For roles where the wrong answer
compounds its cost
for years.
Most executive search failures are not execution failures. The brief was wrong. The market was misread. The strongest candidates were never reached. Talhive fixes those things first, through retained executive search discipline, market calibration, and written candidate intelligence, before a single candidate is approached. This is what retained executive search is supposed to do, and rarely does in practice.
At the senior level, the strongest candidates are rarely visible. They are not on job boards, not updating their profiles, and have no reason to respond to generic outreach. Reaching them requires a better thesis, a sharper brief, and a more credible opening. That is where retained search changes the outcome.
Seven stages.
Every output in writing.
You receive a written document at each stage before the next one begins. The market picture, candidate assessments, and reference summaries exist on paper before any decision is made under time pressure. Evidence, not opinion.
Start a retained executive searchRole Calibration
A working session with the hiring committee covering business context, strategy implications, failure modes, and what credible success looks like at 12 months. Output: a written Role Manifesto governing every sourcing and assessment decision downstream.
Market Thesis
We map the talent market before any outreach: the right hunting grounds, viable career trajectories, supply and demand signals, and where the compensation anchor must sit. You see the thesis before we contact anyone. If the market cannot support the brief, we say so now.
Passive Candidate Outreach
We approach candidates with your company's story framed as a career decision, not a job opening. Outreach is personalised. We do not submit candidates who are merely interested rather than genuinely motivated.
Assessment & Written Intelligence Brief
Every shortlisted candidate arrives with a written brief covering career narrative, competency evidence, cultural fit analysis, motivation hypothesis, and early reference signal. You read the person, not a formatted CV.
Motivation Interview
A structured conversation focused on why this person would leave their current role and stay in yours past 18 months. Misaligned motivation is the strongest predictor of a failed senior hire. We surface it before you invest interview time.
Structured Referencing
References conducted before the final round, not as a post-offer formality. We speak to direct reports, peers, and one-up managers. Questions are structured around risk dimensions identified in assessment. Summaries are written and shared.
Offer Management & 90-Day Integration
We manage the close: compensation structure, counter-offer risk, start date. Post-placement, structured check-ins with the hire and hiring manager at 30, 60, and 90 days. If friction surfaces early, we address it before it becomes a departure.
High stakes, narrow pool,
previous failure.
Retained search makes the most difference when three conditions are present simultaneously. The mandate is genuinely difficult, and the cost of a wrong hire is real.
About TalhiveDirect answers.
Every mandate is reviewed by a founding team member. Anything not covered here is answered in a call.
Discuss a mandateThree agencies. Four offer-stage dropoffs. One hire that rebuilt Board confidence.
VP Engineering, Series B SaaS, United Kingdom. The previous searches had correctly identified viable candidates but had never run motivation interviews. All four offer-stage dropoffs were equity concerns that were never surfaced.
Read the full caseThe brief comes first.
Everything else follows.
Complete what you know. If the mandate is not the right fit for Talhive, we will say so directly.
Reviewed by a founding team member. Strictly confidential.
Your details are held in strict confidence and are not shared.
Received.
A senior team member will review your brief and be in touch directly.