Head to head
Korn Ferry vs Russell Reynolds Associates
Named side by side in 7 executive search firms questions, and the sample does not separate them on the balance of results.
Korn Ferry and Russell Reynolds Associates were named in 7 executive search firms questions measured by The Shortlist Report over 1439 AI responses: Korn Ferry in 71.6% of responses and Russell Reynolds Associates in 72.1%, with neither ahead of the other on more questions than the reverse.
How Korn Ferry and Russell Reynolds Associates differ
This data does not establish which firm is better. Korn Ferry’s strongest result relative to Russell Reynolds Associates was on “Which firms specialise in the role we are hiring for?” (90.2% versus 81.7%), while Russell Reynolds Associates’s strongest result relative to Korn Ferry was on “Which search firms deliver genuinely diverse candidate slates?” (59.6% versus 55.3%).
Those are the clearest differences in the shared sample. They measure which firm AI assistants surfaced more often for each buyer question, not service quality or client results.
Question by question
| Question | Korn Ferry | Russell Reynolds Associates | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|
| What are the best executive search firms?235 responses | 99.1% | 99.1% | Same tier — too close to call |
| Which firms specialise in the role we are hiring for?235 responses | 90.2% | 81.7% | Korn Ferry |
| Which search firms know our industry?234 responses | 85.5% | 83.8% | Same tier — too close to call |
| Who runs board and chief executive searches?235 responses | 63.8% | 69.4% | Same tier — too close to call |
| Which search firms deliver genuinely diverse candidate slates?235 responses | 55.3% | 59.6% | Russell Reynolds Associates |
| Our executive search is not working. Who can take over?235 responses | 41.7% | 46.0% | Same tier — too close to call |
| Which executive search firms report measurable search outcomes?30 responses | 23.3% | 20.0% | Same tier — too close to call |
How to read this
Share is the percentage of sampled ChatGPT responses to a question that named the firm at all — a measure of visibility, not of the work. A capable firm little has been written about will score low, which is a fact about how often it gets named and not a verdict on whether to hire it.
"Too close to call" is a result, not a gap in the data. Firms are grouped into tiers holding every firm the sample cannot statistically separate from that tier's leader, so two firms in one tier are reported as level however their percentages happen to fall. On 5 of these 7 questions that is what the measurement supports, and saying otherwise would be inventing precision.
Nothing here is our judgement of who is good. It is a count of who gets named. Both firms are measured over the same questions and the same 1439 responses, so neither is being scored on a sample the other did not face.
The full picture on each
- Everything measured about Korn FerryConducts CEO, C-suite, board, and leadership assessment searches for large global organizations.
- Everything measured about Russell Reynolds AssociatesConducts CEO, C-suite, and board searches for large public companies and financial services.