The Human Method — Executive Search Process

The Human Method is how we work — the practitioner posture that runs through every engagement: empathetic, evidence-based, calibrated to the reality of the role. The Anker Bioss Framework is how we decide — the rigorous system that holds capability at three layers (institutional, organizational, individual) and turns evidence into storylines the organization can act on. Executed through Alder Koten's eight-step search process, calibrated by the Anker Bioss lenses of Ability, Capability, and Capacity.

The Anker Bioss Framework

Every search rests on one framework, evaluated in three dimensions of fit — Fit to Profile, Fit to Company Stage, and Fit to Challenge — across three horizons: Present, Future, and Enduring.

• Ability — applied skill, knowledge, and experience that enable consistent execution.
• Capability — judgment under complexity: how a leader frames problems, adapts, and holds competing aims.
• Capacity — the scope, systems, and time-horizon over which ability and capability can be scaled.

Alongside structured executive interviews, evidence is drawn from validated instruments: Hogan (HPI, HDS, MVPI), BIOSS Career Path Appreciation (CPA) — Mode of Thinking and Level of Work — and the Luks Prisma leadership assessment.

01 · Collaborate

Every engagement begins by mapping the whole picture — the role, the organization, the culture, and the strategy. We interview the hiring principal, key stakeholders, and often the board. We calibrate against comparable roles in the market and align on the success profile before we open the search.

Alder Koten steps in this phase:

1. Discover — analyze strategic intent, governance, culture, and organizational stage.
2. Define — build the position specification: Fit to Profile, Fit to Company Stage, Fit to Challenge, and target Level of Work / Mode of Thinking.

Outputs: role charter, competency scorecard, target-company map, calibration slate.

02 · Implement

We source across a curated network — not a generic database. Every candidate is assessed against the scorecard using structured interviews, behavioral evidence, and validated instruments. Only candidates who clear the bar are presented.

Alder Koten steps in this phase:

3. Search — disciplined outreach across relevant industries, ecosystems, and leadership networks.
4. Assess & Evaluate — candidates evaluated across Present, Future, and Enduring horizons using Hogan, BIOSS CPA, and Luks Prisma.
5. Present & Interview — confidential candidate reports; client interviews informed by clarity, not conjecture.
6. Validate — 360° references and academic verification against the framework.

Decision outcomes: Ready Now · Ready With Conditions · Ready Later · Not Recommended Now.

Outputs: bi-weekly progress reports, shortlist with evidence, reference dossiers, offer-strategy support.

03 · Grow

The placement is not the finish line. We stay engaged through onboarding and integration to protect the placement and help the leader step into the role at full speed.

Alder Koten steps in this phase:

7. Offer — alignment, not negotiation. Transparent dialogue between client and candidate.
8. Transition — resignation, onboarding, and integration support, with post-placement feedback through the Anker Bioss lens.

Outputs: onboarding cadence, stakeholder-integration plan, first-100-days check-ins, replacement guarantee.

Client protections

• Off limits. Alder Koten does not recruit a candidate placed with a client during that candidate's tenure with the company.
• Replacement guarantee. If a hired candidate resigns or is terminated for cause within the agreed guarantee period, Alder Koten will conduct a replacement search and charge only direct expenses — subject to the terms of the engagement.

Why it works

• Structured evidence, not opinion. Every advance decision is tied to observable behavior against the framework.
• Cross-border native. Senior-led work in the US and Mexico, with international reach via IMD International Search Group across 22+ partner countries.
• Empathy at the center. Candidates experience the process the way we would want to be evaluated ourselves.