Executive search is a way of recruiting for senior or hard-to-fill roles where the recruiter goes out and finds the right person, rather than waiting for applicants. It's also called headhunting or retained search. The search firm maps the market and approaches people who aren't looking, usually for a fee that's partly paid up front.
For a retail or luxury brand, it's the right tool when the person you need is almost certainly already in a good job somewhere else.
How it differs from contingency recruitment
Most recruitment works on a contingency basis. The recruiter puts forward candidates, and you pay only if you hire one of them. It's quick, and it suits roles where good people are actively looking, such as store managers in a busy market or most head office roles below senior level.
Executive search works differently in two ways.
The first is who it reaches. The firm doesn't rely on who's applied or who's on its database. It builds a list of everyone who could do the job, at competitors and similar businesses, and approaches them directly. The best regional director or head of retail for your brand is usually doing well where they are and won't see your advert. Someone has to call them and explain the opportunity well enough to earn a second conversation.
The second is the commitment. You pay part of the fee when the search starts, so the firm puts real time into one role and doesn't move on when the next brief arrives.
At IB we work on contingency or retained terms, including executive search, and we agree which one fits before we start. The role decides it.
When a retail brand needs it
Search is worth it when one or more of these is true:
- The role is senior: head of retail, regional or country director, head of buying, brand director.
- The market is small. Luxury retail leadership is a short list of people, and most of them know each other.
- The hire needs to be confidential, for example replacing someone who doesn't yet know they're leaving, or a new market entry you don't want competitors to hear about.
- You're hiring abroad. Opening stores in a new country means finding someone who knows that market and your kind of brand, often from a standing start.
If none of those apply, a good contingency recruiter will usually serve you better and faster.
What a good search looks like
A search should feel structured from the first meeting. Expect these stages:
- A detailed brief: the role, the business context, what success looks like at twelve months and the package.
- A market map: the businesses and people the firm plans to approach, agreed with you.
- Regular updates on who's been approached and why people said no.
- A shortlist of people the firm has met and can speak for, not a pile of CVs.
- Help with the offer and any counter-offer, through to start date.
The updates matter more than people expect. Hearing why strong candidates turned the role down tells you how your brand and your package look from outside, and that's useful even before you hire.
How to choose a search firm
Pick a firm that knows your sector from the inside. In retail and luxury, the people you want will judge your brand partly on who calls them. A recruiter who understands the shop floor and the head office, and can talk credibly about both, gets further in the first call than one reading from a job description.
Ask who will run the search day to day. At a boutique firm it should be the person you met. Then ask for a recent example of a similar role.
Talk to us
Bev and I both had senior careers in front-facing fashion retail before recruitment, and we run executive search for fashion and luxury brands in the UK and abroad. If you have a senior role to fill, book a call or upload the vacancy. You can also read how we recruit for fashion and luxury.