Practical, non-promotional guides on executive search, leadership hiring, C-suite roles, executive compensation, governance, and building leadership teams — with deep focus on beauty, personal care, and the broader consumer sector. Start with our hubs: C-Suite Roles, Executive Hiring Guides, Beauty Leadership, Executive Compensation, and the Glossary.
What Does a Managing Director Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Managing Director typically leads a business, division, or market end to end — owning its performance, team, and commercial results. In many companies the MD is effectively the CEO of a market or unit; in others, a senior operational leader beneath the CEO. As […]
How to Hire a Chief Digital Officer
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a Chief Digital Officer when digital is too strategically important to sit as a sub-function and needs a single senior owner to drive transformation across the business. Be clear whether you need a transformation leader, a data-and-technology leader, or a customer-experience leader — the […]
How to Hire a Chief People Officer (CHRO)
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a Chief People Officer (CHRO) when informal, founder-led people practices can no longer carry the organisation — when hiring must scale, culture needs to be deliberate, and the business needs designing for its next stage. Hire for genuine commercial partnership, not just HR administration. […]
How to Hire a COO: Defining the Role Before the Search
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a COO when operational complexity outgrows the CEO’s capacity to run both strategy and execution. Because the role is so elastic, the key is defining exactly what this COO owns versus the CEO. Hire for operational command matched to the specific gap — not […]
How to Hire a CFO: When to Hire and What to Look For
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a CFO when the business needs strategic finance leadership, not just accurate reporting — for growth, fundraising, investor relations, or a transaction. Match the profile to the stage: a fundraising CFO, a value-creation CFO, and a transaction-ready CFO are different people. Hire for financial […]
Why Executive Searches Fail (and How to Avoid It)
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerExecutive searches fail for preventable reasons — a poorly defined mandate, misaligned stakeholders, a too-narrow pool, weak assessment, a slow or chaotic process, or neglected onboarding. Almost all are process failures, not bad luck. Getting the process right removes most of the risk. When a […]
Building a Diverse Leadership Slate
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA diverse leadership slate is a shortlist that genuinely reflects the breadth of the talent market rather than the narrow networks searches often default to. You build one by widening the search deliberately and assessing every candidate on merit against the same mandate. Done well, […]
Leadership Assessment: How Executives Are Evaluated in a Search
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerExecutive assessment goes far beyond a CV. A rigorous search evaluates a candidate against the specific mandate — track record and how they achieved it, leadership style, cultural fit, judgement, and motivation — through in-depth interviews, referencing, and structured assessment. The goal is evidence about […]
How Retained Executive Search Fees Work
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerRetained executive search is a professional engagement paid as a fee, typically structured in stages across the search rather than only on placement, and reflecting the seniority and difficulty of the mandate. Because the firm is retained, its incentives are aligned with finding the right […]
How Long Does an Executive Search Take?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerMost retained executive searches run over a few months from launch to an accepted offer, plus the new leader’s notice period before they start. How long depends on the seniority and rarity of the role, how well it is scoped, market availability, and how decisively […]
