Appointment Procedures

When a leadership position must be advertised publicly, and equal treatment, objective assessment and complete documentation are an obligation rather than a nice-to-have, good intentions alone are not enough. You need a process that will stand up legally and still reaches the best people in the market. And you need a partner who masters both: formal precision and genuine recruiting expertise.

At fortalent, we design and guide appointment procedures from the development of the role profile through the public advertisement and shortlisting to the moderation of panel hearings and the final appointment decision. Your senior consultant manages the project end-to-end – drawing on experience from a wide range of objective procedures for institutions, statutory chambers, publicly owned companies and organisations with heterogeneous decision-making bodies across the DACH region (Austria, Germany, Switzerland).

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Objective and legally compliant – but modern!

Many appointment procedures still follow the old pattern: advertise, wait for the application deadline, review the documents, hold a hearing, rank the candidates. Formally correct – but far from delivering the best possible result. Anyone who simply advertises and waits only reaches those who happen to be actively looking. The personalities who truly make the difference often never enter the relevant set.

Our approach: we deliberately complement the mandatory public advertisement with headhunting and direct approach. Candidates from active applications and discreet outreach go through the same screening and selection process. Objectivity does not suffer – it gains, because the candidate field becomes broader and more competitive.

Appointment procedures by fortalent

Every appointment procedure is unique. The following structure has proven itself in our projects and is adapted to your circumstances, your committee and the legal framework:

Briefing & role profile
A detailed joint briefing with the relevant stakeholders: organisational goals, structure, the challenges of the term of office, general conditions and a realistic salary benchmark. We develop a robust job and requirements profile and calibrate the dimensions of the evaluation catalogue and their weighting right at the start of the project. This creates clarity for everyone involved and prevents debates after the fact.

Search strategy & advertisement
We design a multi-channel search strategy that typically combines the following elements: legally compliant publication under the Austrian Stellenbesetzungsgesetz (the act requiring management and supervisory positions in state-owned companies to be publicly advertised), advertisements on the client’s websites and on our platforms – and, in parallel, classic direct approach through research, target lists and headhunting in the relevant markets.

Screening & shortlisting
In semi-structured interviews, we evaluate personality, motivation, professional suitability and cultural fit along the dimensions defined in the evaluation catalogue. Candidates from all acquisition channels go through the same process. The shortlist is deepened through extended individual assessments and validated through reference checks. The result: a vetted candidate set with clear recommendations and comparative decision documents.

Panel hearings & documentation
We prepare and moderate the panel hearings, ensure the interviews are comparable and produce detailed documentation: a side-by-side comparison, a ranking and a recommendation on next steps. These documents give your committee a robust, traceable basis for its decision.

Closing & pre-onboarding
From the appointment decision through contract negotiation to signing, we accompany the entire process. On request, we also support the transition phase so that the start in the new role runs smoothly.

Who we run appointment procedures for

Our experience covers appointments for public-sector institutions, public-law bodies, statutory chambers, interest groups, state-affiliated companies, non-profit organisations and private-sector organisations whose shareholder or board structure calls for an objective procedure.

Whether it is the director of a chamber organisation, an executive board appointment at a regional state holding company, the head of a non-profit institution or a C-level role in a company with public-sector ownership: we know the formal requirements – and still deliver a result that holds its own in the market.

If you are planning an appointment procedure that must meet distinct requirements for transparency and objectivity, let’s use an initial conversation to clarify how we set up the process, which search strategy is realistic and how we provide your committee with a robust basis for its decision.

For: Mid-Market Companies · Scale-ups · Family Businesses · Holdings & Private Equity · Institutions