Home/Insights/Choosing a partner 7 min read · Updated September 2026
EXECUTIVE SEARCH · FEES AND TERMS

What Guarantees Do India Hiring Partners Offer If a Hire Does Not Work Out?

Most India hiring partners offer a replacement guarantee: if the hire leaves inside a window, usually ninety days, the search is rerun at no further fee. The headline is rarely the part that matters. The exclusions decide whether the guarantee covers resignation, termination or both, and what voids it entirely. Here are the three guarantee types, why ninety days is short for a senior role, and exactly what to ask before you brief a search.

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Pratik Mokashi
COO, Talhive · 40+ India mandates for US and EU clients
Key takeawaysThe whole piece in five lines
01Three guarantee types exist: replacement, partial refund, and none. Replacement is the standard in India.
02Ninety days is the common window. On senior roles that is short, because senior hires rarely fail inside three months.
03The exclusions do the real work. Whether resignation, termination or both are covered changes everything.
04A guarantee usually voids if the role changes materially after the hire joins, which at an early stage company happens routinely.
05Get the terms in the agreement before you brief the search, not in an email once something has gone wrong.
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What guarantees do India hiring partners offer?

Most offer a replacement guarantee: if the hire leaves within a defined window, usually ninety days, the firm runs the search again without a further fee. A minority offer a partial refund instead, and some offer nothing. The headline window matters less than the exclusions, which decide whether the guarantee covers resignation, termination or both, and what voids it. Get all of that in writing before the search starts.

"Our last India hire left after four months. The agency told us the guarantee had expired at ninety days and that resignation was not covered anyway. We had not read any of that. What should we be asking next time?"
Head of People, Series B SaaS · rebuilding an India engineering team

The three kinds, and which is standard.

Replacement guarantee
The India standard
The search is rerun at no further fee if the hire leaves inside the window.
Partial refund
Less common
A sliding scale by month. Read the scale before assuming it is generous.
No guarantee
Exists, and can be fine
Sometimes paired with a lower fee. Know that you are making that trade.
Any of the above
Read the exclusions
This is where the guarantee is actually decided.

India hiring partner guarantees look similar on the surface and diverge sharply in the detail, which is why comparing the headline percentage tells you almost nothing. The headline is nearly always ninety days and a replacement. What separates one firm from another is what sits underneath that sentence.

The window, and why ninety days is short for senior roles.

90days
Standard replacement window across the Indian market
60-90days
Notice served before they even start, which the window rarely accounts for
93%
Our hires still in role at 12 months, which is the number that matters more

A senior hire is rarely proven or disproven inside three months. The first quarter is learning the business. Problems usually surface in months four to six, which sits outside a standard window. That is not a scandal, it is just worth knowing before you treat the guarantee as real protection on a leadership search.

A guarantee is a statement about how a firm expects its work to perform. Read it as a signal first and as insurance second.

The exclusions, which do the real work.

01Resignation covered, termination not

The most consequential exclusion. If the hire is underperforming and you let them go, a resignation-only guarantee does not apply.

WHAT IT COSTS
The exact failure mode you were insuring against turns out to be the one excluded.
THE FIX
Ask in one sentence: does this cover both, and get the answer in the agreement.
02Material change to the role

Most agreements void the guarantee if the role changes materially after the hire joins. At an early stage company, roles change materially every quarter.

WHAT IT COSTS
A guarantee that was technically void from month two, and nobody noticed until it was needed.
THE FIX
Ask what counts as material, and whether a scope change you initiate voids it.

The questions that settle India hiring partner guarantees before you brief.

01
How long is the window, and when does it start
From the start date or the offer date. The difference can be three months in India because of notice periods.
02
Does it cover resignation, termination or both
One sentence, and the most important answer in the whole agreement.
03
What voids it
Ask for the list rather than the summary. Role change, restructuring and onboarding obligations are the usual three.
04
Is it a replacement or a refund, and can I choose
If you no longer want the role filled, a replacement is worth nothing to you.
05
Put all of it in the agreement
Not the proposal deck and not an email. The agreement is the only version that matters later.

How we structure this.

Our replacement terms go into the agreement before a brief is taken, including what voids them, and we would rather have the awkward conversation at the start than at month five. We work on milestone-based fees rather than a single placement percentage, so the commercial position is clear at each stage of the search.

Ask us for our replacement terms in writing before you brief a role. We will send them the same day.

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Frequently asked questions.

Yes, ninety days is the common market standard for permanent placements. Some firms offer longer on senior roles, and a window materially shorter than ninety days is worth questioning.
It varies and this is the single most important thing to check. Some cover only resignation, which means a hire who is not working out and is let go falls outside the guarantee entirely. Ask the question directly and get the answer in the agreement.
Commonly: a material change to the role after the hire joined, redundancy or restructuring, non-payment of the original fee, or the company failing to complete its own onboarding commitments. The role-change exclusion matters most at early stage, where roles change often.
Very few, because the work is already done by the time a hire leaves. Partial refunds on a sliding scale exist. Treat an offer of a full cash refund with some care and read what triggers it.
It should inform the choice without dominating it. A generous guarantee from a firm that has never closed your seniority is worth less than a standard one from a firm that has. Use it as a tiebreak and as a window into how the firm writes its agreements.