Insights — Executive Recruitment — 3 min read
How Do You Recruit a Senior Executive Without an Expensive Mistake?
Most expensive executive mistakes are avoidable in hindsight. The safeguards that prevent them are known — they are just skipped under time pressure.
In short
Reducing the risk of an expensive senior hiring mistake means defining the role and its success measures before recruiting, involving more than one assessor with structured, comparable evidence, testing claims against real reference checks rather than character references, being explicit about authority and resourcing before an offer is made, and being willing to extend a process rather than appoint the best of a weak shortlist.
An expensive senior mistake rarely announces itself at the point of hire. It is usually the accumulated effect of skipped steps — a rushed brief, a reference not chased, a gap in the interview panel's questions — each individually defensible, together costly.
None of the safeguards below are unusual or difficult. They are just the ones businesses drop first when a role has been open too long.
Why senior mistakes cost more than junior ones
A poor appointment lower down the business is usually visible and correctable within weeks. A poor senior appointment often takes months to become undeniable, because seniority buys benefit of the doubt, and because the damage — a strategy not executed, a team demoralised, a customer relationship handled badly — is harder to attribute directly to one person.
Define the role before assessing anyone against it
A shortlist assessed against a vague job description will be judged on presentation and likeability rather than fit. Agree, in writing, what the role has to achieve in its first year, what authority it carries, and what would count as underperformance — before the first interview, not after the appointment.
Use more than one assessor, and compare notes properly
- Involve at least two people who will independently judge the same candidates against the same criteria, not just their own impression.
- Separate the interview that tests capability from the one that tests cultural fit — conflating them lets charisma substitute for evidence.
- Write down assessments before discussing them as a group, so the most senior person in the room does not anchor everyone else's judgement.
Treat references as evidence, not a formality
A reference taken from a name the candidate supplies, asked generic questions, and rubber-stamped after an offer is already agreed, adds almost nothing. A reference taken earlier in the process, from someone who actually managed the candidate's output, asked specific questions about a named piece of work, tells you something real.
| Weak practice | More useful practice |
|---|---|
| Taken after the offer is verbally agreed | Taken before a final decision, alongside other evidence |
| Generic questions about strengths and weaknesses | Specific questions about a named decision, target or period |
| Only candidate-supplied referees | At least one referee identified independently, with consent |
| Character reference from a peer or client | Someone who managed or was accountable for the candidate's work |
Be honest about authority before the offer stage
One of the most common causes of a failed senior appointment is a gap between the accountability offered at interview and the authority actually granted once the person starts. If the role will not really control budget, structure or pricing, say so before an offer is made rather than after — a capable executive who discovers the gap early usually leaves quickly, taking the cost of the search with them.
Know when to extend the process rather than compromise
A weak shortlist under time pressure creates a genuine dilemma: appoint the strongest available person, or extend the search. In our view, extending is almost always the better decision at senior level, because the cost of a wrong appointment — salary, disruption, the eventual second search — is higher than the cost of a longer vacancy in most cases. The exception is where the vacancy itself is actively damaging the business, which should be named honestly rather than assumed.
Plan the first ninety days before day one
- Agree what the new executive should have learned, decided and delivered at 30, 60 and 90 days.
- Give them a named sponsor other than the person who hired them, so early concerns have somewhere to go.
- Schedule an honest review at 90 days that both sides know is coming, rather than letting concerns accumulate silently.
Considering an executive appointment?
Evans Sales Consultancy recruits eleven executive roles across permanent, interim and fractional engagement models — starting with what the appointment has to deliver.
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