants for the CEO role to move on rather than wait another five or so years for another shot at the top job.
However, Ross said it was unusual for people to get out in advance of the arrival of the chief executive.
"Normally we would advise people to wait until the CEO gets in place and then decide whether you move," he said
Both SkyCity and Vector are companies in the market for a new chief executive. Vector chairman Michael Stiassny said the company was in the middle of the recruitment process and on track to make an announcement before the end of the year.
He would not comment on rumours that either Kenrick or Bogoievski is being considered for the job.
Also in the frame for the Vector job is Telecom's acting CEO Simon Moutter, who joined Telecom around the same time as Bogoievski and Kenrick from a job as chief executive of Powerco.
New employers would need to offer Bogoievski $2.4 million and Kenrick $1.15 million to match their Telecom packages.
Remaining members of Telecom's executive - Moutter, chief operating officer technology and enterprises Mark Ratcliffe, legal counsel Mark Verbiest and human resources head Trisha McEwan - have not given any indication of where their futures might lie.
