announcing new RiseSmart leadership changes

Today, we announce changes in leadership at Randstad RiseSmart that will build on our position as a global leader in outplacement and career transitions, while also strengthening and expanding our worklife coaching capabilities.

After an amazing 15 years with the business, Dan Davenport is stepping down from his role as co-founder and CEO of RiseSmart. Showing an unparalleled vision, back in 2007, Dan decided to build RiseSmart to create a better, more supportive, and engaging experience to help employees going through layoffs and redundancies. With the ambition to disrupt the industry and its legacy players, he created a team that revolutionized the outplacement market, focusing on talent outcomes enabled by technology, which was way ahead of its time.

Dan’s commitment to the company he founded and its team has been absolute, bringing out the very best in every person. His passion for excellence and his devotion to client satisfaction and operational success was exactly the same as his engagement in the cause of helping people going through career transition and, more recently, managing their careers within their organizations. We are grateful for his vision in building RiseSmart and for his dedication to creating a more supportive and engaging experience for employees going through layoffs and redundancies.

To ensure continued growth and success, Jean-Francois (JF) Vezina will be stepping into the role of interim leader for Randstad RiseSmart, effective immediately. JF brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position, including his current role as Chief Strategy Officer for Randstad Enterprise and his previous experience as MD for Randstad Sourceright Canada. He will be an outstanding global leader and has my full confidence to lead the business.

We have already selected a permanent future leader for Randstad RiseSmart, Lindsay Witcher. This will be of no surprise to anyone that has ever worked with Lindsay. With close to 12 years with RiseSmart, Lindsay is an industry-recognized expert and opinion leader in the career transitions and coaching space. She has been an integral part of RiseSmart’s leadership team and a major driving force in the evolution of our outplacement offering, as well as shaping and defining our Worklife Coaching solution, launched last year. Driven by the passion of working closely with our customers and evolving our approaches to meet their growing talent needs, Lindsay’s experience across all areas of the RiseSmart business will ensure we will continue to deliver the amazing solution and experience we are known for and you have come to expect. I am excited about the future of RiseSmart under Lindsay’s leadership. 

For the time being, Lindsay will remain in her current role as SVP of North America, supporting the increasing demands for our services from both new and existing customers and ensuring a smooth transition to her own successor later this year. 

We are extremely confident in the changes being made, and how they will help strengthen our solutions and services to our valued customers and the employees they place into our care. We have a major role to play in the evolution of workforce and talent strategies, and these leadership changes are key to us delivering that. 
 

Mike Smith

Chief Executive, Randstad Enterprise Solutions