A good executive search follows a deliberate process — and understanding it helps a business be a better client and get a better result. Here is how a retained search works, stage by stage.
1. Scope the mandate
Every strong search begins by defining the real role — the outcome you are hiring for, the challenges to solve, what the leader owns, and how success is measured — and aligning the key stakeholders. This scoping stage is the highest-leverage part of the whole process.
2. Map and approach the market
Next, the firm maps the realistic universe of candidates and approaches them discreetly on the client's behalf — reaching the strong leaders who are not actively looking, which is where the real value of search lies. This is done confidentially, protecting both client and candidates.
3. Assess and shortlist
Candidates are then assessed rigorously against the mandate — through in-depth interviews, referencing, and often structured assessment — to produce a shortlist of genuinely qualified, well-evaluated people, with an honest view of each.
4. Interview, offer, and onboard
The client then interviews the shortlist, and the firm manages the process through to offer and acceptance — advising on the package and closing carefully. A good search does not end there: the handover to onboarding ensures the leader arrives to the mandate that was hired for and starts aligned.
Planning an executive search?
We run a rigorous, confidential retained process — from scoping through to onboarding.
Explore Executive Search →Frequently asked questions
How long does the executive search process take?
Most retained searches run over a few months from launch to an accepted offer, plus the appointed leader's notice period before they start. Clear scoping and prompt decisions are the biggest accelerators.
What is the most important stage of a search?
Scoping the mandate and aligning stakeholders at the start — it is the highest-leverage part of the process, and most searches that fail were compromised here.
Related: What Is Retained Executive Search? · How to Scope an Executive Search · Leadership Assessment
