An open key position in your company (CMO, CTO, AI Lead, ...) costs you revenue, market, future - every month it stays open.
A mis-hire is one cost you cannot afford. Pre-Recruiting is. The ROI beats the cost ... a hundredfold.
HIHB is the Pre-Recruiting method: a facilitated 2-hour workshop. We clarify which skills drive success in this role. With it, you win the right people for the selection, make a grounded and measurable decision, and hire high-impact candidates.
Four levers that move key hires from hoping to steering.
Job ads show tasks and must-haves. We make visible what decides beneath the surface: the history of the role, the current situation, the organization behind it, the motivation on both sides. Eight information areas in context - not isolated requirements.
CEO, business unit, HR often see the same position very differently. In the workshop, all stakeholders work on the role together - facilitated, visual, with clear questions. The result: a jointly developed profile that produces no surprises in the interview later.
Conventional selection filters by experience and familiar profiles. High-impact candidates fall through the grid. In the workshop, we calibrate the balance between must-haves, learning agility and transfer skills - so people with impact potential become visible, not just the obvious ones.
Skills of the Future. You know the Top 20, the taxonomies, the trend reports. What no one translates for you: what applies to your role and how you put it to work. In the workshop, we translate replacements and brand-new roles from where you stand today into future-ready role models - mapping to the right candidates, structuring the decision, guiding the success trajectory.
Before you advertise, before you brief a search consultant, before you take the first interview - we clarify in two hours with your team what success in this role actually looks like.
So you recognize the right person when they sit in front of you. Five steps. Seven outputs. One workshop. Personally facilitated by Michael von Hirschfeld.
15-min fit call
Five steps. Hiring Manager & HR. Facilitated. Designing success together, with system.
Surface the silent expectations of the role: wall, bridge or invitation?
Show moreShow lessThe current situation has formed over time, shaped by implicit changes - and it carries enormous weight. Which unspoken expectations of the role have quietly evolved over the months?
Picture the current situation as an image: is it a wall to climb, a long/short bridge, or an invitation? Use that image to think through consequences.
What impact does the role have on the current situation? Use impact scoring to map the strategic effect of a missing or poor hire vs. an ideally filled position - worst & best case.
Distribute 100 % priority, time and leverage across task groups - gaps become visible.
Show moreShow less(1) Analyse how the organisation supports the execution of tasks. Are there dependencies - and what can you do with them (add to on-/flow-boarding, change the organisation, add to worst case…)?
(2) Distribute:
(3) Check for:
Respond dynamically to talents with high potential but missing must-haves.
Show moreShow less(1) Calibrate job criteria so that non-negotiable must-haves are balanced against potential-based factors:
(2) Align hiring goals, candidate expectations and business needs.
Extension idea (flexibility module):
Align from persona-briefing to onboarding - the entire recruiting end-to-end.
Show moreShow lessThe process captures the end-to-end alignment between strategic hiring goals, impacts and reviewed requirements - to align the recruiting process:
Make the WHY of the role clear at department, company and market level.
Show moreShow less(1) Make sure all stakeholders share a common, precise understanding of the persona and the „why" behind hiring decisions.
Watch out for:
(2) Think about the WHY of the role in relation to strategic company goals:
Output: A complete, operationally implementable recruiting strategy.
Directly applicable in your process (all documents, guides & scorecards are included in the HIHB Accelerator package).
A briefing documents a position. An HIHB workshop designs it. The difference isn't in the output - seven documents are seven documents. It's in the mechanism running underneath. Four levers work at the same time. None of them alone is enough. Only the combination produces the effect.
Five steps, the same order, every time. Comparable results, because every mandate goes through the same depth of clarification. Templates also have structure. What they don't have: someone who recognises when the answer doesn't fit the question.
What you and your stakeholders bring individually is material. What becomes of it in the workshop are connections no one inside sees on their own. Eight years of moderation across 200+ key hires recognise patterns before you can articulate them.
You leave the workshop with insights about the role that were in no one's head before the workshop. Not because anyone brought them. Because they emerged in the room. That's the difference between documenting a briefing and designing a position.
Stakeholders who have developed a briefing together back the hire. A top-down profile sent by e-mail, they don't. That decides whether the new person, six months in, is still the person you hired.
„I don't know the role, but I have to fill it - and this can't go wrong."
„Three stakeholders, three briefings, one vacancy - and requirements that shift every week."
„The next hire has to do everything - but WHO am I actually looking for?"
Each one with the conflict that would have blocked the role without HIHB - and with halved average time-to-fill.
BCG Digital Ventures wanted to fill three strategic roles for which no comparable internal profiles existed. The combination of consulting DNA, venture speed and technical depth wasn't standard in the market.
All 3 roles filled; BCG DV scales growth + culture.
AGCO / FENDT was hiring a Head of Global Marketing Automation - in an industrial corporation where digital marketing was structurally under-represented at the time. No comparable internal profile, no network in the digital space.
Filled in 3 months; Salesforce Automation rolled out internally.
PAYBACK (American Express) needed a Director of Programmatic Advertising. The MD, the CMO and the VP HR each had a different idea of what the role should actually own.
Stakeholder alignment established; role anchored as a data-driven growth driver.
Bauer Media had acquired five online portals. The central steering role was blocked by the steering committee - nobody wanted to hand over responsibility, nobody could define the profile.
Candidate placed as strategic steering authority; decision within 2 weeks.
Crossplan, a Hamburg-based tech company aggregating 450+ audio streams from 45 radio stations, needed a Lead AdTech Solutions Audio. The radio market has few standards and no established AdTech specialists - the profile had to be adapted from the video-streaming market.
Filled with streaming expert; remote work model developed; AdTech standards established for the radio market.
Kesseböhmer Beschlagsysteme, €600M revenue, 3,000 employees, is established in the B2B furniture market. Repositioning toward B2C requires a crossmedia marketing lead with leadership and change experience - at the rural Bad Essen location, against a candidate market that favors metro areas.
Marketing lead from a B2B2C background with proven crossmedia campaign track record placed; location disadvantage offset by an agile work environment; multiple follow-on roles filled.
Dampsoft (dental software, 280 employees, 30%+ market share) had an open secret: since the 2013 generational handover, the Head of IT role had quietly drifted into a strategic digitization role. The incumbent no longer wanted it, management was dissatisfied - nobody said it out loud.
HIHB workshop with management and the incumbent: jointly recognized that the role had outgrown the profile. Role split designed (operational deputy role for the long-time employee, new strategic lead role); new Head of IT placed in 3 months; long-time employee retained.
The Reach Group, a Berlin digital agency with 60% display revenue, joined the MYTY group in 2020. The repositioning toward programmatic display requires a director with branding-display depth and leadership experience - during a fully remote setup phase in the middle of the pandemic.
Over 20 qualified profiles identified via Recruiting Canvas, risk analysis and market check; position filled in just under two months.
Regnology, a RegTech specialist with 770 employees across 12 countries, was newly positioned in 2021 after the BearingPoint spin-off and Vizor merger. Many tech roles to fill, a tight candidate market, and little active-sourcing experience inside the internal recruiting team - external mandates would have been expensive and unscalable.
HIHB training across 12 sessions: Recruiting Canvas, persona development, LinkedIn Recruiter, outreach copy, sourcing KPIs. The recruiting team now fills tech roles independently and acts as a sparring partner for hiring managers and management; HIHB now supports selectively on specific questions.
Eurowings Digital, an agile startup within the Lufthansa group (~100 employees), is building a holistic travel platform around the core airline business. The content and onsite-sales team has been reactive - strategically, click-to-conversion should generate demand and brand passion. Personalization, internationalization, and team development at the center.
Eight e-commerce and onsite experts presented with proven conversion-uplift track record and aviation/travel market experience; suitable candidate placed via moderated interview reviews.
A selection of our clients
Three voices from 200+ engagements. Managing director, HR and founder - same method, three perspectives.
"What makes the difference: the enthusiasm with which the team finds the right profile, the well-founded pre-selection of candidates, and the structured process of the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint. Valuable assets when building teams in a competitive digital environment."
"The High-Impact Hiring Blueprint helps us understand exactly who we're looking for, the situation we're in, and what challenges the vacancy brings. With this method we can significantly improve briefing quality and make our recruiting processes much more efficient and targeted."
"With their own briefing method we jointly define the profiles we're looking for and go deep. We trust HireWorks with our leadership positions across Product, Digital Advertising and Sales."
The High-Impact Hiring Blueprint helps us understand who we're really looking for, the situation we're in, and the challenges the vacancy brings with it. The method significantly raises the quality of our briefings - and as a consequence makes the recruiting process noticeably more efficient and targeted.
HireWorks has accompanied our international growth over the past years and placed several executive positions. What I particularly appreciate: the deep expertise in digital marketing - and the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint, which lets us work together on eye level. The high quality of profiles and the understanding of the right cultural fit helped us close open positions quickly and sustainably.
I have worked with HireWorks over the past years across different companies and various positions. What makes the difference: the enthusiasm with which the team finds the right profile, the well-founded pre-selection of candidates, and the structured process of the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint. Valuable assets for building teams in a competitive digital environment.
Brainlab benefited from working with an agency that quickly understood our requirements. What impressed us was how the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint helped clarify precisely which candidates fit us. The candidate summaries meaningfully complemented our own personal impressions. The entire process was structured and efficient.
At Hekatron we work with the Business Canvas model - so it was easy for us to engage with the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint: the evolution of the Recruiting Canvas, in a language familiar to us. Together we developed a precise briefing. The successful placement of our new Head of Digital Marketing confirms: in HireWorks we have found the right partner.
With the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint developed by HireWorks, we were able to define the position so that it matches our expectations and philosophy. This kind of upfront work is indispensable - only this way can we reflect with confidence and communicate clearly who exactly we're looking for. We wouldn't recruit without this briefing method anymore.
"Successful collaboration in recruiting requires trust, deep industry understanding, and a high level of knowledge about the respective company culture and structure. With the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint, HireWorks combined all these in a structured method - and helped us, before the search, precisely clarify the requirements for our innovation role. The candidates introduced fit us excellently."
"I experienced HireWorks in two roles: as a candidate looking for the best challenges, and as managing director seeking new talent for my own organization. In both contexts - at etventure and across several start-up foundations - the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint helped clarify precisely who really fits. A trustful partnership for which I sincerely thank them."
"HireWorks has a unique way of putting customer requirements at the center - from the very beginning, with the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint as the methodological framework. Their approach is personal, critically inquisitive, and advisory in equal measure, with deep understanding for companies in a digital world. A great pleasure to work with this team."
"HireWorks has supported me multiple times in my work as Interim CTO - building teams for clients and placing excellent CTO candidates. What I appreciate: the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint ensures that we always clarify precisely who really fits. This methodical depth combined with genuine passion makes collaboration a joy!"
"HireWorks has been accompanying our team's growth for years and has placed numerous online marketing experts with various specializations. What we especially appreciate: the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint ensures that the requirements for each role are precisely clarified - combined with a relevant network and consistent process quality. A professional, reliable, and trustworthy partner."
"As a growing AdTech company, we need experts whom we precisely define and systematically find. For our leadership and management positions, we have found in HireWorks the right partner - four reasons convince us: expertise in digital business models, a network with relevant set, efficiency with exceptional quality standards, and the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint as the methodological foundation for advice on eye level."
"SYSTEMATIC in preparation with the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint, ELOQUENT in interaction, COMPETENT in the topics, SUCCESSFUL in placement! … this is how I experience the team at HireWorks. Many thanks for the support!"
"Digital transformation lives from experts who accompany the process. In our search for a Chief Marketing Officer, we used the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint to develop our requirements precisely with HireWorks - and then conducted interviews with truly fitting candidates. We gladly entrust HireWorks with further key positions."
"We didn't want just any recruiting agency - we wanted an agency that sees and understands us. With the High-Impact Hiring Blueprint, we defined the position to be filled in detail - and arrived as a team at a shared set of expectations. That ultimately convinced us we had found the right partner in HireWorks."
"HireWorks approached me about a founder position in the digital field that I immediately found exciting. From the documents I could see precisely how I fit the role - that accelerated the process and gave my application a clear focus. The recruitment was professional, fast and trustful throughout. I can highly recommend HireWorks for digital leadership placements."
"HireWorks approached me with a position at BCG DV. From the documents it was immediately clear what really matters in the role - that helped me enter the process well-prepared and with sharp focus. The initial conversations were professional; I had the feeling of being advised, not just placed. Three years later, I am happily settled at BCG DV. Thank you HireWorks!"
Preparation with HIHB. And what comes after the workshop.
Clarity first. The 2-hour workshop for hiring managers who recruit themselves or brief their recruiting team.
Fit clarified in the conversation
For teams that want to walk out of the workshop with finished materials and start recruiting immediately.
Fit clarified in the conversation
Your recruiting team runs the HIHB Accelerator strategy in-house. All materials are ready to use.
Included in the HIHB Accelerator
You hand the role over as a full mandate. End-to-end search from briefing to signature, on the mothership domain.
On hireworks.de
Sourcing-as-a-Service in three tiers. For volume hiring or when hiring managers need to hand off interview load.
On corecruiting.com
Three numbers from your reality - we calculate the damage a mis-hire on a key role costs you. Conservative, no strategic follow-on costs included.
We send you the calculation as PDF plus a fitting workshop offer. No newsletter, no tracking.
A methodical PDF + 10 weekly hacks to sharpen your recruiting process. One lesson per week.
5 questions to clarify before every key hire, as a PDF + monthly strategic impulses for decision-makers.
Anonymized patterns from 200+ engagements across DACH and Benelux. 30 pages. Data no one else has.
In preparation · arriving Q3 2026The essence from 200+ mandates. Each article stands on its own and leads into a distinct HIHB edition.
Before it gets expensive
HIHB sharpens whom you interview, how you decide and why the hire succeeds.
Clarity, before you fill a key position. In a conversation with Michael von Hirschfeld we clarify what needs to be clarified.