The word "partnership" is used loosely in this industry. Here is what ours contains, in the order we agree it.
The searches you can see
Retirements, known moves, roles already approved in the plan. For most organisations with recurring senior hiring this is three to six roles a year. Each is named, with a likely quarter.
The searches you suspect
The executive who is being courted, the function that will need a leader once the new system lands, the acquisition that will need integrating. We agree an allowance, usually one or two searches, for roles that are not yet on paper.
The work between searches
This is what separates a partnership from a discount on volume. A succession review for the roles most likely to fall vacant. A reward benchmark refreshed each year. Market intelligence: who is moving, what roles are paying, what competitors are building. Advisory access when a decision comes up that does not warrant a project.
The review rhythm
Quarterly, with the CEO or CPO, an hour. What has changed in the plan, what has changed in the market, whether the scope still fits. Scope moves in both directions; a partnership that only ever adds searches is a retainer.
The fee
Set once, for the year, invoiced monthly. It reflects the agreed searches, the advisory work and the access. Searches beyond the scope are agreed at a stated rate before they start, so there is no negotiation mid-year.
When the numbers work
At three or more senior searches a year the partnership costs less than buying each search separately and gives you the advisory work on top. Below three it usually does not, and we would rather run two good standalone searches than sell a partnership that does not pay for itself.
One defence client has worked this way with us since 2019, across eight leadership appointments. The scope has been rewritten more than once as the business grew. That is the point of the quarterly review.