Executive Search and Assessment

In a world of constant change, commercial success relies on the strategic navigation of growth, challenge and transformation.

Executive leadership with the experience and attributes to achieve results amidst continually changing conditions is now more important than ever. At D’Arcy Weil, we specialise in placing executives and board members with the expertise to lead from the front, forever changing both the businesses they lead and the industries within which they operate.

When it comes to finding the right leaders, with the right expertise and the right cultural fit, our global Executive Search and Assessment service goes deeper on every level, because it’s never been more important to get it right first time.

Our industry experience is backed by rigorous methods designed to develop a detailed understanding of a business, it’s culture and its challenges. Our extensive networks provide access to a greater breadth of potential candidates while allowing a deeper level of insight into their capabilities and suitability. And our approach to assessment is unparalleled, with every candidate earning their right to move forward in the appointment process.

Succession Planning

Our Succession Planning services help organisations maintain effective performance through change, challenge and the passing of time.

We develop strategies for the transition of key executive and leadership roles.  We also work with executives and professionals transitioning from high-profile positions into new phases of their careers.

Organisation Succession Planning

When managed strategically, leadership changes at the top levels of organisations can bring continuity and confidence, new ideas and innovation, and create a safety net, guarding against the risks that leadership gaps create.

Our Succession Planning services include:

  • Strategic Imperatives considering the specific skills, capabilities, knowledge and experience needed for the business to be successful.
  • Leadership Structure mapping leadership roles and mission critical positions, putting the correct structures are in place to operate effectively and support changes in C-Suite positions.
  • Executive Talent Strategy identifying and assess internal and external candidates, hiring the right person and considering the succession pool in support the organization’s future.
  • Transition Planning ensuring transfer of knowledge by implementing interim management and executive handover periods.

We’ve managed transitions in major law firms, assessing internal talent alongside external candidates, appointing new executives and securing the future of the firm.

Professional Career Transition

We regularly transition CEO’s from day-to-day management into academia, advisory positions, board memberships and the nonprofit sector. We also work with professional athletes moving into professional life, advising on everything from professional development and sponsorships, through to profile development and business opportunities.

Our Professional Career Planning services include:

  • Career Development to understand executive capabilities, requirements and interests to explore relevant career options and create individual plans for development and transition
  • Market mapping to identify and assess businesses and opportunities aligning with an executive’s skills and experience
  • Executive Placements to secure and transition an executive into their next position.

Professional Search

When it comes to sourcing specialist talent and recruiting highly-technical roles, we’re inspired by innovation and thrive on a challenge.

Our success comes from identifying the specific, tangible skills and technical capabilities the organisation needs. We then use our extensive network of contacts to find the right person, with the right skills and the right cultural fit.

Challenging Assignments, Exceptional Candidates

We’re known for consistently finding the right people with the right expertise, succeeding where others have failed. We take pride in finding exceptional candidates, reducing our clients’ recruitment effort, and the risk of recruiting the wrong person.

Building Capability, Driving Growth

We often design and recruit entire teams and divisions. When we identified a competitive growth opportunity for long-term client, Energy Australia, to enter the wind farm solar storage market, we proposed hiring an established team of specialist technicians and managers. We recruited, implemented and established the entire team, our client enjoying considerable commercial success as a result.

Similarly, we’ve been tasked with staffing the entire workforce of a remote foreign embassy. In this case, our defence contractor client needed specialist recruitment and relocation with positions ranging from private protection, doctors and interpreters right through to bomb detector dogs and their handlers.

Board Advisory Services

Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards play a critical role in steering an organisation to success.

Focusing on governance, risk and strategic direction, a board must be equipped to deliver on financial growth while dealing with the challenges and opportunities that regularly arise.

At D’Arcy Weil, we build boards and their capability. We ensure board members and directors are fully aware of their individual and collective responsibilities, the issues affecting their business and industry, and the critical nature of robust governance in an increasingly visible role.

Supporting Strategy

We advise organisations on the structure and recruitment of new Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards, often working with businesses undergoing rapid growth and entering new phases.

We also recruit new board members to join existing boards. We consider each potential Director’s behavioural attributes and competencies, governance knowledge, and whether their depth of technical and industry knowledge can support the needs of the organisation.

Ensuring Performance

We also help organisations understand whether their existing boards are effective and have the competence to advise on an organisation’s strategy. We assess and benchmark board performance and identify director skill gaps.

Recently, we helped a tech start-up that had grown from a two-person business to $300M turnover under two years. We installed an advisory group with the diversity of experience to guide and support the business through a new phase of increasingly rapid growth.

Interim Management

During times of change and turmoil, experienced leadership is more important than ever.

Our Executive Interim Managers are highly experienced individuals with histories of delivering both change and success in challenging environments. We work with our clients to gain a detailed understanding of what they need, then assess and appoint the right leaders for their needs.

Expedited Appointments

We support organisations needing solutions to rapidly appoint or replace an executive, the expertise and independence to deliver on core business objectives, or provide short term support to pressured management teams. When the situation requires an immediate solution, we’re often able to secure the right expertise within 48-72 hours.

Pre-qualified Expertise

When it comes to finding the right leaders, we consider skills and expertise, culture fit, industry experience and leadership capability – in particular, the ability to take control of the situation quickly and effectively and drive effective change.

The D’Arcy Weil Difference

The scope and breadth of our networks gives us access to executives who are highly skilled and change adept. Additionally, we have a comparatively high rate of successful placement with our interim executives often transitioning from interim to permanent placements based on their ability and how well they’re suited to the organisation.

Mergers & Acquisitions

During times of change and turmoil, experienced leadership is more important than ever.

We help our clients grow, diversify, deepen market penetration, and eliminate costs and competition, transforming their businesses and their bottom lines.

We keep due diligence, talent and continuity at the heart of everything we do, providing a range of people-focused services designed to maximise business profitability, workforce efficiency and commercial value.

Our services include:

  • Strategic business guidance on the human capital elements of mergers and acquisitions,
  • Identification of suitable M&A opportunities with people and process efficiencies,
  • Due diligence on acquisition prospects covering human resource benefits, risks, efficiencies and potential culture impacts,
  • Change management maintaining employee productivity and engagement through the uncertainty of change and transformation, and
  • Post-merger integration including organization design, talent strategy, and staffing levels.

Our clients come from a wide range of industries including agribusiness, manufacturing, legal firms, energy and private equity.

Leadership Development

Our Leadership Development practice transforms Executives into Leaders.

We teach senior executives how to engage, win the confidence and support of their employees, and grow the capabilities of their teams.

We have a range of Leadership Development programs designed to increase the leadership capacity of individuals and develop high-performing leadership teams. We also develop custom programs, taking into account a company’s strategic objectives.

Executive Communication

Success in leadership comes from having the support and loyalty of your people. Effective communication creates quality relationships and an environment where people innovate and cooperate, boosting morale and work ethic. We build core competencies around leadership communication, influence, decision making, driving change, and strategic thinking.

Executive Coaching

We often work directly with talented individuals being considered for promotion to CEO and C-Suite positions.  We identify their strengths and use these to increase motivation, communicate effectively and build influence.

Leadership Coaching

Teaching leaders how to have productive conversations with their people improves the performance of their teams and their financial results. We teach leaders how to manage their people effectively and improve long term performance by offering actionable feedback and providing coaching.

Talent Strategy

A comprehensive talent strategy supports a business strategy by identifying, recruiting and developing the right people with the right skills, knowledge and motivation to deliver results.   We show leaders how to structure their teams, identify skills gaps and recognise the right talent when they see it. We also teach executives how to spot, develop and retain the next generation of leadership amongst their ranks.

Organisation Design & Talent Strategy

Business success comes from having the right people, in the right roles, performing the right tasks, at the right times.

We believe Organisation Design and Talent Strategy are ‘mission critical’ to achieving business vision, strategy and execution – essential in today’s environment of near constant disruption.

Organisation Design

Streamlining how organisations are structured, who makes decisions and what tasks are performed is essential to productivity. Low productivity, high employee turnover, hiring problems, high employee turnover are all symptoms of an inefficient organisation design, and all prevent a business from growing.

We help our clients achieve operational excellence by identifying workflow, procedure, structure and system inefficiencies. We then realign these elements to fit business realities and goals, and develop plans to implement changes.

We focus on long term strategy, pull together the right leaders, and identify and manage the cultural and transitional risks. We bring the people, systems and processes together to deliver lasting change, reducing operational costs, make fast decisions and increase their  return on investment.

Talent Strategy

Businesses competing in emerging and competitive markets need exceptional talent. Finding, developing and retaining the very best people is an investment in future success.

We lead organisations through talent planning, executive and professional recruitment, employee development, talent reviews and succession planning. We consider staffing levels, identify high performers and provide real solutions to help HR and line manager’s assess, coach and develop talent.

In today’s knowledge economy, providing employees with opportunities to develop their skills, interesting assignments and exciting careers increases engagement, productivity and loyalty. Ensuring executive buy-in is the key to delivering successful talent strategy – we work closely with senior executives to gain their steadfast focus and commitment to developing an organisation’s talent pool.