Seven intelligence modules
Scoped to the decision, not sold as a bundle.
Labour market sizing
How many people can genuinely do the work — not how many hold a similar job title. We define the population on capability, frame it against official statistics, then verify the current picture by primary research.
Buy it when: you need to know whether a plan is staffable before you commit headcount, budget or a board paper to it.
Competitor workforce analysis
A named competitor’s function reconstructed layer by layer: approximate headcount, reporting structure, geographic distribution, what is held in-house versus outsourced, tenure, attrition and where leavers go.
Buy it when: you are being out-executed and cannot see why, or you are designing a function and want to know how the people who do it well have built theirs.
Compensation intelligence
Pay reconstructed into its real components for the market in question — employer on-costs in the UK, equity in the US, allowances and gratuity in the UAE, collective agreement scales in Germany and Austria, holiday allowance in the Netherlands, superannuation in Australia.
Buy it when: you are losing offers, preparing a reward review, or entering a market whose package conventions are not the ones you know.
Location and footprint analysis
Candidate locations compared on qualified supply, competitor saturation, fully-loaded cost, attrition and salary inflation pressure, and the real commuting or relocation catchment rather than the administrative boundary.
Buy it when: a site, hub or nearshore decision is on the table and the business case currently rests on cost per head alone.
Skills and capability supply
Where a specific capability actually exists, how fast the pool is growing or shrinking, which employers are building it, what adjacent skills convert into it, and the realistic lead time to acquire or develop it.
Buy it when: you are weighing build against buy, or a strategy depends on a capability nobody has confirmed is available.
Organisation design evidence
Comparator structures for the function you are designing: spans and layers, where capability is centralised and where it sits in the business units, and which models the strongest comparators have abandoned.
Buy it when: you are restructuring and the internal debate has run out of evidence.
Diversity and representation benchmarking
Aggregate representation across the population you are actually hiring from, so a target can be set against the market that exists rather than against an aspiration.
Buy it when: you need a defensible baseline. Reported at population level only — we do not flag characteristics against named individuals and we do not infer them. See diversity hiring.
Most engagements use three or four of these rather than all seven. The scoping call establishes which questions you actually need answered; the written scope says what is in and what is deliberately out, so nothing is contested later.
What you actually receive
Five things in every engagement, and a sixth if you want the picture kept current.
The written analysis
Fifteen to forty pages depending on scope. It states the market definition, the method, what the evidence supports, what it rules out, what it cannot establish, and what we would do next in your position.
Written so it can be put in front of a board or an investment committee without being rewritten first.
The structured dataset
Every record behind the analysis, with the source and collection date against each material field, delivered in a format your systems can ingest.
Yours permanently. Re-use it, load it into your ATS or CRM, and refresh it with whoever you choose.
The confidence statement
Each material finding carries a confidence level and the basis for it — corroborated by two independent sources, single-sourced, or estimated with the method stated.
This is the part most vendors omit, and it is the part that makes a finding defensible when someone challenges it.
The analyst session
A working session with the analyst who built the research, not an account manager. Questions about method, edge cases and what a specific record means get answered by the person who collected it.
The methodology appendix
Sources used, lawful basis applied in each jurisdiction, exclusions, and the known limitations of the dataset. Written for a privacy or legal reviewer as much as for you.
Optional refresh
A standing picture refreshed quarterly or half-yearly, so the asset does not decay. Priced separately and never bundled into the first project by default.
Who buys it, and what they ask
| Buyer | The question | What they usually need |
|---|---|---|
| Talent acquisition leadership | Is this hiring plan deliverable in these markets, on this timeline? | Market sizing, supply analysis and realistic lead times |
| Reward and remuneration committees | Are we positioned where we think we are, against the right comparators? | Compensation intelligence with the basis of every figure stated |
| Executive and board | Where should this function sit, and what will it genuinely cost? | Location analysis with fully-loaded cost and risk per option |
| Private equity and corporate development | Does the target have the bench it claims, and who would leave on a change of control? | Competitor and target workforce analysis, leadership depth, retention risk |
| Strategy and transformation | Can we build this capability, or do we have to buy it? | Skills supply analysis and build-versus-buy evidence |
| Workforce planning | What does the three-year supply picture look like for these critical roles? | A retained programme with quarterly refresh |
| In-house talent intelligence teams | We have the platform; we need depth on four named competitors. | Targeted primary research to complement an existing data stack |
The questions it answers
If your question is not on this list, the scoping call will establish whether research can answer it — and we will tell you when it cannot.
- Is this plan staffable at all? How large is the qualified population, and how much of it is realistically reachable on our timeline?
- Where should this function sit? Which location gives the best combination of supply, cost and retention, once the real catchment is counted rather than the city boundary?
- Are we paying the right amount? What does the market actually pay, on what basis, and what are we losing offers to?
- What is our competitor doing? How is their function structured, how big is it, where is it, and what have they stopped doing?
- Should we build or buy this capability? Does the skill exist in sufficient depth to hire, or is development the faster route?
- Who is at risk, and who would we lose? Where is our leadership bench thin, and who outside holds the capability we would need?
- Is our diversity target achievable? What does representation look like in the population we are actually hiring from?
- What will this cost in three years? How fast is pay moving in this market, and what indexation or statutory on-cost changes are already scheduled?
How it fits with mapping and sourcing
| Service | Starts from | Produces | Buy it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talent intelligence | A business decision | Evidence and analysis | The decision above the hire has to be right |
| Talent mapping | A role or population | A named, verified population | You need to know exactly who could do this |
| Talent pipelining | A future need | Pre-engaged, warm candidates | You know the need is coming and want it covered before it is urgent |
| Talent sourcing | A live requisition | A qualified shortlist | The role is open now and you want research-grade sourcing without a placement fee |
| Executive search | A senior appointment | A completed hire | Discretion and a managed process matter more than speed |
| Number gathering | An existing list | Verified contact data | You have the names and need them reachable |
The common thread is the commercial model. Every one of these is a fixed project fee or a day rate rather than a percentage of salary, and the output is handed over permanently. That is what lets a research finding be unwelcome.
How an engagement runs
Seven stages. Nothing starts until the scope is written down and agreed.
Scoping call
- Duration
- 30 minutes, with an analyst rather than a salesperson.
- Output
- A shared understanding of the decision, who takes it, and what evidence would actually change it.
Written scope and fixed fee
- Duration
- Within two working days of the call.
- Output
- Market definition, modules, deliverables, timeline, exclusions and a fixed fee. Nothing is open-ended and nothing is billed by the hour.
Framing from official sources
- What happens
- Official labour market statistics, company registers and published filings establish a defensible frame and show where the gaps are.
- Why
- Public data is a frame, not a picture. It lags, and in some markets it barely covers mid-sized employers at all.
Primary research
- What happens
- Analysts research the market itself — named employers, structures, populations and movement.
- Why
- This is the part a database cannot do, and the reason the deliverable is worth more than a licence.
Verification and confidence grading
- What happens
- Material data points corroborated against a second independent source; confidence recorded where corroboration was not possible.
- Why
- An unverified dataset is a liability dressed as an asset.
Analysis
- What happens
- The pattern is interpreted against your decision: what it supports, what it rules out, what it cannot tell you.
- Why
- Data is not intelligence until someone has interpreted it against a question.
Delivery, walkthrough and handover
- What happens
- Written analysis, structured dataset and a working session with the analyst who built it.
- Why
- You own all of it permanently, including the right to refresh it with someone else.
Talent intelligence by market
Each market page is written for that market rather than translated from a template.
| Market | What changes there |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Employer National Insurance and pension change the real cost; ASHE anchors the benchmark; notice periods decide the timeline. |
| United States | No national market — thirty metros with their own wage curves, equity-heavy senior packages and state pay-transparency rules. |
| United Arab Emirates | Free zone versus mainland employers, Emiratisation as a parallel market, and packages split into basic, allowances and gratuity. |
| Germany | Collective agreements set the pay, works councils set the timeline, and the Mittelstand holds capability the big names do not. |
| Netherlands | The CAO sets the scale, holiday allowance sits outside salary, and part-time working makes headcount the wrong unit. |
| Belgium | Three working languages, automatic wage indexation, joint committees and a Brussels institutional market with its own logic. |
| Austria | Fourteen salary payments a year, near-universal collective agreements, and a capital that runs Central and Eastern Europe. |
| Australia | Superannuation inside the package, modern award floors, five capital markets across three time zones and visa-dependent supply. |
Research coverage extends well beyond these eight. These are the markets where we publish a dedicated page because the structural differences are large enough to change how the research itself has to be built. See all eight markets →
What talent intelligence costs
Fixed fees agreed in writing before work begins.
| Engagement | What it covers | Typical fee (USD) | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-decision intelligence brief | One question, one market. Typically two or three modules. | $6,000–$15,000 | 3–4 weeks |
| Function or multi-market study | A whole function, or several markets compared side by side. Four or more modules. | $18,000–$45,000 | 5–8 weeks |
| Retained intelligence programme | A standing picture refreshed quarterly, with analyst access between refreshes. | $60,000–$120,000 per year | Ongoing |
Sterling and euro equivalents run at roughly £5,000–£12,000 and €5,500–€14,000 for a brief, and £15,000–£36,000 or €17,000–€42,000 for a study. Australian engagements are quoted in Australian dollars. Each market page states its own bands.
What moves the number: how broad the market definition is, how senior the population, how many geographies are in scope, how much compensation reconstruction is required, whether competitor analysis names one organisation or eight, and the refresh cadence. What never moves it: the salary of any role, and whether you subsequently hire anyone. The full breakdown is on the cost page.
Why a research firm for this
Thirteen years of primary research, and a commercial model that makes unwelcome findings possible.
Paid for research, not for placements
There is no commission, no percentage of salary and no success fee on anything we sell. That is what allows a report to say a market is thinner than you hoped.
Primary research, not resold data
Public sources frame a population. The current picture inside a named employer comes from analysts researching it directly, because filings lag and profile data goes stale.
Six time zones, one desk
London and Mumbai desks cover UK, European, Gulf, Indian and Australian working hours, which usually compresses a project rather than extending it. See out-of-hours coverage.
Multilingual research capability
Research is conducted into the market being studied, in the languages that market actually hires in — which is the difference between a German supply estimate that is right and one that is half the size it should be.
Compliance built in, not bolted on
Lawful basis documented per jurisdiction, sources recorded per field, no special-category data on named individuals. Your privacy team can audit the deliverable. See compliance support.
You keep everything
Every dataset and analysis is handed over permanently. We do not resell client research and we do not hold your market hostage to a renewal.
Talent intelligence services FAQs
What are talent intelligence services?
Talent intelligence services are commissioned research engagements that turn primary data about a labour market into evidence for a specific business decision — how large a qualified population really is, which employers hold it, what it costs to employ, where it is concentrated, and how a named competitor’s function is built.
A service engagement produces a written analysis with a structured dataset behind it, scoped to a question you have asked. That is the difference between a service and a software licence: the licence gives you a standing data model, the service gives you a verified answer.
What is included in a talent intelligence engagement?
Most engagements combine three or four of seven modules: labour market sizing, competitor workforce analysis, compensation intelligence, location and footprint analysis, skills and capability supply, organisation design evidence, and diversity and representation benchmarking.
Every engagement also includes a written market definition, the methodology, a confidence statement on each material finding, the structured dataset and a working session with the analyst who built it.
How is talent intelligence different from talent mapping?
A talent map identifies and profiles the individuals who could perform a defined role. Talent intelligence sits a level above it and informs the decision about whether, where and on what terms to hire at all — or whether to build the capability instead.
They are complementary and most mature programmes use both. The map supplies the named population; the intelligence layer interprets what that population means for headcount planning, pay strategy, location or organisation design.
How long does a talent intelligence project take?
A single-decision brief typically runs three to four weeks from signed scope to delivered analysis. A function-wide or multi-market study typically runs five to eight weeks. A retained programme runs continuously with a quarterly refresh cycle.
For urgent decisions we can compress a brief to around two weeks, with the trade-off in depth stated up front rather than discovered at delivery.
What does talent intelligence cost?
A single-decision intelligence brief typically costs $6,000 to $15,000 — roughly £5,000 to £12,000 or €5,500 to €14,000. A function-wide or multi-market study typically costs $18,000 to $45,000. A retained programme with quarterly refreshes typically runs $60,000 to $120,000 a year.
Every fee is fixed in writing before work begins and is driven by the scope of the research, never by the salary of a role or by an outcome. The full breakdown of what moves the number is on our cost page.
Do you charge a percentage of salary or a success fee?
No. Every service we sell is a fixed project fee or an agreed day rate. There is no commission, no percentage of salary and no placement fee on any of it.
That is not only a pricing preference, it is what makes the research credible. A firm paid on placement has a financial interest in concluding that a hire is available. We do not, which is why we are able to report that a market is thinner than you assumed or that a location you favour is the wrong answer.
Who owns the data at the end of a project?
You do, permanently. Every dataset, profile record and written analysis is handed over and is yours to keep, re-use, load into your own systems and refresh with anyone you choose. We do not resell client research and we do not retain it as part of a product.
Can talent intelligence replace a talent intelligence platform?
Usually it complements one rather than replacing it. Platforms are genuinely good at breadth, trend lines and a first pass at market size, and they run all year for a licence fee. What they cannot do is verify that a named competitor’s function has four layers rather than six, or establish what three specific employers actually paid to close a hire last quarter.
Our honest comparison of the two models — including when software is the better purchase — is on the platforms compared page.
Which markets do you cover?
We publish dedicated pages for the United Kingdom, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Australia, and we state research coverage across more than seventy markets.
Projects frequently cross borders where the relevant population does. We scope geography to the pool rather than to a national boundary, and we say up front which markets we can evidence to the standard you need.
Who inside a business usually buys this?
Talent acquisition and HR leaders building a headcount plan they will have to defend; reward and remuneration committees testing pay positioning; executive teams deciding where to locate a function; private equity and corporate development teams diligencing the capability inside a target; and strategy functions assessing whether a market entry is staffable at all.
How do you ensure the research is lawful?
By scoping to the regime that applies in each market and documenting it. In the UK and EU that means a legitimate-interests basis under GDPR with a documented balancing test; in the UAE it means the federal PDPL or the DIFC and ADGM regimes; in Australia it means the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles.
Across all of them we collect professional information only, record the source against every field, decline to compile special-category data on named individuals, and transfer deliverables securely. Where your privacy or legal function wants to review the methodology before work begins, our compliance team will take them through it.
Can you work alongside our in-house team or an incumbent provider?
Yes, and most of our work is structured that way. We run the research layer behind an in-house talent function or alongside an incumbent RPO or search firm. The analysis is written so your team can present it as their own, because they own it.
What we do not do is take ownership of your requisitions, run your ATS or price per hire. If you need a provider to own the end-to-end hiring process, a full-scope RPO is the right purchase and we will say so.
How quickly can you start?
Scoping is normally a 30-minute call followed by a written scope document within two working days. Fieldwork starts as soon as the scope is signed. There is no procurement cycle built into our model and no minimum retainer.
What happens if the research contradicts what we expected?
We report it. That is the point of commissioning independent research rather than validating a decision already taken. Several of the most valuable engagements we have run concluded that a planned location was wrong, that a pay band was uncompetitive, or that a function could not be staffed on the timeline the plan assumed.
The written analysis states what the evidence supports, what it rules out and what it cannot tell you, with confidence recorded against each material finding.