Hiring a senior leader should make them feel safe. It rarely does.
Boards approve big salaries. Teams wait for direction. Growth hangs in the balance. Yet failure shows up fast. And it costs more than pride.
Right now, leaders in California are feeling the strain. Executive hiring has shifted dramatically in the past few years. The cost to attract and place executive talent has jumped. According to SHRM’s 2025 Recruiting Executives Benchmarking report, the cost of hiring an executive has risen sharply. It now sits nearly 9× higher than hiring a non-executive role.
Time to fill is stabilizing around 45 days, but the cost is climbing fast as firms compete for scarce executive talent and senior leaders push for quick placements.
Why does this keep happening?
Is the executive recruitment process broken? Why do smart boards still make risky hires? Why do strong resumes fail in real life?
Let’s slow this down, look closely, and talk honestly about what works now.
Why Does Executive Recruitment Fail Even with Smart Boards?
The short answer: HR and boards often focus on the resume, not the results in context.
Multiple sources show that a significant share of executive roles end in early turnover or underperformance. Reports estimate more than 50% of executive placements falter within the first 18 months. It isn’t about lack of skill. It’s about the mismatch between expectations, culture, leadership style, and organizational needs.
Several key factors play into this:
- The role itself may not be clearly defined before the search starts.
- Stakeholders may not agree on what success looks like.
- The internal culture — unspoken norms, values, or workplace style — may not suit the hire.
- Boards and HR may rush to fill a vacancy to avoid disruption.
SHRM data shows that the cost per hire is rising because companies are investing more to speed recruiting, but most do not measure the quality of hire (cited above).
This disconnect between process cost and quality output is a root driver of executive failures. It’s not just that leaders don’t fit. It’s that the process was never defined clearly in the first place.
CooperDouglas approaches executive search as a strategic exercise, not a transaction. Every retained search begins with sharp role definition and shared direction, led by a senior partner who brings industry depth and execution discipline to the table.
The goal is simple: identify the right leader for the real work ahead, not the one that merely looks good on paper.
What Breaks the Executive Recruitment Process Before It Starts?
What breaks the executive recruitment process more often than poor leadership is poor preparation.
Executives aren’t normal hires. They’re strategy drivers. Yet many executive searches begin without:
- A clear scorecard of outcomes.
- Consensus among the decision-makers.
- Reality checks about market talent pools.
- A shared timeline with checkpoints.
Recruiting researchers stress that alignment before action matters most. Lack of early alignment on candidate expectations has been linked to a high rate of early terminations or misaligned performance. When stakeholders (boards, CEOs, or HR leads) haven’t agreed on the scorecard, candidates enter with unclear signals.
Even respected industry sources highlight this. Executive search failures often trace back to shifting priorities mid-search or unclear candidate criteria.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- One executive committee thinks past industry pedigree matters most.
- Another group wants innovation and change leadership.
- The HR lead emphasizes cultural fit.
- None of these priorities is documented.
Result? A confused search team. A candidate who fits “bits and pieces.” A hire that satisfies no one.
At CooperDouglas, our executive search team fixes this problem early. We guide boards and HR through alignment workshops. And we identify core outcomes, cultural anchors, and strategy needs before approaching any candidate.
It ensures your executive search isn’t reactive. It’s proactive. And it has a real compass.
How Does Executive Recruitment Really Work Behind Closed Doors?
It’s messy. It’s human. And bias sneaks in fast.
Let’s cut the myth: executive search isn’t a database + interviews. It’s a strategy translation and human alignment.
But how does it work when you look behind the scenes?
A lot of research shows that traditional approaches are too mechanical. Recruiters may surface a slate of candidates, but many firms rely on surface signals (like past titles, industry familiarity, or resumes), not deeper context and fit.
Here’s what often happens:
- Recruiters pull from familiar networks.
- Boards focus on credentials over performance context.
- The interview rounds measure comfort, not future challenge.
- The final offer closes on salary negotiation, not readiness.
Research into recruitment fairness also shows that bias (explicit and implicit) seeps into algorithmic and human hiring tools, leading to narrowed candidate diversity and skewed selections.
So, the process doesn’t fail because executives are poor. It fails because many systems don’t evaluate fit the right way.
CooperDouglas runs retained searches for strategic C-level roles, each led end-to-end by a senior partner. That leadership ensures discipline in evaluation, pressure-tested judgment, and a focus on how candidates lead in complex, real-world situations—not just how they present themselves in interviews.
Truth is: Executive search should be scientific, not accidental.
Can Executive Search Firms Fix It (or Make It Worse)?
Yes, but only if they measure success differently.
Traditional firms often get paid upon placement. Once the offer is signed, their job is done. That model incentivizes closing the hire, not making sure it sticks.
It creates pressure to:
- Rely on known candidate pools.
- Push speed over depth.
- Avoid tough conversations about culture fit.
- Deliver a placement, not a partnership.
Modern recruiting research warns that this approach often leads to mismatches once the executive starts. And as many boards discover, the cost of executive turnover is not just search fees. It’s strategy disruption, lost productivity, and cultural confusion.
The SHRM’s 2025 (cited above) report also showed that executive hiring is increasingly resource-intensive and hard to measure well.
But fixing it means rewriting the incentives.
With CooperDouglas, retained search means sustained accountability. A senior partner leads the engagement from first conversation through final selection, applying industry insight and execution rigor to ensure the chosen leader truly fits the role and the organization’s strategic demands.
Only firms that share accountability for outcomes (not just placement) can fix executive recruitment at scale.
What Makes an Executive Hire Succeed Long-Term?
Now let’s talk about success.
What makes an executive hire succeed isn’t rocket science. It’s context, support, and fit.
Research on onboarding and leadership success consistently shows that executives who understand their role, expectations, and culture outperform those who don’t. Sinazo Sibisi and Gys Kappers’ analysis finds that formal onboarding can boost retention and early productivity by large margins.
It’s not enough to hire the right person. You must:
- Help them understand why they were chosen.
- Clarify leadership expectations.
- Connect them with key stakeholders immediately.
- Give them time and support to comprehend the culture.
This early integration matters because executives shape strategy, team morale, and external perception. A misaligned VP or C-suite leader can undermine credibility before their first 100 days are complete.
CooperDouglas’s intensive, partner-led process relies on one outcome: delivering the right leader. By combining retained search with deep industry understanding and disciplined execution, we reduce risk at the point where leadership decisions matter most (before the hire).
Great hires aren’t luck. They’re engineered.
So, Is the Executive Recruitment Process Broken (or Just Misused)?
Is the executive recruitment process broken? Sometimes. Often misused. Always fixable.
The problem isn’t talent. It’s how companies define, choose, and support leaders.
CooperDouglas fixes the hard parts others avoid. We slow decisions to speed outcomes. And we replace hope with structure.
If your last hire failed, don’t blame the market. Fix the process. And start with clarity.
The right leader changes everything. The wrong one costs years.
Ready to get this right? Talk to CooperDouglas. Make your next hire your strongest move yet.
FAQs: Executive Recruitment Process
What is executive recruitment?
It’s the process of finding, evaluating, and hiring top leaders like CEOs, CFOs, and VPs.
Why does executive recruitment often fail?
Failures often happen when roles aren’t defined, and stakeholders aren’t aligned upfront.
What breaks the executive recruitment process?
Unclear role requirements, shifting priorities, and mixed expectations kill effective search.
How does executive recruitment really work?
Behind the scenes, it’s networks, interviews, assessments, and often bias, not just resumes.
Can executive search firms fix it?
Yes, but only if they stay accountable past placement and focus on fit.
What makes an executive hire succeed?
Clear goals, strong onboarding, and cultural alignment are key.
Is executive hiring more expensive than regular hiring?
Yes, the cost per hire for executives is much higher than for other roles.
