Engagement — Executive Search
Finding the people who are unlikely to be found through recruitment alone.
A search read against the organisation the person must lead — not merely against a generic role profile.
10 – 16 weeks · Board, executive and senior leadership · Nordic region and international
01 — The situation
Some appointments are too critical, specialised or exposed for a conventional process.
The relevant candidates may not be actively looking. The talent market may be narrow, international or difficult to access. The role may require an unusual combination of leadership experience, specialist expertise, stakeholder capability and personal judgement.
Meanwhile the consequences of a weak appointment are rarely contained to the role itself: they surface in the team, in the market and in the time lost before the organisation admits the decision was wrong.
Executive Search exists for exactly this position — where the organisation cannot afford to select from whoever happens to apply.
02 — Search or recruitment
Which one the situation actually calls for.
The two are different instruments, not different price points. The question is not seniority but reachability: will a well-run attraction process reach the people who could do this, or will it not?
How the field is created
Executive Search — The market is investigated directly. Relevant organisations, adjacent industries and international sources are mapped, and people are approached individually — most of them are not looking.
Recruitment and RPO — The market is attracted. A well-designed posting, employer messaging and active sourcing bring a field of applicants to a process that is open by design.
What the evidence is for
Executive Search — Evidence is built against a written mandate and agreed success criteria: scope and complexity, personal contribution, decision-making, stakeholder capability and motivation, read across CCCM.
Recruitment and RPO — Evidence is built against a role profile: qualification, relevant experience, competence and fit with an established way of working.
Confidentiality
Executive Search — Confidentiality is the default. A mandate can run silently, with neither client nor vacancy disclosed until a candidate has agreed to a confidential conversation.
Recruitment and RPO — Visibility is usually the point. A campaign can be run unnamed where the situation is sensitive, but the process is designed to be found.
Fee and incentive
Executive Search — Retained, in agreed stages tied to the progress of the work, so nothing in the fee structure rewards producing a shortlist quickly.
Recruitment and RPO — Priced by scope, by role or as monthly capacity, agreed in writing before work starts and not contingent on candidate salary.
When it is the wrong instrument
Executive Search — When a strong field would apply anyway, search adds cost and time without adding evidence.
Recruitment and RPO — When the relevant people will not apply, an open process produces a field of the available rather than a field of the capable.
Many organisations use both, often in the same year. Where a role sits on the line, we say which instrument the evidence supports before a mandate is agreed — including when the honest answer is recruitment.
03 — Who it is for
Owners, boards and executive teams making an appointment they cannot get wrong.
Typically commissioned by an owner, chair, CEO or board committee. The engagement is used across:
- ·Board and chair appointments
- ·Chief executive and C-suite roles
- ·Senior functional leadership
- ·General management
- ·Business-unit and country leadership
- ·Transformation and change leadership
- ·Critical commercial or operational appointments
- ·Highly specialised technical or professional roles
- ·Scarce profiles with limited market availability
- ·Confidential replacement or succession situations
The defining factor is not title alone. A specialist appointment may require Executive Search when the talent pool is exceptionally limited, the search must be confidential, a previous recruitment process has not produced the right field, or internal and external succession options must be compared on equal evidence.
04 — What is different
Read against the organisation, not against a generic profile.
The mandate comes before the profile
A search begins with the business situation, the strategic purpose of the appointment, the leadership environment, the results expected and the conditions necessary for success — not with an advertisement or a database query. The question is not who has held a similar title, but who has the strongest evidence of being able to succeed in this particular situation.
The market is investigated, not awaited
Relevant organisations, industries, functions and adjacent talent pools are mapped directly. Most of the people approached are not looking; their interest has to be explored and developed through an informed, credible conversation rather than triggered by a posting.
Evidence rather than assertion
Career history is where evaluation starts, not where it ends. Scope and complexity, personal contribution, decision-making, stakeholder relationships and motivation are examined through structured dialogue, with assessment, business cases and referencing added where the mandate warrants them.
The decision is mutual
The client must judge whether the candidate can succeed; the candidate must judge whether the mandate, authority and organisational conditions justify the move. A strong process does not persuade a preferred candidate to accept — it creates the conditions for an informed commitment on both sides.
Honest recalibration
Where the market shows the requirement cannot be met as written, we return with what the evidence shows and recalibrate with you, rather than presenting near-fits as matches.
05 — What happens
The process, movement by movement.
Eight movements from mandate to appointment. The sequence is fixed; the emphasis follows the assignment.
- 01
Mandate and organisational reading
A working session with the owner, chair or hiring executive covering the business situation, the strategic purpose of the appointment, expected results, critical stakeholder relationships and appointment risks — read against the organisation the person must lead, not only the role as written.
- 02
Market mapping
Market and competitor mapping, international research, adjacent industries, professional network activation and trusted source conversations produce a picture of where the capability actually sits, together with honest evidence on availability, compensation and willingness to move.
- 03
Candidate dialogue
Potential candidates are approached individually and discreetly — including under silent search — and the conversation is a genuine dialogue about the situation, its demands and its constraints, rather than a pitch.
- 04
Structured assessment
Executive interviews, competency-based analysis, psychometric and cognitive assessment, business cases, leadership dialogue, references, background verification and structured scorecards. Findings are read across CCCM — competencies, capabilities, cultural contribution and motivation — and examined against the agreed success criteria.
- 05
Recommendation with argument and counter-argument
Each finalist is presented with the case for the appointment and the case against it. Remaining risks are made visible rather than concealed, so the decision is taken with the reservations in plain sight.
- 06
Appointment support
Finalist preparation, client-interview support, referencing, compensation alignment, offer and contract dialogue, and contact through the resignation period.
- 07
Follow-through after placement
Handover and integration preparation before the role begins, then confidential conversations with the appointed executive during the first year, and identification of changed conditions or emerging transition risks. Where something needs active work with the organisation, that is agreed separately.
The appointment is not the end of the search. We help prepare the handover, and we stay close as the role becomes real — including confidential conversations with the appointed executive during the first year. If something emerges that needs active work with the organisation, that is agreed separately and openly.
These are conversations with the appointed executive, not reports back to the organisation.
06 — How candidates are judged
A scorecard agreed before the market is touched, read across CCCM.
Evaluation begins with a written scorecard: the results the appointment must produce, the criteria that matter in order of priority, and the standard of evidence that would count as proof rather than impression. It is agreed with the client before any approach is made, so criteria cannot drift as candidates appear.
Findings are then read across four dimensions — CCCM.
Competencies — what the person can already do
Demonstrated skill and professional craft, evidenced through scope and complexity of previous work, personal contribution as distinct from team or market conditions, and results that can be described in detail rather than asserted.
Capabilities — what the person can grow into
Judgement under incomplete information, learning speed, the ability to hold complexity without collapsing it, and the range to lead a role that will not stay as written. This is where an appointment for the next three years is distinguished from an appointment for the last one.
Cultural contribution — what the person changes by arriving
Not whether a candidate resembles the organisation, but what they would add to it and what they would ask of it. Fit alone reproduces the organisation; contribution is read against the organisation's stated direction and the conditions it is willing to change.
Motivation — why this, and why now
What is being moved towards rather than away from, what the role would have to offer for the person to stay beyond two years, and what they are prepared to give up to take it. Motivation examined honestly predicts more about tenure than any other single dimension.
The scorecard is not a score. It disciplines the conversation: every judgement has to point at evidence, and every gap has to be named rather than absorbed into an overall impression. Where an appointment warrants formal instruments, interpretation is set out in Leadership Assessment, which owns that ground.
07 — When we advise against
Including against our own candidate.
A retained fee is agreed in stages tied to the work, not to a signature. That is what makes the following possible: if the evidence turns against a finalist we introduced, we say so, in writing, before the decision is taken.
It happens for recognisable reasons — referencing that does not support the account given, a business case that exposes a gap the interviews flattered, a motivation that turns out to be about leaving rather than arriving, or conditions inside the organisation that have changed since the mandate was framed.
The same discipline applies to the mandate itself. Where the market shows the requirement cannot be met as written, we return with the evidence and recalibrate with you rather than presenting near-fits as matches. An appointment nobody argued against is not the same thing as a good appointment.
Where two credible finalists remain, how a board compares two strong finalists takes that decision on its own terms.
08 — What the client receives
Documented work, not a list of names.
Depending on the mandate, deliverables include:
- ·A written mandate and agreed success criteria
- ·A market map of relevant organisations and talent pools
- ·Evidence on availability, compensation and willingness to move
- ·A calibrated longlist with reasoning
- ·A shortlist of qualified, interviewed candidates
- ·Structured written candidate assessments and scorecards
- ·Assessment, business-case and reference documentation
- ·Comparative evaluation against the mandate
- ·Offer, compensation and contract support
- ·Handover and integration preparation before the role begins
- ·Confidential follow-through with the appointed executive during the first year
- ·An agreed replacement provision
09 — Typical duration
Ten to sixteen weeks, mandate to signed contract.
- Framing the mandate
- Weeks 1 – 2
- Market mapping and direct approaches
- Weeks 2 – 5
- Calibrated longlist
- Weeks 3 – 4
- Presented shortlist, interviewed and qualified
- Weeks 6 – 8
- Client interviews, assessment and referencing
- Weeks 8 – 12
- Offer, contract and notice period
- Weeks 12 – 16
Scarce, confidential or international profiles sit at the longer end. Timelines are agreed at the outset and progress is reported against them in writing.
10 — Confidentiality and governance
Confidentiality is the default, not an option.
- ·Silent search available — client and role undisclosed until a confidential conversation is agreed
- ·Candidate identities never shared outside the agreed client group
- ·References taken only with explicit consent, at a stage the candidate has agreed to
- ·Approaches made directly and individually, never through open advertisement
- ·Candidate data processed under a written agreement and an agreed retention period
- ·Retained fees agreed in writing in stages, with no contingent incentive to shortlist
- ·Written progress notes at agreed intervals to a defined client group
- ·Off-limits undertakings and conflict positions declared before the mandate begins
Relevant evidence
“I have had the pleasure of working with Kenneth on a recruitment. I was very impressed with his professionalism, and the very structured and transparent recruitment process. The quality of both process and candidates is very high. Kenneth is not a ‘pleaser’ but an active player throughout the whole recruitment process, providing his client with both feedback and pushback. The latter is rare, but very valuable.”
Selected clients
Nordic executive-search expertise with international reach through more than 30 Taplow offices.
Questions
Questions we are most often asked.
How confidential is an executive search?
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Confidentiality is the default, not an option. Mandates can be run silently, where neither the client's name nor the vacancy is disclosed until a candidate has agreed to a confidential conversation under an appropriate agreement. Candidate identities are never shared outside the agreed client group, approaches are made directly and discreetly, and references are only taken with the candidate's explicit consent and at a stage they have agreed to.
How long does an executive search normally take?
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As a working estimate: the mandate is framed within one to two weeks, a calibrated longlist follows within three to four weeks, and a presented shortlist of qualified, interviewed candidates typically lands between weeks six and eight. Client interviews, assessment and referencing then run over a further three to five weeks, with appointment and notice periods on top. Most searches therefore conclude within ten to sixteen weeks from mandate to signed contract, with scarce, confidential or international profiles at the longer end.
What happens if the market says the mandate is unrealistic?
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We say so, early. Direct market exploration produces evidence about availability, compensation levels and the willingness of relevant people to move. If the requirement cannot be met as written, we return with what the market actually shows and recalibrate the mandate with you rather than presenting near-fits as if they were matches.
How are candidates evaluated beyond the CV?
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Through structured qualification interviews covering scope and complexity of previous roles, demonstrable results, personal contribution, leadership and decision-making, stakeholder relationships and motivation. Evidence is sought rather than asserted, and psychometric instruments, business cases and formal referencing are added where the mandate warrants them.
Do you guarantee the appointment?
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Every mandate includes an agreed replacement provision should an appointed candidate leave within an agreed initial period for reasons connected to the appointment. The more meaningful safeguard, however, is the process itself: a well-framed mandate, honest calibration and mutual decision-making make early departures rare.
How is a search fee structured?
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Retained, in agreed stages tied to the progress of the work rather than to a percentage collected on signature alone. Fees, expenses and any replacement provision are set out in writing before the mandate begins, so there are no contingent incentives distorting the shortlist.
Can you search internationally?
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Yes. Research, approaches and interviews are conducted across markets, with local execution supported through the Taplow Group network where a mandate requires presence in a specific country or language.
How much time will this take from us?
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Expect a two to three hour mandate conversation at the outset, a short calibration review after the longlist, and then interview time with the shortlist. Between those points the work sits with us; you receive written progress notes rather than requests for administration.
What is the difference between executive search and recruitment?
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Recruitment attracts a field to an open process and evaluates it against a role profile; executive search investigates the market directly and evaluates a small number of people against a written mandate. The dividing question is reachability rather than seniority: will a well-run attraction process reach the people who could do this? Where it will, recruitment is the better instrument, and we say so.
Would you ever advise against a candidate you introduced?
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Yes, and it is said in writing before the decision is taken. Because the fee is retained in stages tied to the work rather than collected on signature, nothing in the commercial arrangement rewards defending a finalist the evidence has turned against. Each finalist is presented with the case for the appointment and the case against it, and remaining risks are made visible rather than concealed.
How are candidates scored?
↓
Against a written scorecard agreed before the market is approached: the results the appointment must produce, the criteria in order of priority, and the standard of evidence that counts as proof. Findings are read across CCCM — competencies, capabilities, cultural contribution and motivation — so a judgement always points at evidence rather than at an overall impression.
11 — Next step
Start with the mandate, not the profile.
One conversation, held in confidence, about the appointment and the situation around it.
Next in SAXSKIOLD
Inside the Search
Follow the whole search openly, movement by movement, from framing to the first months.