Retained search fills the seat. Then what?
You've funded one before. You know how it ends.
Retained executive search is the right instrument for many senior hires - deep market mapping, confidentiality, committed attention. We run retained searches ourselves. Here's the honest comparison, including where a traditional retained firm is the better call.
| Traditional retained firm | Qualigence | |
|---|---|---|
| Market access & mapping | Excellent | Excellent |
| Fee structure | 30-33% of first-year comp | Structured per engagement, capped below traditional fees |
| What’s screened | Experience, references, chemistry | Behavior under pressure, against a defined outcome |
| After the offer | Courtesy check-ins | Structured 30/60/90-day integration |
| What’s left behind | A hire | A hire + the decision system that produced it |
| The next search | Another fee | Your team runs the system |
Where traditional retained wins - the honest answer.
If you need a one-time, board-level search with a specific firm's network and no interest in changing how you hire, a traditional retained firm serves you well.
But if the same mis-hire patterns keep repeating, the search isn't the problem. The decision is. They fill seats. We fix how you decide who fills them.
Questions, answered straight.
- Is Qualigence a retained search firm?
- Yes - we run retained executive searches. The difference is what we install alongside the search: the 6-Step Performance Engine™ applied to every hire, with structured 30/60/90-day integration included. You get the slate and the decision system that produced it.
- What does retained executive search cost at Qualigence?
- Our fee structure is capped below the traditional 30-33% of first-year compensation charged by large retained firms. The Practice Leader structures exact pricing on the first call - it varies by role, scope, and engagement model.
- What is a replacement guarantee worth?
- A replacement guarantee limits your downside but not your cost of the mis-hire - the year of lost performance, the team morale, the second integration. Our guarantee exists; what we prefer is not needing it. The screen reduces the probability of the miss.
- How is Results-Based Interviewing™ different from a normal executive interview?
- A standard interview tests for likability and resume fluency. Results-Based Interviewing™ requires every question to generate evidence of capability against a defined role outcome. Candidates prove they can produce the result, not that they can describe having produced something similar.
Ask for the number.
Every firm will show you who they’ve worked with. Ask for their 24-month retention number instead. Ours is 85% - placed candidates still performing at 24 months - and it’s on every page of this site.
Six months after our search closes, your team is running the system that made it - the next search starts from evidence, not from zero.
