ABOUT
I came to executive search from inside HR.
I’m Charlotte Henney, founder of Aspherica.
I started my career inside HR, close enough to the detail to understand what happens when the theory meets the working week. I built compensation models that had to hold up in a boardroom as well as a payslip, designed a pay philosophy that translated into language managers could actually use on the ground, and stayed in the firing line to defend it, not just to write it. I hired, onboarded, developed and exited people myself.
None of that makes for a particularly glamorous HR biography. That's rather the point. I know the work behind the title because I've done it.
I later moved into executive search, specialising in senior HR and Total Rewards leadership across the UK and US. But the instinct for what separates a plausible candidate from the right one started earlier: years of hiring for the business and living with the results, good and bad. That combination (HR from the inside, search from the outside) is why I founded Aspherica.
It's also why I focus on two roles rather than HR as a whole: the CHRO, who owns the people agenda, and the Head of Total Rewards, who shapes it through pay, benefits and recognition. The two are rarely developed together, even though neither works well in isolation - and increasingly, one is where the next generation of the other comes from.
Comfortable with chaos.
My career has had to travel well. Life as a military spouse brought regular moves across the UK and time living in the US; today, my family is based in the Middle East.
Somewhere along the way, “comfortable with chaos” became our family shorthand.
Repeatedly finding my feet somewhere new has made me quick to read an unfamiliar environment and comfortable asking questions when I don't yet know the answer: qualities that have helped me succeed in search.
A white-glove service, by design.
I lead every mandate myself and take on a select number at any one time. That gives me room to stay close as the brief develops, speak with candidates directly and help clients make decisions when the answer is less clear than it first appeared.
Senior HR appointments are often sensitive and sometimes confidential, so discretion is part of how I work, with clients and candidates alike.
You work with the person who heard the original question and has followed what the market says back.
Why Aspherica?
The name comes from an aspheric lens, designed to reduce distortion and bring more of an image clearly into view. Look past the obvious, get the detail right, don't settle for close enough: that's the instinct behind it.
Specialising in executive search for a CHRO or a Head of Total Rewards wasn't built to match the name. It came from years spent on both sides: first inside HR, then inside the search that hires for it. The name just happened to fit.
The idea felt relevant to search, too: don't assume the answer sits in the most obvious place, but don't widen the market simply to make it look bigger either.
Look intelligently. Judge carefully. Bring the right person into focus.
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