John P. Robertson
John P. Robertson (* 1913 in Philadelphia ; † April 1998 in Zurich ) was an American language teacher, diplomat and pioneer of executive search and outplacement in Switzerland .
Life
John P. Robertson was initially a language teacher for German, French and Spanish at the Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia. Here he came into contact with Lydia Zamenhof, the daughter of the creator of Esperanto , and adopted her technique of teaching language without a textbook. For a few years he then worked in the US Foreign Service, including as Vice Consul in Port Said with responsibility for the entire Suez Canal zone and Cyprus .
In 1951, together with Ben Willingham, he founded John P. Robertson Associates AG, Zurich. He was one of the first to set up a professional executive search company in Switzerland. The aim was to support the US companies coming to Europe as part of the Marshall Plan in their search for executives. In 1982 he retired from Robertson Associates AG, Zurich, and subsequently became one of the pioneers of outplacement in Switzerland. He founded the first Swiss outplacement company in 1983, Outplacement AG, and was a co-founder of Econova AG (with Mr. Charles Zijderveldt). He helped to create the network "The Europa Network", which concentrated on outplacement. Robertson also worked for many years as secretary and president of the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce and was a founding member of the International Protestant Church in Zurich in 1961 .
John P. Robertson wrote one of the first books on executive search published in Europe (published in the Netherlands, England and Finland), making him one of the pioneers of executive search in Europe.
Works
- The Transformation of the work perimeters 1980 in Zurich
- The Role of Human Resources in Swiss Companies 1981
- You and your next job British Institute of Marketing Foundation, 1982, ISBN 0-859-46122-X (1981).
- Verandering van werkkring? Intermediair, 1980, ISBN 9-064-34010-2
- Veranderen van baan Het Spectrum, 1984, ISBN 9-027-46123-6
- Never tired (PDF; 377 kB) Balance sheet business magazine, interview by Iris Spogat, June 1996
- International Protestant Church of Zurich: How we got started (PDF; 73 kB) by John P. Robertson, year 1986
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Robertson, John P. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American language teacher, diplomat and pioneer in executive search and outplacement |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Philadelphia |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 1998 |
| Place of death | Zurich |