The Structure Problem That Lands on HR
Most senior hires fail because the structure was never redesigned around them. The fix starts with HR.
The pattern is consistent. Leadership sets a growth target. The brief lands on People without a structure review. HR is asked to hire into roles that aren’t designed to deliver what the business needs.
The fix is unsexy but measurable. Audit the function before you open the role. Does every team and senior seat have a clear remit, the right reporting line, and authority that matches accountability? Most don’t. That’s why senior hires fail and replacement cost lands back on People inside 18 months.
Then it becomes a calibration question. Most People functions get handed a brief and a hiring panel that hasn’t aligned on what success looks like. Three interviewers test three different things, the strongest signal gets diluted, and the appointment is made on chemistry. We push hiring panels to a written scorecard before any candidate enters the room. It is the single highest-leverage thing People can install. It also gives you a defensible record when the role doesn’t work out and the post-mortem starts.
Two questions to ask before signing off any senior brief from the business.
— Is the structure designed for where we’re going, or inherited from where we’ve been?
— Has the hiring panel been calibrated on what good actually looks like?
Fix that first. Everything else is hiring.