The ROI Playbook for C-Suite Hires
When organizations bring a new CEO or senior leader, the conversation with the Return of Investment (YG) usually starts and ends with number. However, as Grasik search director Rajeev Thakur points out, the real size of a C-water rent is much more layered. “YG is not only about numbers. It is also about culture, vision and trust. You cannot really measure success unless you define both concrete and intangible returns you are looking for, or he says.
Thakur explains that companies should first understand what the “investment önce in a CEO actually understands. “Investment is not just a salary or fee paid to a search company. The time spent to find, bring them, encourage them, and set them to succeed. When you are clear in investment, you must define the returns you expect.
These refunds can take many forms. Some concrete: market share growth, new product launch, expansion to new geographies. Others are not concrete: Creating a leadership pipeline, strengthening customer relationships or shaping culture. “A company may rent a CEO, because he wants to double income, but he may want a leader who can build trust and increase innovation.
Measureing these refunds requires a mixture of hard data and softer indicators. Thakur describes the net promoter score (NPs) as a tool. “This is a simple question – how much is you like to recommend this company’s products or services to others?
Examples are how much clearly defined results direct the leadership choices. “Look at Rapido to enter the four -wheel market. Never, they changed the driver’s payment model and took 30% of the share from Uber. Or Hindustan Unilever came with a clear mission to shake things after the growth stopped at 2%.
He emphasizes that the clarity of duty is unharified. “When a supporter renters a CEO, they must be able to say: This is what I want from you, these are KPIs, this is the limitation and we will measure you in this way after a few years.
However, the determination of KPIs requires thinking. Thakur explains how expansion and expansion with the product need many different indicators. “If you grow geographically, you need more dealers and stockists. If you add products, you need existing distributors to force them. KPIs are different and the leader should be chosen accordingly,” he says.
Nevertheless, in their experiences, companies often miss a vital quality – potential. “We trust past performance in India. You cannot even talk about age or gender in a CV or Europe in the United States or Europe. Here we assume that one who performs in one environment will perform in the other. This is defective.
He points out to Garima Arara, a journalist who was once India’s first Michelin starring female conductor, as an example of unused potential. “You don’t always need an obvious background. Sometimes a new perspective produces better results than traditional experience, or he says.
This change to value the family tree can already be seen. “For two consecutive years, 33% of the IIIT graduates were not taken on campus for two years. Employers found smarter, more adaptable skills on smaller colleges. Not only education, but skills are becoming a real differentiating,” Thakur says.
At the end of the day, the leadership YG cannot be turned into an electronic picture. This is about defining the task clearly, measuring progress wisely, and not overlooking the softer but more critical returns offered by leaders. As Thakur summarized: “Every rental at the C-water level is high cost and high risk. But if you define what you want, measure both concrete and non-concrete and recognize beyond past performance, that is, when the return of investment is really meaningful.”
