Most failed appointments were mis-specified, not mis-hired. Before we run a search, we test whether one is the right answer. The Appointment Diagnostic is the structured piece of work we do at the start of every mandate — and, on occasion, in place of one.
Why we diagnose first
An executive appointment at this level compounds — or erodes — enterprise value over years. The cost of a wrong hire is rarely the fee. It is the twelve months lost, the second-line departures, the regulator whose confidence has to be rebuilt.
Yet the majority of role briefs we see conflate three different problems: an unfilled seat, a capability gap, and a governance question. Running a search against that brief produces a strong shortlist for the wrong role.
The diagnostic separates them.
How it works
The Appointment Diagnostic is a two-to-three week engagement led personally by the partner who would take the search. It has four components.
1. Board and committee interviews
Structured conversations with the chair, the CEO, the relevant committee members, and — where appropriate — the second line. We surface where stakeholders actually disagree on what the role must achieve.
2. Regulatory and stakeholder mapping
For regulated businesses we map the role against the regulatory calendar, supervisory relationships, and any live remediation or authorisation work. The appointment has to make sense to the regulator as well as to the board.
3. Scorecard construction
A written scorecard of time-bound outcomes — commercial and regulatory — covering the first 30, 90, 180 and 365 days. Signed off by the board before a single approach is made.
4. Honest recommendation
The diagnostic concludes with a recommendation. Sometimes that is a search. Sometimes it is an internal promotion, an interim, splitting the role, redrawing the reporting line, or waiting. Where a search is the right answer, the scorecard becomes the specification.
What clients get
- A written diagnostic report, board-ready.
- A signed-off scorecard against which the appointment will be measured.
- A recommended path — search, promote, interim, split, or wait — with the reasoning documented.
- Where a search follows, the diagnostic is credited in full against the search fee.
Why it matters
Our independence is worth more than the fee on a search that should not happen. We would rather tell a client not to hire than run a process that will fail on delivery. That posture is only credible if the diagnostic is a real piece of work, done first, by the partner who will be accountable.