Insights

We've many longstanding and tremendous clients here at Hyperion Search, many of whom have worked with us for years on multiple appointments. One thing I've learned over the many years I've worked in search is that the best companies we work with don't engage a search partner because they can't find candidates. They engage one because the hire is too important to get wrong.

Across cleantech, renewables and the wider energytransition space, most of our work is retained or engaged search. And not because we simply get more of our fee upfront. But because search should not be executed on chance.

When you're hiring a commercial leader to take a business from £10m to £50m, a VP to build out a new market, or an executive to help deliver on an investor growth plan, the process matters. We spend a lot of time upfront with leadership teams understanding where the business is today, where it's trying to get to, and what success in the role actually looks like in the first 12,24,36 months.

Increasingly, we're also seeing companies move away from generalist recruitment models and towards niche, domain-rich search partners like us. Why? Because access matters. Insight matters. Results matter. When you're operating in a specialist market, you need a search partner who already knows the companies, already has 5 names in mind, understands the technology, speaks the language of the industry and can open doors that others can't.

Every search is different.

Different technologies.

Different growth stages.

Different challenges.

Different talent pools.

A building automation business scaling through channel partners has a very different hiring requirement to a battery storage company, an EV charging operator or a grid technology scale-up. The biggest difference isn't the fee. It's the commitment. When a client invests in a search from day one, there's alignment, accountability and a genuine partnership on both sides. That completely changes the quality of the search. It changes the level of access we get to the market. And ultimately, it changes the outcome. It also changes the conversation we have with candidates.

Let's be absolutely clear here, the best people in our market aren't scrolling job boards looking for their next move. They're leading teams, launching products, winning customers and helping drive the energy transition forward. Those people tend to listen when they're approached about a genuine strategic opportunity, not just another vacancy being pushed into the market or forced upon them by a flash in the pan recruiter who is trying to hit his/her KPI's. The reality is that the most important hires rarely come from the easiest places. They come from a well-executed search, a clear brief, and a leadership team willing to invest the time and effort to get it right. It's as simple as that.

If you're planning a key commercial, product, operational, technical or executive hire within the next 6-12 months, I'd be interested to hear how you're approaching it. Where are you finding the biggest talent gaps? What has been the thorn in your side so far?

Drop me a message with any thoughts that resonate or differ.

I'm always happy to share market insight and advice on best practice, whether we end up working together or not.

Steve Robinson