Challenge
A top 10 global biopharma were facing a significant and escalating challenge: exceptionally high levels of attrition amongst senior leaders, particularly at Director level and above.
In an increasingly dynamic and unpredictable executive landscape, this turnover was impacting strategic continuity, operational stability, and ultimately, business performance.
Context
To address these critical gaps, the organisation had traditionally relied on a patchwork of executive search and research firms to identify, benchmark, and recruit senior leadership talent. While these external providers offered deep networks and specialised expertise, the approach came at a steep cost, incurring a multi-million dollar annual spend.
Beyond the financial burden, this fragmented model resulted in inconsistencies in data quality, limited integration of insights across projects, and a lack of centralised visibility into the organisation’s leadership pipeline. Senior decision-makers often found themselves reacting to talent risks instead of proactively managing them, leaving the business exposed during moments of change or crisis.
Solution
To transform its leadership talent strategy, the organisation adopted an integrated solution of Luminate's retained consulting expertise and purpose-built software platform. This hybrid approach was designed to systematically manage risk across the top 200 global executive positions that were essential to driving growth and executing strategy.
Our consulting team partnered closely with senior HR and business leaders to align on priorities and define clear processes for succession planning, market mapping, and confidential benchmarking of incumbents against external talent. This partnership ensured not only a consistent and data-driven approach to leadership planning, but also deep contextual understanding of the company’s culture, strategy, and evolving business needs.
Complementing the consulting expertise, the software solution provided a centralised, continuously-updated database of external talent. This dynamic platform enabled the organisation to track real-time changes in the market, benchmark internal leadership capabilities against external competitors, and quickly pivot search efforts when market conditions shifted. By bringing previously siloed data into a single system, they could make faster, evidence-based decisions about talent moves, succession plans, and external hiring opportunities.
Outcome
The integrated consulting and software solution delivered measurable, strategic benefits:
Continuous benchmarking
The organisation gained a systematic, real-time view of how its internal leadership capabilities compared with those available in the external market. This ongoing assessment helped highlight talent gaps early, inform succession plans, and shape targeted leadership development initiatives.
Significant cost savings
Reducing dependency on traditional executive search firms generated a multimillion dollar return on investment. The retained consulting and software model proved not only more cost-effective, but also faster and more aligned to the organisation’s specific strategic needs.
Purpose-built external talent database
The organisation now benefits from a living, continuously updated external database tailored specifically to its top 200 critical roles. This capability ensures the business remains agile in a fast-moving market, equipped with the insights needed to make proactive, data-driven talent decisions.
Ultimately, this modern approach transformed talent risk management from a reactive, high-cost process into a proactive, strategic capability—strengthening leadership continuity and positioning the business for long-term success.
Learn more
Want to understand how we can help your organisation overcome similar challenges? Schedule an intro with the team.