Human Capital Governance
An office tower of glass and steel against the sky

Approach

Impartial reading of the business and the people who lead it

Human capital governance means treating decisions on who leads, who succeeds them and how they answer to the board with the rigour applied to capital.

We read the business and the people who run it, together.

Mandates across Europe, the Gulf and the Americas, each led in person by a partner.

20+years inside leadership decisions in technology and industry
4jurisdictions in a single acquisition programme
3continents where our clients decide

Three principles

I

Led at partner level, signed by the firm

Each mandate is led at partner level, from the first conversation to the recommendation, and the client deals with the same senior counterpart throughout. The recommendation is the firm’s: we sign it and stand behind it. We take on a limited number of mandates at a time so that this holds.

II

Independent of the outcome

Where a search is needed, we help the client choose and brief the right executive search specialists, and we work alongside them. Our view of a team or a successor stays independent of who is appointed.

III

Confidential by design

Confidentiality and independence are conditions of every mandate. Information on candidates and companies is shared only within a signed mandate, through the channels agreed with the client.

Method

Evidence before opinion

Five steps, and a person accountable for every conclusion

  1. 1

    Criteria

    The role, the scorecard and the decision-maker, agreed before any assessment.

  2. 2

    Evidence

    Structured interviews, references and documents, together with the behavioural evidence from L4. Each finding is traced to its source.

  3. 3

    Comparison

    Candidates, or the members of a team, assessed side by side against the same criteria.

  4. 4

    Risk review

    What could fail, how likely it is, and what would reduce the risk.

  5. 5

    Recommendation

    A written recommendation signed by the firm, with the reasoning and the evidence behind it.

L4 · Our methodology

Behavioural evidence for board-level decisions

L4, our proprietary methodology, uses artificial intelligence to infer behaviours and critical incidents from the market’s benchmark behavioural and personality instruments, DISC and Hogan, and tests them against each organisation’s strategic context. It brings evidence, rather than impressions, to every decision, and it does more than assess:

  • Assessment of candidates, successors and leadership teams
  • Leadership risk maps for investment committees and boards
  • Top-talent maps across the C-suite and the level below
  • Internal C-suite talent mapping that shows the board where transformation and change are needed

AI informs; people decide.