Practice 01
Executive Search
For CEOs and boards filling a role where a mis-hire is paid for twice: once when the person leaves, and again when the search starts over. Headhunting and Recruitment each stand on their own, and both judge every candidate against what the role has to be worth to the business.
Typical first step
Headhunting
A first conversation on one role: what it has to be worth, and where the people who could fill it are today.
Replacing an employee costs between 50% and 200% of their annual salary, depending on the level of the role.
Source: SHRM, The Myth of Replaceability: Preparing for the Loss of Key Employees · 21 Jan 2025
What CEOs bring us
We have been searching for months and every shortlist looks the same.
Headhunting: we go, in confidence, to the people who are not applying — the ones an advertisement never reaches.
The last person we put in this role did not work out, and we are about to run the same process again.
Headhunting: we check why the last hire did not hold before we search again.
We have a whole team to build, not one seat to fill.
Recruitment: specialist and management hiring run as one program, to one standard of evidence, instead of role by role.
The gaps we close
Other advisors answer part of the question. We answer the part that reaches your P&L.
| What you usually get | What you get from us |
|---|---|
| A shortlist of the people who applied. | A shortlist of people who were not looking, and a reason on paper for every name on it. |
| A CV and an impression from the interview. | Evidence on the same scale for every candidate, so the comparison is between people and not between interviewers. |
| A brief written in an afternoon by whoever had time. | A role measured against your own numbers, so "did it work?" has an answer. |
Services in this practice
Start with one. Each stands on its own and connects to the others if you continue.
- Standalone
Headhunting
The role that decides your next two years is usually filled against a job description. We set what it must be worth to the business, reach the people who are not applying, and hold each one to it.
- Standalone
Recruitment
A wrong hire in the layer below your executives is rarely costed, and there are far more of them, so that is where most of the money goes. One standard of evidence for every hire, and a profile of each person you take on.
Talent search
Post jobs and source candidates through job boards.
Screen and shortlist
Review resumes and filter qualified applicants.
Interview and assess
Evaluate candidates via interviews.
Offer and selection
A market report advising you on the best path forward.
What you receive
A shortlist with our verdict on every name.
- Three candidates for one executive role, each with a current role, a sector and years of experience.
- Our recommendation for each, in one line, with a clear verdict.
- The evidence behind each name, and the case against as well as the case for.
- What each candidate expects to be paid, shown to you in the full shortlist.
Chief Financial Officer
Approached for this role
Candidate A
- Salary
- Amount hidden in this illustration
Group Finance Director
Manufacturing · 18 years of experience
Our recommendation
HireApproach first: the closest fit to the role as defined.
Candidate B
- Salary
- Amount hidden in this illustration
Vice President Finance
Retail · 15 years of experience
Our recommendation
In reserveA strong second choice, but this move would be sideways for them.
Candidate C
- Salary
- Amount hidden in this illustration
Regional Chief Financial Officer
Energy · 21 years of experience
Our recommendation
Weak fitA strong record, but the wrong fit for this role.
Amount hidden in this illustration
Start with one step.
You leave with what the role has to be worth, and how we would search against it.