Retained Search

In stages, with money attached to each. An initial instalment starts the work, a second is commonly tied to delivery of a shortlist or to a point in the calendar, and the balance falls due on placement or when the hire starts. Between those points the firm produces a written role specification, maps the relevant market to establish who is actually doing this work and where, approaches those people directly, assesses the ones worth pursuing, and presents a short list of names with written evidence behind each. Progress reporting runs on an agreed cadence whether or not there is good news, which is part of what the fee covers. Exclusivity is normal for the engagement period, so no other firm and often no internal channel works the role in parallel.

The incentives, and everything that follows from them. A contingency firm is paid only when a placement happens, so it spreads effort across many roles, moves fast, and sends the strongest people it already knows. That produces speed and volume, costs the employer nothing if no hire results, and rarely yields a systematic view of the market. A retained firm is paid for conducting the search, so time goes into research: mapping a market properly, reaching people who are not looking and would ignore an advert, and reporting on who declined and why. The employer carries the risk if the search stalls, which is the real trade being made. Direct approach work happens under both models. What changes is who funds the research and how much of it actually gets done.

Retained fits small candidate universes and high consequence. Executive appointments, scarce specialist roles, confidential searches where an incumbent is still in post, positions where a wrong hire is expensive to unwind, and markets where the right people are not applying anywhere all justify paying for research. It also fits when you need evidence about the market itself and not only a hire. Contingency fits the opposite conditions: an active candidate pool, profiles that are genuinely interchangeable, several similar roles running at once, and a market where speed matters more than coverage. Plenty of employers run both, using contingency and their own direct sourcing for volume roles while reserving retained engagements for a handful of appointments a year. Building internal pipelines with candidate sourcing software reduces how often either becomes necessary.

Access, speed and honesty about the role. A proper briefing that goes well beyond the job description, a named decision maker who can act without convening a committee, interview slots held in advance, a pay range you will genuinely honour, and feedback within days rather than weeks. Under a retained engagement this matters more than usual, because the firm is approaching people who were not looking and is representing you while it does so. Slow feedback undoes weeks of persuasion, and a candidate who was talked into a conversation and then left waiting rarely comes back. Decide the off-limits terms up front, agree how the search is described if it is confidential, and treat the engagement as part of your own talent acquisition process rather than something happening elsewhere.