OVP
Instrument 04
Execution Support
Direct access to senior capability so decisions taken at the read-out are carried into the organisation rather than added to the backlog.
← Organisational Value ProgrammeThe question this instrument addresses
Do we have the senior bandwidth to run the business and lead the transformation at the same time?
Which roles do we need filled within weeks rather than months — and permanently or on an interim basis?
Who supports the leadership group through the decisions this programme will force?
What becomes visible
- — Where the plan silently assumes leaders will do two full roles at once.
- — Roles that look like recruitment problems but are in fact design problems.
- — The point at which senior time is being consumed by escalation rather than direction.
- — Whether an interim appointment, a permanent hire, or a change of remit is the right answer to a given gap.
What we do
The work, in the sequence it usually takes.
- 01Initial sponsor dialogue and question definition
- 02Review of relevant strategy, financial, organisational and operational material
- 03Leadership and stakeholder interviews
- 04Analysis and development of hypotheses
- 05Prioritisation of interventions and next steps
Not every activity applies to every engagement. The sequence is shaped around the question being asked.
What we examine
The lenses this instrument works through.
Capability and capacity
Senior bandwidth available against what the programme period will demand.
Organisational design
Whether the role, as defined, is one a single person can hold.
Execution dependencies
What must be resourced first for everything else to move.
Cost and value
Interim, permanent and advisory options weighed against time-to-value.
Organisational risk
Key-person exposure during the transformation period.
What you receive
- — Resourcing plan covering the transformation period
- — Role specifications for interim and permanent appointments
- — Candidate shortlists through SAXSKIOLD executive search, and Taplow reach where the role is international
- — Continued advisory contact with the sponsor through delivery
How the engagement works
- Typical sponsor
- Chief Executive or the accountable executive for the role in question.
- Relevant participants
- The hiring leader, the programme lead, and the Chief HR Officer.
- Duration
- Typically interim capability within weeks; permanent search on standard search timelines.
- Interviews and workshops
- Role definition session, then a standard search or interim process.
- On-site and remote work
- Role definition on-site; the process itself runs largely remote.
- Expected leadership involvement
- As required by the appointment; advisory contact by arrangement.
The scope is shaped around the organisational question. OVP is not sold as a standardised diagnostic package.
How this instrument connects
Execution support is where the other three instruments stop being analysis. It carries the prioritised interventions into the organisation with people who can hold them.
It can be used on its own, and often is, where the diagnosis is already clear and the constraint is capacity.
Contributes to: Intervention · Value
Common questions
- Is this interim management or executive search?
- Either, and often both in sequence. Interim capability holds the role while a permanent appointment is made on standard search timelines.
- How quickly can a leader be in place?
- Interim capability is typically available within weeks. Permanent appointments follow normal executive-search timelines.
- Does it require the other three instruments?
- No. Execution support can be commissioned on its own, though it is sharpest when the role has already been defined by a readiness map or risk register.
- What is the advisory element?
- Continued contact with the sponsor through the programme period, so the appointment is supported rather than simply delivered.