Executive Search

If a candidate we place is dismissed or departs for any reason within 18 months (1.5 years), we will conduct a replacement search at no additional professional fee. This industry-leading commitment ensures your investment is protected and reflects our confidence in identifying leaders who are built to last.

HLS has established itself as a premier retained executive search firm with decades of success in recruiting senior leadership talent. Approximately 70% of our assignments are at the C-suite level, reflecting our deep specialization in high impact executive mandates. Our team brings extensive expertise in assessing leadership capability, ensuring cultural alignment, and evaluating the broader organizational influence of prospective candidates. We place strong executive leaders and our guarantee backs it up.

As a professional services vendor, we represent your organization and the way we carry out our business can have a direct impact on your brand and reputation. We take this responsibility seriously and represent our clients with care and respect throughout the search process. All applicants are acknowledged and kept informed. Candidates who are not selected for interviews receive a professional email decline, and candidates who are interviewed but not proceeding receive a direct verbal decline with appropriate context. This commitment to clear communication and closure consistently reflects positively on our clients’ reputation and employer brand. We do not ignore or “ghost” applicants at any stage of the process.

We take pride in the quality and thoroughness of our work. These qualities alone help differentiate us from the rest, and exceed our client's expectations. The thoroughness of our search includes the active sourcing of passive candidates, but also includes reference checks, assessments, and assisting with candidate integration at no added cost.

​We administer multiple psychometric assessment instruments for each finalist candidate. An integral component of our search process, assessments provide an objective measure of key leadership and personality attributes, contributing to our ability to ensure an optimal candidate fit. We also conduct exceptionally thorough 360° reference checks via multiple comprehensive interviews.

When you choose our professional services, you’re engaging consultants with decades of collective experience, not an AI bot. While we do incorporate AI, we do so thoughtfully and ethically. For instance, every application is personally reviewed by our consultants and never filtered by AI. Instead, we may use AI to refine a completed email script or report.

Harris is a proud member of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC). We are one of the few Canadian organizations that hold this prestigious designation.

• Membership is selective, conducted by an AESC regional member council applying rigorous diligence standards.

• We adhere to an exemplary Code of Professional Practice and assign accomplished senior resources to each assignment.

• As senior professionals, AESC members are valued as trusted executive advisors.

We deploy a team‑based approach to our executive search process to ensure rigour, balance, and objectivity. Our research and outreach are led by dedicated recruiters, working closely with a senior team of consultants to ensure the target market and contact list are fully aligned with the mandate. Senior consultants then conduct screening and interviews in pairs, applying a consistent and balanced evaluation framework. This collaborative approach strengthens decision‑making and reduces the risk of conscious or unconscious bias influencing candidate assessment, resulting in fairer outcomes and stronger hiring decisions.

Our search process doesn’t end with the appointment of the successful candidate. We go the extra mile to provide integration coaching in the first 100 days to enable an effective transition for the newly appointed incumbent and the client organization.