Important contributor
A senior developer or specialist. Understand ownership, judgement and collaboration before the offer.
€4,500
Explore the assessmentDEEP PERSONALITY, BEHAVIOURAL & TEAM COMPATIBILITY ASSESSMENT
Know who you’re hiring.And what they could change.
Understand what drives them, how they handle pressure and disagreement, and how they could work with your manager and team. Élan examines what could go exceptionally well—and what could put performance, trust and culture at risk.
MindFrame · Supported by Alma · Interpreted by João Franqueira, with 20 years in recruiting and People leadership
For people you are already considering—from senior specialists to C-level leaders.
Our interviews start with the manager. Not the candidate.
Before assessing who might join, we understand the people, expectations and tensions already there.
For hiring assessments, we assess the candidate, manager and two colleagues in their own right.
Your team assesses whether they can do the job. Élan goes deep into how they are likely to do it—and what working with them could feel like. We complement your selection process; we are not a sourcing or recruitment agency.
Sometimes the finding is about the company, too.
Our recommendations may reveal unclear expectations, conflicting priorities or ways of managing that make it harder for a good hire to succeed. Some findings may challenge how you currently work. We explain what we see, why it matters and what could help the relationship succeed.
Choose the decision
What decision are you making?
Executive appointment
Examine leadership, delegation and accountability—and the consequences for the organisation.
From €10,000
Explore the assessmentFounding team
Understand each founder, then ambition, control, trust and disagreement behind the investment.
€15,000 for two founders
Explore the assessmentFees exclude VAT where applicable. Scope and timing agreed before work begins.
Many companies hire confidence instead of competence.
A strong interview can hide an expensive mistake. Élan looks deeper into ego, signs of manipulation and team-first behaviour: how someone handles challenge, shares credit and uses influence. Understand what they could bring to your team—and what they could damage in the trust, culture and relationships you have built.
What will it actually be like to work with this person?
- Will they share credit—or need to be the star?
- Can they hear “you’re wrong” without making it personal?
- Do they own mistakes or find someone to blame?
- Do managers and colleagues get the same story—or does it change depending on who is listening?
- Will people bring them bad news early—or learn to stay quiet?
- When priorities collide, what wins: the team, the work, control, recognition or personal advancement?
Illustrative outcome
A strong performer. The wrong working relationship.
A capable candidate may be incompatible with how this manager leads. Or the company may need to change for them to succeed. Productive difference is valuable: compatibility does not mean hiring similar personalities.
Élan’s behavioural X-ray: a detailed picture of how someone works, what drives them and how they affect the people around them.
The business case
People skills have business consequences.
How someone handles disagreement, shares responsibility and responds under pressure can change the work of everyone around them.
13.5%higher productivity after soft-skills training
Randomised field study · Indian garment factories
Adhvaryu, Kala & Nyshadham · 2023 ↗23%higher profitability in top-engagement work units
Top versus bottom engagement quartile · Gallup, 2024
Gallup · 2024 ↗69%said leaders needed to invest more time in culture
1,130 responses to the leadership-time question · Graham et al., 2022
Graham, Grennan, Harvey & Rajgopal · 2022 ↗Different studies and settings; these figures are not forecasts of Élan’s results.
Before you hire someone, understand what they could change in the people around them.
Explore the researchWhat you receive
A clear brief. The reasoning behind it.
Clear decision brief
Strengths, likely friction, our recommendation and what to check next.
Deep behavioural portrait
What drives the person; how they decide, respond to pressure and work with others.
Compatibility & working relationships
Compatibility with the role, manager, team and company, and what would need to change.
Briefing & first 90 days
Discuss the evidence, then set practical priorities for ownership, feedback and working agreements.
Fictional example / first 90 days
“Welcome an unfinished warning without automatically taking over.”
Alex can fit this team if Dana changes too. The fictional example sets shared responsibilities and checks whether colleagues can question decisions and own their work.
Read the priorities in context
João Franqueira / Founder
Why I built Élan
“Some of the biggest hiring mistakes I’ve seen started quietly. The wrong person joined, the culture changed, and an award-winning company became a place where people no longer felt safe at work.”
People science. Human understanding.
MindFrame draws on psychology, organisational psychology and neuroscience research relevant to people at work. Alma supports the personality and behavioural assessment. João brings 20 years in recruiting and People leadership to explain what the findings mean for your role, team and decision.
What happens if this hiring fails?
Explore the salary, replacement time and disruption to the people around the hire.
Estimate the cost of a failed hire
Annual salary · €0–€10,000,000
1–12 months
Whole people · 0–1,000
Not included
Assessment depth
Important-hire assessment: one candidate, their manager and two colleagues. Responsibility and assessment depth determine the final scope, not title alone.
How this is calculated
Salary paid = annual salary × failure months ÷ 12. Replacement-time proxy = annual salary × replacement months ÷ 12.
Team disruption = salary paid × 2% per affected teammate, capped at 20%. Search fee = annual salary × fee percentage ÷ 100 when enabled.
Total = (salary paid + replacement-time proxy + team disruption + search fee) × seniority factor. The separate seniority adjustment is the subtotal × (factor − 1).
Scenario factors: IC 1; Manager 1.1; Head 1.25; VP 1.45; C-Suite 1.75. These factors and the team disruption rate are assumptions, not research findings.
Salary paid is not necessarily all lost. The replacement salary proxy represents time and continuity exposure, not confirmed extra payroll. This model is not a net-loss calculation or a forecast of savings.
Illustrative cost of a failed hire
€58,960
An estimate based on your inputs and the assumptions below.
- Salary paid before failure (6 months)
- €30,000
- Replacement-time proxy (4 months)
- €20,000
- Team disruption (12%)
- €3,600
- Recruiter / search fee
- €0
- Seniority adjustment (Manager ×1.1)
- €5,360
- Total
- €58,960
Élan Hiring Dynamics
From €4,500
Fees exclude VAT where applicable. Scope and timing agreed before work begins.
Important hire · One candidate, their manager and 2 colleagues · €4,500 excluding VAT where applicable.
Estimated exposure / assessment fee
13.1 : 1
Scenario total divided by the current starting assessment fee. A cost comparison, not promised ROI or probability reduction.
Your decision
Discuss your decision.
Tell us about the appointment, comparison or investment and your timing. We will discuss personality, behaviour, compatibility and the right assessment scope.
Or write to hello@elanhuman.com.