You hired senior people. They are still escalating to you.

Experienced people. Strong CVs. Clear mandate. Three months in, they are still checking decisions with you. Six months in, you are still pulled into the issues you hired them to resolve.

You are working the same hours you worked before you hired them.

The hire is not failing. The role is.

This is not one bad hire. It is a pattern.

• Head of Sales — Manages the team. But strategic deals still require your involvement.
• Director of Operations — Runs process. But when a decision requires cross-functional agreement, they escalate.
• VP of Delivery — Owns execution within their function. Nobody owns the outcome across functions.
• Finance Director — Can describe the problem. Has no structural authority to trigger the response.

What is actually happening

• The role exists on the org chart. The operating conditions for it to function do not.
• The hire has responsibility without authority. The founder has authority without relief.

What most people try

• Blame the hire — three consecutive wrong hires stops being a recruitment problem.
• Replace the hire — the new hire arrives into the same conditions.
• Add reporting — produces more visibility into the same problem.
• Coach the hire — the structural conditions remain unchanged.

What happens if you do not address it

• A failed senior hire costs £200,000 to £400,000 over 18 months.
• Every new hire inherits the same constraint. The cost compounds. The pattern repeats.