Lately, every conversation with CEOs, Founders and Investors seems to circle back to the same two things: people leaving at the wrong moment and leadership hires taking longer to hire, or not developing quickly enough. After more than two decades working across tech, product, design and engineering, what stands out is not just the numbers, but how it feels inside teams when this happens – distracting, tiring and expensive.
The human cost of accelerated growth
What the data tells us is simple: after lots of change, including an investment or structural changes, it is common to see more people move on than in comparable companies, especially at leadership level, because expectations, pace and priorities all change at once. In high-growth businesses, staff turnover tends to creep higher too, which can slow delivery at the very moment everyone is trying to speed up. None of this is a criticism; it is just the reality of working to tight timelines and ambitious plans.
Fewer hires, higher consequences
On the hiring side, many firms aren’t growing exponentially – they are mostly hiring for mission-critical roles. There is a particular focus on leaders who can genuinely grow revenue, work well with AI and data, and steady teams through change. Senior searches still take weeks, and if a hire is not quite right, it can set things back again while everyone tries to recover and start over.
Who you choose to work with matters
It can be easy to default to larger executive search firms, and even today, there is a tendency to overlook women-founded entrepreneurs, even when they bring long experience and strong networks. This is where a smaller, boutique partner can quietly make a difference. Partnering with a company like Smithfield Search means bringing in different perspectives and more thoughtful ways of working that can support the culture you want in your business.
We handle every project personally: carefully listening, thoughtfully questioning and genuinely understanding the board’s goals, the team’s reality and the individual you are about to bring in. There is no conveyor belt, just deliberate work, one search at a time - often with candidates who are not actively on the market but are open to the right conversation.
Let’s Talk
If any of this resonates and you would value a calm, honest conversation about a specific hire or just what you are seeing in your business right now, call me. No pitch, no pressure – just a chance to listen, ask a few pokey questions and see if there is a fit.
