People and critical roles

The right people for the roles you cannot afford to get wrong

We help companies define their key roles, assess with real expertise who should fill them, and prepare successors in good time. We don’t do recruitment. You bring the candidates, and we define the role and assess them on the technical side. A key role given to the wrong person, or left vacant, costs you for a long time. Decisions stall, customers are poorly served, and nobody knows how to work on the systems any more.

Talk to us about the role to fill How we work

Example · the roles and statuses shown are not real

The role first, then the CV: what the new person must achieve, written with the people who will work alongside them
Technical assessment: database, security and AI profiles reviewed by people who work in those fields
Beyond the hire: a succession plan and a documented handover

01 · copy the link to this sectionThe situation

When a key role is left vacant, it is not just one desk that stops

Think of the plant manager who leaves after twenty years, the finance director who goes in the middle of negotiations with the banks, or the only technician who knows the ERP database inside out.

The damage is not just the empty seat. Decisions stall, and it turns out that a lot of things were known only to one person.

The usual fix is a job advert. But if the role is not defined precisely, even a good candidate ends up in the wrong place. And it all starts again.

Example organisation chart with the plant manager role vacant. The activities that depend on it, namely strategic suppliers, line maintenance, workplace safety and ERP data, are left without anyone to decide.

Decisions on hold

Nobody can decide in place of the person who is missing.

Unwritten knowledge

Procedures and contacts leave with the person who goes.

Rushed choices

You look for an identical replacement, not for what you need today.

No successor ready

Someone could step in, but nobody has prepared them.

02 · copy the link to this sectionWhat we do

Four pieces of work, one goal

The aim is to make the right choice for a role that matters, and not to have to make it again.

HR Critical role profile Before looking for anyone, we write down what the person must achieve in the first year, which decisions they take and which skills are essential. We do this with management and with the people who will work alongside them. The profile becomes the yardstick for judging every candidate, internal or external.

HR Technical assessment of candidates A database administrator should be assessed by someone who administers databases. The assessment includes a technical interview, a test based on real work and a written report that non-specialists can follow too.

HR Roles required by law For some roles, such as the data protection officer, the law sets competence requirements and prohibits conflicts of interest. We clarify them before the appointment, with the company’s lawyers.

HR Succession plan For each key role we set out who can take over, when they will be ready and what they still lack. The successor then works alongside the current holder in stages, rather than in a rushed handover during the final week.

03 · copy the link to this sectionArtificial intelligence · Company Brain

Successors should find the job already written down

Part of a role’s value is not written down anywhere. It lies in the usual procedures, the right contacts and the fixes for problems that come back every year. If nobody collects it beforehand, it leaves with the person.

That is why every succession plan includes a documented handover. The material can go into the Company Brain, the company’s own searchable memory. It answers questions about what the company knows, cites the source document and shows each person only what their role is allowed to see. The newcomer does not start from scratch.

Company Brain

The handover

01CollectShort interviews and the documents the role really uses.

02OrganiseProcedures, contacts, recurring cases, deadlines.

03Make it searchableIn the Company Brain, with the role’s permissions.

04Work side by sideThe successor tries to answer alone, and the person leaving checks.

04 · copy the link to this sectionHow we work

Step by step

There are six steps, from the first conversation to a review on an agreed date.

Scoping conversation

We establish which role it is, why it matters and by when a solution is needed.

Role profile

We write down objectives, decisions and essential skills with the people who will work alongside the role.

Dependency map

We find out what only the current holder knows, and where it is written down.

Assessment or succession

We hold technical interviews with the candidates put forward by the company, or we prepare an internal successor.

Handover

The successor works alongside the current holder in stages, and the knowledge is collected in a searchable form.

Review

On an agreed date we check whether the role is delivering what the profile asked for.

What the company keeps: The role profile, the assessment reports, the succession map and the handover documentation.
How we get to a proposal: Everything starts from a written proposal that sets out activities, timing, people involved, what the company keeps and the cost. We do not publish prices. Profiling one role and planning succession across several sites are different pieces of work.

05 · copy the link to this sectionReference

Assessing people: the rules to know

Updated 16 September 2026

Assessing candidates or preparing a succession means handling personal data. These are the main rules.

Law	What it says, in brief	In practice
Workers’ Statute (Statuto dei lavoratori), Law No. 300 of 20 May 1970, Article 8, in Italy	Prohibits employers, including through third parties, from investigating political, religious or trade union opinions, or matters unrelated to professional aptitude	The work is assessed, not private life
GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Article 22	Right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that significantly affect the person, except in the cases provided for	No candidate is ruled out by software
AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Annex III, point 4	Artificial intelligence used to recruit or select staff is high-risk. Following Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the obligations apply from 2 December 2027	Organisations that use it must prepare, with human oversight and information for the people concerned
Law No. 132 of 23 September 2025 (Italy’s AI law), Article 11	Employers must inform workers that they use artificial intelligence systems, in the manner set by Article 1-bis of Legislative Decree 152/1997 on informing employees	If AI enters people management, workers know beforehand
Law No. 171 of 21 December 2018, in San Marino	Protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data	For businesses in San Marino, assessed case by case

This is general information, not legal advice. Employment law aspects should be checked with the company’s labour consultant (consulente del lavoro) or lawyer.

Sources (consulted on 16 September 2026)

06 · copy the link to this sectionPrinciples

What we don’t do

We don’t investigate candidates’ private lives. No opinions, relationships or personal profiles. We assess the work.
We don’t let software decide. No automatic score rules anyone out.
We don’t put forward candidates sourced from the market, and we don’t pass profiles from one company to another.
We don’t replace the labour consultant or the lawyer on contracts, pay and departures.
We don’t promise that the person you choose will stay. We help you choose well and bring them on board well.

Finding a good candidate is easy. Finding the right person for a critical role, in that company and at that moment, is a different job.

07 · copy the link to this sectionFrequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions about critical roles and succession

What is a critical role?

A role is critical when its absence, or a wrong choice, stops important decisions or puts customers, systems or finances at risk. A company has only a few. They typically include running a plant or a site, administration and finance, governing information systems and security, and some specialists who are hard to replace. Identifying them is the first step in any succession plan.

Where do the candidates you assess come from?

From the company. They come through its own channels, management’s contacts or the employment agency it already works with. We come in before, to write the role profile, and during, to assess the candidates on the technical side with interviews and tests on real work. The final decision stays with the company’s management.

Do you use artificial intelligence to assess candidates?

Not to decide. It can help prepare the role profile or organise interview notes, but no system assigns scores that rule people out. European rules classify artificial intelligence used to select staff as high-risk. Organisations that adopt it must prepare in good time, and we can help them do so.

How long does it take?

It depends on the role and on how much is already written down. A role profile takes a few meetings with management. A succession plan follows the timing of the planned departure, and it is best started well in advance. Stages, deadlines and the people involved are set out in the written proposal.

How much does it cost?

We do not publish prices. A technical role and a succession plan across several sites are very different pieces of work. After the scoping conversation you receive a written proposal with the activities, timing, people involved, what is included and excluded, and the cost. You decide with everything in front of you.

Can I send a job application?

Yes, for positions at Strategic. Write to us through the contact form and choose ‘Other’ (the button below opens it on the right option). Include a short introduction and do not attach your CV. If your profile is of interest, we will ask for it by email. The details are in the For job seekers section of this page.

08 · copy the link to this sectionApplications

For job seekers

Unsolicited applications are only for positions at Strategic. We do not forward profiles to other companies.

How to apply. Use the contact form and choose ‘Other’ (the button below opens it on the right option). A short introduction and the area you are interested in are enough. The ‘Company or organisation’ field is optional.
What not to send. No CV attachments and no information about health, opinions or affiliations. If your profile is of interest, we will ask for your CV by email.
Where your data goes. Only the Strategic staff who handle applications read them, and they are kept for the period stated in the privacy policy.

Send an application Privacy policy

09 · copy the link to this sectionObservatory

From the Observatory: people, shareholders and role transitions

Analysis and guides from the Strategic editorial team.

BLKShareholders and governance

Family business succession: when the title passes but the founder keeps the power

The successor signs, but suppliers, banks and staff still look for the founder. We explain why it happens, which signs show the transition is stalling and how powers, relationships and roles are really handed over.

4 August 2026

BLKShareholders and governance

Shareholder deadlock: the warning signs, the rules and how to break it before conflict sets in

Three shareholders, a decision put off for months, and nobody willing to say yes first. This article explains how to recognise a deadlock, what the company risks, which rules prevent it and when to bring in an outside party.

27 July 2026

STRCrisis and recovery

Chief Restructuring Officer: when the CFO knows the company too well to save it

Whoever wrote and defended the plan finds it hard to admit that it no longer holds up. Here is what an external Chief Restructuring Officer does, which signs make one necessary and how to set up the engagement.

22 July 2026

The full Observatory

The essential parts of this page print as a short summary of a few pages, without images or invitations to get in touch.

10 · copy the link to this sectionContact

Tell us about the role that worries you

A few lines are enough. Tell us which role it is, why it matters, what happens today if it stays vacant and by when you need a solution. We reply by email, usually within two working days.

Please don’t put names or personal data in the form. We will discuss them when we talk.

Or write to us:WhatsApp staff@strategic.sm

On WhatsApp, messages are answered by Strategic’s AI assistant.