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For many years, Oxeon operated as a founder-led business, with a significant proportion of revenue driven directly through the founder's relationships and personal network. As the company expanded, the leadership team recognized that the structure supporting the business had not evolved at the same pace.
In 2023, the business appointed a professional CEO while the founder transitioned into a Chairman role. The objective was clear. Oxeon wanted to professionalize the organization, create stronger accountability across the business, and build a model where success was driven collectively rather than concentrated through one individual.
One of the most significant barriers was compensation.
At the Partner level, compensation was heavily weighted toward large base salaries and discretionary bonuses, with little connection to measurable performance. Many senior employees were earning substantial compensation packages regardless of individual contribution or commercial output.
The structure created several issues across the organization. High performers felt under-rewarded relative to their results, while under performance was difficult to identify or address effectively. The business also lacked a clear framework for measuring contribution and tracking performance consistently across teams.
Leadership recognized that if Oxeon wanted to attract stronger senior talent and improve operational performance, the compensation model needed to evolve.
Tempting Talent was retained to conduct a detailed internal and market comparison study across the executive search industry. Rob White led the engagement, analyzing compensation structures, performance models, and incentive alignment across competing firms.
The project involved extensive consultation with Oxeon leadership and employees across the business. Findings were presented directly to the wider organization, providing clear market context around compensation levels, performance expectations, and industry benchmarks.
The recommendations centered on moving the business toward a more competitive, performance-based compensation structure. The updated model created stronger alignment between commercial contribution and financial reward, ensuring that top performers were compensated in line with their output while increasing accountability across the wider business.
Alongside compensation restructuring, Tempting Talent also helped Oxeon improve the way performance was measured and tracked internally. Introducing clearer performance metrics gave leadership better visibility into productivity, contribution, and overall business effectiveness.
The engagement also helped identify organizational behaviors that had previously gone unaddressed. Leadership gained a clearer understanding of where high performance was driving growth and where inefficiencies were limiting progress.
The engagement led to a transformational shift in how Oxeon operated as a business.
By aligning compensation more closely with performance, the firm created stronger incentives across the organization and improved overall commercial output. Top performers became more motivated and appropriately rewarded, while under performance became easier to identify and manage.
The updated compensation model also allowed Oxeon to attract more experienced senior talent for the first time. Historically, the business had primarily hired graduates and junior-level professionals. Following the restructuring, the firm was able to recruit more established industry talent into leadership positions.
Beyond hiring outcomes, the project improved operational discipline across the company. Better performance tracking, clearer accountability, and stronger leadership visibility contributed to improved profitability and a more scalable organizational structure.
The engagement became more than a compensation review. It helped reshape the culture, performance expectations, and long-term operating model of the business.
This engagement was led by Rob White.
Contact Rob to discuss compensation benchmarking, organizational design, and executive search strategy.
Rob presented his analysis and recommendations to our executive leadership team and the entire team of search professionals in an engaging, informative discussion. As we are growing our business, we want to be data-driven and learning from outside-in thinking. Rob and Tempting Talent's work is helping us achieve that goal.
Rob White leads Tempting Talent as Managing Partner, leveraging a distinguished track record in executive search and talent consulting to help private equity, venture capital, and recruitment businesses attract the leaders who drive growth and value creation.