Unlocking Value Podcast: Episode Forty-Nine

James Britton is a Managing Director at ZRG, an executive search and leadership advisory firm. He has spent much of his career working on senior hiring across professional services, with a growing amount of that work now involving PE-backed firms.

Much of the conversation is about what really sits behind a successful senior hire. Impressive sales numbers are one thing. James looks at how you establish which client relationships genuinely belong to the individual, the role they actually played in winning work and whether clients are likely to follow them into a new firm.

But hiring the right person is only part of it. James argues that the first six months should often be about helping somebody get established inside the business – building relationships, getting involved in bids and client work and developing credibility with their new colleagues. Without that support, even a strong hire can suffer what he calls “tissue rejection”.

James and John also discuss:

  • Why founder-led and PE-backed firms often need senior hires to start generating revenue relatively quickly.
  • How James gets underneath somebody’s commercial track record, from the stakeholders they know to the clients who have followed them when those stakeholders have moved.
  • Why senior hires need internal sponsors, and what those sponsors should actually do to help them succeed.
  • What private equity investors look for in senior leaders, including pace, previous PE experience, ambition and the ability to bring wider teams and capability with them.
  • How the working environment changes when a business is trying to double or triple over a defined investment period.
  • How AI and changing client expectations are starting to alter the shape of consulting teams, with technology capability becoming more important at both junior and partner level.

If you lead a consulting or professional services firm and you’re making senior hires, building a PE-backed leadership team or thinking about how your future talent needs are changing, this is a practical look at both choosing the right people and giving them the best chance of succeeding once they arrive.

If you enjoy conversations like this, please follow the show so you don’t miss future episodes.

🎧 This episode is available to stream below or on any of your usual podcast platforms (such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts)

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: James Britton, Managing Director at ZRG

Enjoyed this episode?

And if you’d like to explore how Garwood Growth helps firms build value in practice, get in touch with the Garwood team for a conversation.