Insights
Before you hire, define the decision.
On executive team reviews, succession, benchmarking and assessment.
Talent advisory
Do you actually need to replace the person who's leaving?
Before you start a search, work out whether the vacancy still makes sense.
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Internal promotion or external hire: how should you decide?
A practical way to compare internal successors with the external market.
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What is an executive team review, and when should you do one?
An executive team review tests whether roles, accountabilities and capability still fit what the organisation needs next.
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How do you benchmark an executive team against the external market?
Benchmark roles, people, reward and available external capability, not just job titles.
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- What is external talent benchmarking?External talent benchmarking compares your internal talent or role requirements with credible people in the outside market before you commit to a search.
- How do you assess an internal candidate for an executive role?Assess internal candidates against the future role and the external market, not against how well they do their current job.
- The client thought they needed a search. They didn't.Why the most useful answer from a search firm can sometimes be: don't search.
- What is a succession review, and what should it produce?A succession review tests named internal candidates against a defined future role and the external market, and ends in a written decision, not a talent grid.
- How to run an executive team review in six weeksAn executive team review can be done in six weeks if the question is defined at the start and the Board agrees what evidence would settle it.
- Executive reward benchmarking: how to do it without a survey subscriptionA useful executive reward benchmark compares a specific role against ten to fifteen named comparators, not against a survey median for a job title.
- When a CEO changes, which roles should be reviewed first?After a CEO change, review the roles that report directly to the CEO and own the plan's biggest risks, usually finance, people and the largest operating unit, within the first hundred days.
- Psychometrics in executive assessment: what they tell you and what they don'tPsychometrics add evidence about how a leader is likely to behave under pressure. They do not tell you whether the person can do the job, and they should never be the deciding factor.
- How to assess a leadership team before an acquisitionLeadership due diligence maps the target's key people and functions before completion, so the acquirer knows who it is buying, who it must keep and where the gaps are.
- Board questions to ask before approving a senior hireBefore approving a senior appointment, a Board should ask whether the role has been defined for the future, whether internal options were tested, how the shortlist was built and what the package assumes.
- The internal candidate who isn't ready: what to doWhen an internal candidate is close but not ready, the options are to appoint with support, to bridge with an interim or external appointment for a fixed period, or to search; the choice depends on how big the gap is and how long the organisation can wait.
- Organisation design before recruitment: the three questionsBefore recruiting into a senior structure, settle three questions: what the structure has to deliver, where the decisions sit, and what each role needs in a person. Recruiting first and designing later costs at least one search fee.
From the archive
183 articles from the previous re:find site.
Kept at their original addresses. Written for HR, change and search audiences between 2016 and 2026.
- 5 Reasons the Market Isn’t to Blame for Your Slow Senior SearchCareer and leadership