Sitting in Adecco's unremarkable Zurich headquarters, so close to the airport that the jets thunder almost directly overhead, Patrick De Maeseneire, the Swiss group's Belgian chief executive since June 1, explains why his previous experience leaves him well placed to manage the world's biggest temporary staffing group.

In his previous job heading Barry Callebaut, the world's biggest chocolate maker, Mr De Maeseneire won over the the indigent francophone cocoa farmers of West Africa, eventually gaining the affectionate nickname of “l(fā)e bon blanc”.

Now, Mr De Maeseneire has to manage a company that is a household name from Santiago to Sydney. Every day, the group places more than 500,000 “associates” on temporary assignments in blue-collar and white-collar jobs through 6,000 offices in more than 60 countries. It is a task that involves “building relations around the globe” trills the group's website.