The ROI Playbook for C-Suite Hires

When organizations bring in a new CEO or senior leader, the conversation around return on investment (ROI) often begins and ends with numbers. But as Rajeev Thakur, Director of Grassik Search points out, the true measure of a C-suite hire is far more layered. “ROI isn’t only about numbers. It’s also about culture, vision, and trust. Unless you define both the tangible and intangible returns you seek, you cannot really measure success,” he says. Thakur explains that companies must first understand what the “investment” in a CEO really is. “The investment is not just the salary or the fee paid to a search firm. It’s the time spent in finding the right person, bringing them in, inducting them, and setting them up to succeed. Once you are clear on the investment, you must define the returns you expect,” he notes. These returns can take many forms. Some are tangible: market share growth, new product launches, expansion into new geographies. Others are intangible: creating a leadership pipeline, strengthening customer relationships, or shaping the culture. “A company may hire a CEO because it wants to double revenue, but it may also want a leader who can build trust and drive innovation. Both count as ROI,” he adds. Measuring those returns requires a mix of hard data and softer indicators. Thakur cites the Net Promoter Score (NPS) as one tool. “It’s a simple question — how likely are you to recommend this company’s products or services to others? Over time, NPS tells you if a CEO has improved customer advocacy. It can even turn negative if the leadership fails to build value,” he explains. Examples abound of how clearly defined outcomes drive leadership choices. “Look at Rapido entering the four-wheeler market. Within no time, they took 30% of the share from Ola and Uber by changing the driver payout model. Or Hindustan Unilever bringing in Priya Rao from London after growth stagnated at 2% — she came in with a clear mandate to shake things up. Unless you define the challenge and the outcome expected, you cannot assess the ROI of a CEO,” Thakur says. He stresses that clarity of mandate is non-negotiable. “When a promoter hires a CEO, they must be able to say: this is what I want from you, these are the KPIs, this is the limitation, and this is how we will measure you after a year or two. Without that, both the company and the CEO are flying blind,” he cautions. Setting KPIs, however, requires thought. Thakur explains how expanding by geography and expanding by product need very different indicators. “If you are growing geographically, you need more dealers and stockists. If you are adding products, you need existing distributors to push them. The KPIs are different, and the leader must be chosen accordingly,” he says. Yet, in his experience, companies often miss one vital attribute—potential. “In India, we rely too much on past performance. In the US or Europe, you cannot even mention age or gender in a CV. Here, we assume someone who performed in one environment will perform in another. That’s flawed. What we miss is potential — the ability to learn, adapt, and grow,” Thakur argues. He points to Garima Arora, once a journalist who became India’s first Michelin-starred female chef, as an example of untapped potential. “You don’t always need the obvious background. Sometimes a fresh perspective produces better results than conventional experience,” he says. This shift towards valuing skills over pedigree is already visible. “For two years in a row, 33% of IIT graduates were not picked up at campus. Recruiters found smarter, more adaptable talent in smaller colleges. Skills, not just education, are becoming the real differentiator,” Thakur observes. At the end of the day, ROI on leadership cannot be boxed into a spreadsheet. It is about defining the mandate clearly, measuring progress intelligently, and not overlooking the softer but equally critical returns that leaders deliver. As Thakur sums it up: “Every hire at the C-suite level is high cost and high risk. But if you define what you want, measure both the tangible and intangible, and recognize potential beyond past performance, that is when the return on investment becomes truly meaningful.”



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