The Resilient Recruiter

Most people are afraid of failure. Especially in recruitment, we’re very focused on achievement -- making placements and hitting sales targets.  We’re concerned about how we’re perceived by clients, candidates, coworkers, friends, and family.  We naturally want to project an image of being a successful person.  In reality, success is like the tip of an iceberg. Beneath the surface, success is built on a vast multitude of challenges, mistakes, failures and struggles. In this episode of The Resilient Recruiter, my very special guest, Nick Price, shares his perspective on why he celebrates his mistakes and downplays his successes.  Nick is the CEO of Bright Purple Resourcing which he co-founded in 1995. They are headquartered in Edinburgh, with 25 staff specializing in placing technology change and transformation professionals. Listen to the entire episode and hear Nick share a number of critical mistakes that he made during his 25 years in business -- and why he believes those setbacks have been stepping stones to sustainable success. Episode Outline and Highlights [3:30] Nick shares his recruitment journey and the biggest challenge he dealt with as a CEO. [14:58] Nick’s perspective on business growth - and why he prefers to remain small. [18:06] A mentor’s insight on “big pitfalls” that new business owners should avoid. [27:50] What it means to stick to the core of your recruitment strategy. [30:14] Why Nick turned down a big offer to buy his business. [35:13] Hear about “Fvck Up Nights” and Nick’s views on success Avoid the Mistake of Not Making Mistakes Nick is a mentor to several founders of start-up technology businesses. When asked about what advice he can give to those aspiring to be recruitment business owners or those who are new to the industry, he believes that learning from mistakes is essential.  In his words, “I suppose the important thing is that they make the mistakes. One of the things I am a firm believer in is if we don’t try and take those risks, we will never know.” Listen to the entire episode and hear Nick share a number of critical mistakes that he made and why he believes it is key to him successfully running his 25-year-old business. Why We Learn More from “Commonality of Failure” Nick also shared a very interesting perspective on why he’s sick and tired of hearing “success secrets” from ultra-rich entrepreneurs and self-appointed experts.  “I am 59, I am not a young recruiter anymore… I still have the spark and energy when I entered this industry. But what happens when you get older is you start to realize that the people who tell you how successful they are -- and how they can afford their Ferraris and Lamborghinis and their yachts etcetera -- they never really teach you anything. You go along to a chat by some amazing guy or some amazing lady, you get super motivated. You feel invigorated.” “I’ve been on many of those over the years, but I never learned anything. Because their view of success isn’t the same as my view of success… The problem with trying to view success is it means different things to everybody else. So how do you teach success? That’s impossible. But one thing you can learn from is the commonality of failure.” Nick Price Bio and Contact Info Nick is the CEO of Bright Purple Resourcing which he co-founded in 1995. They are headquartered in Edinburgh, with 25 staff specializing in placing technology change and transformation professionals. Nick is someone who is deeply involved in business and community in Scotland, including industry associations, entrepreneurial groups, and charities. He is also currently working as Director of Communications of PRIMED, an information technology business, as well as a Non-Executive Director of Lifelink, a non-profit organisation supporting mental health. Nick on LinkedIn Nick’s email: nick.price@brightpurple.co.uk Bright Purple website link Bright Purple on Facebook Bright Purple on Twitter @BrightPurpleR PRIMED website link Life Link website link Fvck Up Nights website link People and Resources Mentioned Richard Hoon on LinkedIn Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Related Podcasts You Might Enjoy TRR #24 Father’s Day Special: Bringing Honour Back to the Recruiting Profession, with Richard Hoon   Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter

Why do some recruiters bill $200k while others bill $750k in a single year with similar work ethics? This is a question that my special guest, Jeremy Sisemore will answer in this episode of the Resilient Recruiter.  In Jeremy’s words, “luck has nothing to do with it.” Jeremy is the founder of ASAP Talent Services and has been a leading IT Executive Recruiter for 20 years, achieving $14 million in personal production during his career.  In this interview, Jeremy gives an in-depth overview of his business development process, including some fantastic verbiage for handling objections.  Plus, we explore the mindset required to create sustainable success and longevity as a top-producing executive recruiter.   Episode Outline and Highlights [2:56] How Jeremy became “Rookie of the Year” at MRI. [10:30] Jeremy breaks down his business development process. [15:53] Jeremy shares his exact verbiage for handling the objection from HR/Talent Acquisition, “Don’t talk to the hiring manager.” [23:10] How to use “transitional statements” when selling - e.g. “If I, Will You?” [28:30] The impact of niche / specialization on your success as a recruiter. [32:10] Business development and marketing - volume vs quality. [44:30] The top 3 digital marketing strategies for generating inbound business. [55:38] How do you channel your inner grit? On Niche and Specialization One of the key catalysts in Jeremy’s success is when he understood the importance of niche and specialization. When he attended an event, a very successful co-participant in his field gave him advice on setting himself apart. How much of a big difference did it make? It increased his fees from $320k to $450k just in one year. Jeremy is convinced that specialization is a game-changer and a significant factor why some recruiters are more successful than others. In Jeremy’s words, “How can some people do three to four to five placements a month when someone else can only do one or two a month? Well, that is one of the key lightbulb moments. The epiphany moment that said ‘I feel like I’m working super hard and I billed this, how come that guy over there is billing that?’ Well, that was one of the things.”  Channeling Your Inner Grit Jeremy’s early life played a major role in his current success and why he has such a solid grit. Growing up poor, and small for his age, in rural Texas taught him not to give up and to fight for everything he is going to get. This shaped his character and explains how he deals with unwelcome circumstances as a recruiter.  “Our early life helps to make us who we are. How do you channel your inner toughness? In this business, it’s a big thing. Because bad things happen. And so let’s say you thought you have a $50,000 fee and next thing you know they backed out… That’s demoralizing for some people. And it’s like, how do you internalize that? Are you gonna let it get you for an hour or two? Are you gonna let it get you for two or three days? Are you gonna let it get you for a week or two? If you can shorten that, you’re gonna have a better year.” He added, “Even how you internalize a “NO.” In business development, if you are told “no, no, no, no, no” are you hearing “no, no, no, no, no?” I actually hear, “not right now.” Jeremy Sisemore Bio and Contact Info Jeremy Sisemore has been one of the leading IT Executive Recruiters throughout North America for the past 20 years.  He started his career with MRI and was Rookie of the Year in 2000 and quickly became the go-to resource for SAP & ERP talent acquisition needs nationally.  Jeremy billed millions of dollars in placement revenue over 6.5 years with MRI, received a CSAM Certification, and became known for public speaking on “best practices” within the recruiting industry.  In his career, Jeremy has over $14 Million in personal production (billings) and has placed IT Executives and Cyber Security talent at all levels up to and including CIO, CTO, CISO levels across all areas of emerging technologies.  ASAP Talent serves over 75 major Fortune 500 clients throughout North America and internationally in Singapore, Germany, and the UK. Today, Jeremy is CPC and CERS Certified and is a former member of the Board of Directors as Education Chair for The Pinnacle Society, a premier consortium of 80 industry-leading recruiters in North America.  He speaks regularly at industry conferences such as NAPS, NCASP, The Fordyce Forum, HAAPC, and MASA among others. Jeremy and his business partner, Erek Gerth, founded ASAP Talent Services in 2006 and haven’t looked back since.  Today the ASAP Team of 5 supports well over 75 of the world's leading companies and generates annual revenues around $1.7-$2M. Their mission has been to create a boutique talent acquisition firm focused on the highest quality service and to form lasting partnerships with clients that are poised for growth, to be a total solution provider with respect to SAP & Cyber Security Talent.  Jeremy writes industry articles and has been quoted in CIO magazine.  On a personal level, Jeremy graduated from the University of Missouri where he was on the Swimming & Diving Team.  He's married and is a father to two daughters and a son based out of Houston, Texas. Jeremy on LinkedIn Jeremy on Twitter @SAPheadhunter ASAP Talent Services website link ASAP Talent Services Facebook page ASAP Talent Services Youtube channel People and Resources Mentioned Rich Rosen on LinkedIn Pinnacle Society website link The Pursuit of Happyness (book) by Chris Gardner The Pursuit of Happyness (movie) with Will Smith PRWeb Vyral Marketing Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Related Podcasts You Might Enjoy TRR #6  Habits of a Million-Dollar Biller, with Rich Rosen   Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter  

What are the parts of your job you’re best at?  What are the things you don’t enjoy or aren’t very good at?  How much of your time and focus is devoted to just those few things you’re best at, versus all the other tasks that eat into your day? This self-awareness of one’s strengths and limitations, together with a conscious decision to specialize with laser focus, have been key to the success of serial entrepreneur Maarten van der Kwaak.  In this episode of the Resilient Recruiter, I had the opportunity to talk to Maarten, co-founder at MatcHR, Apollo Executive Search, ConsulantcyExit, Legal Top Talent, and The Legal Bench. Surprisingly, Maaten started his first recruitment business while still in university studying law, recruiting his fellow students and placing them with law firms.  On occasion, he would find himself recruiting people while chatting with them in bars!  Later, he kept his recruiting firm going as a side-hustle while working full-time as a management consultant for an international strategy consulting firm. Since then he’s founded or invested in multiple start-up businesses in both recruitment and technology.    Maarten shares his wisdom on self-awareness, specialization, transparency, and really valuable insights about successfully running your business even in this time of difficulties. Episode Outline and Highlights [4:41] Maarten’s insight on getting quickly into profit from the startup phase. [10:17] On specialization - hear the big difference between sourcing and recruitment. [16:00] How Maarten successfully applies specialization within his different business lines. [29:02] Thoughts on marketing - lessons learned on video outreach campaigns. [38:22] What made Maarten decide to choose a career in recruitment. [51:48] How MatcHR adjusted when the coronavirus pandemic hit. [1:02:00] What special quality can help strengthen company culture during this pandemic? Applying the Concept of Specialization Given that there are many different types of activities in a recruitment business, Maarten shared his insights on how to apply the idea of specialization. His analogy is to compare the business in a production facility. “If you would have so many different activities in a production facility, you would have a dedicated person for each activity. But what we do in this industry, we say to one person, ‘These are all the activities, please go ahead and be successful at all of them.’” From there, he elaborated on the difference between the skills of sourcing versus recruiting which further emphasized his point on the importance of specialization. “If we specifically pick out the responsibilities of the sourcing part, if you look at sourcers and recruiters, very often sourcers have very technical backgrounds, more data-oriented background and what they need to do is very different from that of a recruiter to be successful.” He continues, “If we look at the recruiting part … you need to turn those candidates into hires, it’s a lot about building relationships, selling the company, managing the process, both on the internal side as with the external side… I do not still understand why many companies still have all these responsibilities within their recruitment team without specialization within the team”    How Transparency Contributed to the Strength of Culture During Covid19 In these difficult times when tough decisions had to be made, what helped Maarten’s group maintain a strong culture even if they had to let some people go?  “I’m a big fan of transparency...Everything was going extremely well with the company and then one week after people needed to be fired... I think also research has proven that transparency and having them involved (employees) in the business is also better for their engagement.” This commitment to transparency led to a strong internal culture. Even when Maarten had to let go of some valuable employees, they understood why.  Even when they were leaving, they wore their MatcHR T-shirts supporting the brand. Maarten van der Kwaak Bio and Contact Info Maarten is a serial entrepreneur in the recruitment industry and started his first company, Legal Top Talent, while still in university.  After five years in strategy consulting including an MBA at INSEAD, Maarten decided to become a full-time entrepreneur. In just four years, Maarten co-founded four other companies. The Legal Bench, focused on contract lawyers, ConsultancyExit, focused on former top tier strategy consultants, Apollo Executive Search, focused on leadership roles for PE-owned and VC backed companies, and MatcHR, a sourcing and recruitment outsourcing company based out of Kyiv, Ukraine. All companies are profitable and, despite COVID-19, growing.  Next to running his companies, Maarten actively invests in technology companies and serves as a board member of several start-ups. Maarten is known for his sharp analytical mind and his vision of the recruitment industry.  As a former skiing instructor, you can find Maarten every winter for multiple weeks on the slopes in the Alps.   Maarten on LinkedIn  MatcHR website link MatcHR on Facebook Apollo Executive Search website link    If you wish to contact Maarten, you may reach him through email maarten@matchr.io. Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach   Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter

“This is a unique opportunity. We have a choice here. We can either sit back and wait for this whole thing to blow over. Or we can go on the offensive.  We can have the mindset that there are companies that are going to be hiring, despite the pandemic, and we’re going to find them.” Meet George Atuahene, Founder and Managing Director of the Kofi Group.  George’s parents wanted him to study medicine. Instead, he dropped out of college to pursue a career in sales, eventually becoming a recruiter instead of a doctor. Were they disappointed when he broke the news? “Their first reaction was not positive… but after they saw that I was very determined to go a certain way they decided to throw their support behind me and they’re pretty happy with what I’ve done so far.” What has George accomplished so far? In 2018, he billed $500,000 in perm fees and decided to shift his focus towards building recruitment teams around the country. He currently leads two recruitment teams in San Francisco/Silicon Valley and New York City, with plans to scale Kofi Group to 50+ recruiters by EOY 2025. During this pandemic where the vast majority of recruitment firms are in difficulty, George’s business is bucking the trend.  In this episode, George shares the mindset and practical steps he took to maintain his firm’s revenue at pre-COVID levels and continue winning new business. Episode Outline and Highlights [4:54] George talks about competing in Taekwondo and its parallel with recruiting. [9:15] Why George dropped out of college to pursue a career in sales. [19:26] Two critical success factors when starting a recruitment firm.  [26:00] George explains his chosen niche, it’s unique advantages and challenges. [32:50] Solo practitioner vs building your team - What are the factors you should consider? [36:07] The three biggest lessons George learned while building his team [45:39] Two significant factors that have helped Kofi Group to maintain their billings during the pandemic. [56:46] Best practices in managing content marketing. Don’t Start a Recruitment Business Unless You’re Willing to Work 10x Harder When George started his recruitment firm, the first couple of years were tough.  A lot of people start their recruiting firm with the goal of having more freedom.  But George believes that starting your own business requires you to work ten times harder compared to being an employee. In his words, “If someone wants to start their recruitment firm and they expect to have freedom in the first couple of years, I tell them not to do it.” “I would get up, first thing in the morning, get ready for about 10 to 15 minutes, get to work, and then work until I can’t work anymore… As long as it took to get the results I wanted to get. I did nothing but work, for the first couple of years. I barely went out. You would have thought I was quarantined.” What drove him to work so hard? “My ultimate goal is freedom and having an impact on the recruitment industry. And the most gratifying thing for me is when I am able to bring someone on my team, coach them, and mentor them and see them blossom. And I see them able to enjoy a lot more freedom and autonomy… so that’s a big driver for me.” Having an Internal Locus of Control During this Pandemic   During this crazy pandemic, the vast majority of recruiters are finding the market extremely tough. Yet Kofi Group was able to maintain their billings and even brought on new business. George believes that two things are contributing to their resilience.   George says, “We’ve been very fortunate … the niche we’re focused on, the demand is constantly going up… it’s somewhat recession-proof.” In addition, George talks about a daily focus on business development and their unique message. In addition, George points to two significant factors.  One is his mindset, having an internal locus of control and believing that although the pandemic brought about a lot of challenges, there is always a silver lining and unique opportunities for people that take advantage of them. Secondly, they took really practical steps in order to keep in touch with their market. This includes working together as a team and going on the offensive. George Atuahene Bio and Contact Info George Atuahene is the Founder and Managing Director of Kofi Group, an executive search firm that helps early-stage startups hire highly sought-after software engineering and machine learning talent.  Kofi Group's clients include: Series-A open-source framework that is an industry-standard for software engineers Stealth mode artificial intelligence startups A computer vision R&D startup Robotics and RPA software companies Series-B FinTech that is democratizing financial services Cloud security startups Autonomous driving startups Before founding Kofi Group in early 2017, George started his career in B2C/B2B wireless sales, built a six-figure affiliate marketing business that drove online traffic for major online retailers and worked for 2 national recruitment firms along with a boutique agency. George has placed dozens of professionals, ranging from mid-level software engineers to a VP of Data Science. He has bootstrapped Kofi Group from the very beginning, reinvesting profits to grow the company. In 2018, he billed $500,000 in perm fees and decided to shift his focus towards building recruitment teams around the country. He currently leads 2 recruitment teams in San Francisco/Silicon Valley and New York City, with plans to scale Kofi Group to 50+ recruiters by EOY 2025. When he’s not growing his firm, George loves spending time with his wife and family, competing in Taekwondo tournaments, and reading books about leadership, investing, and philosophy.  George Atuahene on LinkedIn Kofi Group Website link Kofi Group on LinkedIn Kofi Group Facebook page Kofi Group on Twitter @kofigrp Kofi Group on Instagram People and Resources Mentioned Retained Recruiters Academy - How to Leverage Content Marketing by Mark Whitby video link  Justin Satterfield on LinkedIn Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan Peterson Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins The Master-Key to Riches by Napoleon Hill Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Related Podcasts You Might Enjoy TRR #5 How Justin Satterfield Hit $1M Within 2 Years of Starting A Recruitment Agency Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter

When I ask recruiting and search firm owners, “what is your Vision for your business?” the answer is often a variation on the following theme. They tell me, “Mark, I don’t want to build a large firm with hundreds of employees and huge overheads.  I’d much rather have a small, high-performing team so we can generate 7-figures while keeping overheads low and staff management issues to a minimum.”   Of course, that’s easier said than done.  Few in our industry manage to make the leap from 6-figure solo practitioner to the 7-figure firm owner.  After all, hiring and managing remote employees can be a real challenge.  For many, the additional hassles and headaches involved are not worth the effort.  Yet if you get it right, the rewards are obvious.  How do you set things up so the business runs like a well-oiled machine? To answer that question, I invited Rob Bowerman to share his experiences as someone who’s successfully made that journey.  In this episode, Rob talks about his transition from being an executive recruiter to building his own recruitment team. Rob shares his best practices and as well as the hurdles he’s faced, giving practical insights on several key business issues, from managing your workload to managing staff turnover.  Rob started The Bowerman Group (TBG) in 2009 after having been a successful Executive Recruiter since 1994. TBG serves the retail industry, particularly specialty on luxury brands, and has developed long-standing relationships with many respected American and European designer apparel, accessory, jewelry, and home furnishing companies. Rob currently serves as the President of The Pinnacle Society, the premier consortium of industry-leading recruiters in North America. Episode Outline and Highlights [1:33] Rob talks about the Pinnacle Society and why he got involved [9:30] How the Bowerman Group is dealing with the current challenges brought about by the pandemic. [13:46] Lessons learned from starting his firm in 2009 during a recession. [21:26] Two critical elements of managing a team remotely. [26:20] Should you stay as a solo practitioner or should you build your own team? Listen to Rob’s great career advice. [28:40] Managing your workload - the formula for when to outsource certain tasks. [32:41] How to avoid hiring mistakes and high staff turnover - a common challenge faced by the many recruitment business owners [35:55] Rob shares his greatest achievements and biggest hurdles. Effectively Managing a Small Virtual Team Even before the pandemic, Rob has been successfully running a small virtual team. When discussing best practices on managing a team virtually, he gave two key pointers: (1) Stay connected as a team, (2) Stay involved and support them as you can.  “It’s daily setting out what are your goals for the day, and on Monday what your goals for the week, and holding people accountable for that. So I think honestly that morning time together is the most important function. Like everyone sharing, “this is what I’m doing,” “this is my focus,” “this is where I need support,” And how is this affecting the team relationship? “We actually only physically see each other, even in good times, three or four times a year but we feel like we see each other every day.” The Formula for Deciding When to Outsource Certain Tasks Managing a small recruitment team can also be daunting. As a business owner, you have to run the company, run your desk, and you are also a manager - you have to do training, coaching, on top of process management. How should you juggle all those responsibilities? Rob shared a very practical formula.  “Figure out first and foremost what you can outsource… If you do the simple math… look at your annual earnings, what you want it to be. Divide it to calculate your hourly rate. Say that comes out to be $400. Then, anything that’s not worth $400 an hour, somebody else should be doing that.” Rob Bowerman Bio and Contact Info Rob started The Bowerman Group in 2009 after having been a successful Executive Recruiter since 1994.  He discovered his passion for Search following a career in merchandising and shares his love for the industry with his team, clients, and candidates every day. Carving out a unique niche that focused on specialty and luxe brands, he has developed long-standing relationships with many respected American and European designer apparel, accessory, jewelry, and home furnishing companies.  Rob had a vision of creating a boutique firm that matched the unique profile of this niche—excellence, brand heritage, and an unwavering dedication to quality.   This vision has manifested itself into a dynamic group that is experiencing consistent year-over-year increases in successfully completed searches within TBG’s unique niche. Rob currently serves as the President of The Pinnacle Society, the premier consortium of industry-leading recruiters in North America.  He is proud of his association with this group of the “best and brightest” within the search profession as well as honored to be the only “retail guy” in the organization. Rob Bowerman on LinkedIn The Bowerman Group website link The Bowerman Group on Facebook The Bowerman Group on Instagram The Bowerman Group on Youtube People and Resources Mentioned Rich Rosen on LinkedIn Sharon Hulce on LinkedIn Next Level Exchange on LinkedIn Pinnacle Society Website link Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Related Podcasts You Might Enjoy TRR #6 Habits of a Million-Dollar Biller, with Rich Rosen  TRR #28 Recruiter Midlife Crisis: Boredom, Burnout and Reigniting Your Passion, with Sharon Hulce Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter  

Recruitment is a tough job. High pressure and long hours are the norm, combined with extreme emotional highs and lows.  It’s no wonder that burnout has always been a big problem in our industry.  Now the issue is compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought increased anxiety and feelings of uncertainty.  How do you build a high-performing team while taking care of your employees’ mental health and well-being - especially in this time of crisis? My special guest, Paul Hallam is a founding member of Six Degrees Executive, Australia’s leading independent, specialist executive recruitment consultancy.  In this interview, he shares how they grew to net fee income of $25 million AUD a team of 85 people in 3 offices, while placing mental health and well-being at the heart of their people strategy.  Listen as Paul reveals Six Degrees Executive’s holistic approach to ensuring that their employees’ well-being and mental health are protected.  Hear simple yet effective practices that they apply to ensure that people in their recruitment business are “doing OK.” Episode Outline and Highlights [1:20] Paul shares how they are dealing with COVID19’s impact on their business. [6:00] A holistic approach in addressing your employees’ health and well-being. [14:50] Paul shares three key success factors that enabled him to scale his business to 85 people and $25M. [26:05] Paul’s valuable insights on people retention and diversity and inclusion. [37:02] Best practices for planning and creating business strategies. [40:49] Specific investments in technology that enabled Six Degrees to amplify their success. A Holistic Approach to Addressing Mental Health For Paul, the mental health and well-being of his people is the most paramount thing.  Paul shares, “The hardest and toughest day of my life in Six Degrees’ history was when I had to tell people that one of their team members… had taken his own life. We had always been conscious of people’s mental health, but when something like that happens, mental health is probably the most important that we look at when looking after people.” At Six Degrees, they make sure that people are not worked to the bone, not working too hard but have a really good balance in life. They would even enforce vacations if people haven’t taken the holidays they’re entitled to.   In Australia, annually on the second Thursday of September, they hold what they call R U OK? Day which encourages Australians to connect with people who have emotional insecurity, address social isolation, and promote community cohesiveness.  For Paul, it is “not just asking are you okay, but asking second and third questions and also educating people to make sure they see the signs that when people are not okay. In Six Degrees, every day is R U OK? Day. not just one day a year.”   When Scaling Your Business, Diversity and Inclusion Contributes to People Retention “One of the things we are very proud of is in our business, we are a diverse organization. Historically recruitment companies hire like-minded people. We have great diversity and representation of females and females in leadership positions as well. We also have very progressive policies when it comes to maternity/paternity leaves...We also have a father and mother with the same child in this office and they have flexible working arrangements to make it work for them.” Paul proudly shared how they value diversity and inclusion when talking about scaling their business and retaining valuable employees. Additionally, they ensure the learning and development of their employees while being engaged and actively listening to their needs as well. Paul Hallam Bio and Contact Info Paul is one of the founding directors at Six Degrees, an equity shareholder and board member. Paul’s recruitment and search career began in 1996 and he is widely renowned as one of the most connected executive search consultants in Australia. He manages executive search engagements for Retail, Consumer Goods, and Healthcare industries, recruiting General Manager, CEO and Director and C Level roles. Prior to establishing Six Degrees, Paul spent eight years with Michael Page International, establishing their newly formed Sales & Marketing Division in the Victorian market. In 2002, he was promoted to the Australian Board of Directors with responsibility for the National Sales & Marketing Division, as well as managing some of the company’s major preferred supplier relationships. Paul’s philosophy in life and in recruitment is: “look for three things in people, intelligence, energy, and integrity. If they don’t have the last one don’t even bother with the first two." - W. Buffet Paul on LinkedIn Paul on Twitter @paulmhallam Six Degrees Executive website link Six Degrees Executive on LinkedIn Six Degrees Executive on Instagram Six Degrees Executive on Twitter @SixDegreesExec Six Degrees Executive on Facebook Six Degrees Executive on Youtube People and Resources Mentioned Beyond Blue website link R U OK website link Culture Amp website link  Xref Tool website link Recruitment Growth Accelerator website link Greg Savage on LinkedIn Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed  Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.RecruitmentCoach.com/Breakthrough Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Related Podcasts You Might Enjoy TRR #1 The Future of Recruitment: Strategies To Stay Relevant and Effective, with Greg Savage TRR #2 Setting Up A Recruitment Business For Scale, with Jonathan Coxon and Alex Elliot TRR #12 The Commercial Value of Diversity and Inclusion in Recruitment with Raj Tulsiani   Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter

Reaching out to new clients can be intimidating, especially when the person you want to speak to is a senior executive. What mindset should you possess in order to have the courage to contact key decision-makers? My special guest, Natasha Makhijani has been extremely successful at opening doors at C-level. She’s won major accounts such as British Airways, DHL, Royal Mail, Engie, Mitie, and many others.  What makes this accomplishment even more impressive is that she started her recruitment company working by herself from the spare bedroom of her parent’s house.  In this interview, she shares her strategies and best practices for new business development.  Of course, winning a piece of work is one thing - but being able to consistently over-deliver against the client’s requirements and developing those accounts is quite another matter.  Especially when the client asks for the near impossible -- in one case Natasha and her team filled 150 roles for a client, completing executive searches within 2-3 weeks and lower level roles within 2-3 days.   Natasha also shared proven strategies for building relationships with your clients and how it relates to long term thinking.  Her approach to building relationships has led to some of her clients becoming friends and mentors. Natasha is the CEO of Oliver Sanderson Group PLC and Co-Founder of Snapp CV Group PLC, a mobile job app and video platform. Oliver Sanderson is a dynamic brand in Executive Search & Selection who look after Perm and Interim assignments to FTSE 100 & 250 clients. They offer retained, exclusive and contingent end to end recruitment in a variety of disciplines and serving major UK & Global sectors. Episode Outline and Highlights [1:23] Natasha shares her main strategy to open doors for opportunities. [7:10] How long term thinking is inter-related to building relationships with clients. [33:44] Best practices to apply when reaching out to C-level executives. [36:50] Growing too quickly too soon - Natasha talks about her learnings. [41:50] How Snapp CV applies innovation and artificial intelligence. [49:45] Natasha discusses the biggest challenge in her career The Key that Opens Doors to New Opportunities When Natasha started her recruitment business nine years ago, she was a one-person business who was able to break into major blue-chip companies, being given C-level roles to fill. How was she able to get such opportunities? For her, the main key is being genuine when building relationships. When building her network, she doesn’t “go in with the premise that she wants the business.” This is how she puts it: “My biggest strength has always been opening a door...I call it networking and building relationships and just being genuine… So my biggest strength is opening a door connecting with CEOs, connecting with chief people officers, connecting with group chairman, and basically, meeting them, building relationships.” She added, “I don’t go in with the premise that I want business from you. And that’s not the way I build relationships. I think the key to success is that you have your short term gains, your medium-term and your long term gains. And for me, that is about mapping out the people that I wanted to connect with.”   Natasha’s Biggest Career Challenge When asked to share about the biggest challenge she had to face in her career, her response is: “Going from being a recruiter to managing a business and becoming a CEO.” For her, the transition is not easy as you’ve got to always be thinking five steps ahead. She also emphasized the value of continuous learning. Despite the challenges, was it worth it? As she says, “No longer am I the soft recruiter that I was who just delivers. I’m a businesswoman, I'm an entrepreneur, I’m someone who knows how to achieve. I know how to take a business from zero to hero. And that’s the difference in running your own business.” Natasha Makhijani Bio and Contact Info Natasha is the CEO of Oliver Sanderson Group PLC and Co-Founder of Snapp CV Group PLC, a mobile job app and video platform. Natasha began her professional career with Hays Logistics on their graduate scheme. She set up the Victoria office with her manager, and within two years, the Victoria office and the staff of eight were the top-performing offices in the country. She was offered the opportunity to work with Michael Page and Robert Walters. She started with Michael Page Human Resources, and she became their top biller within HR during her first year. She helped set up their St Albans office and then moved to London to set up permanent recruitment for the Public Sector. Later, Natasha was promoted to Managing Consultant and contributed to the growth of the Public sector office. She considers herself lucky to have had a revelation to an entrepreneurial community from an early age, and she believes this helped her to shape into somebody who is vibrant and enthusiastic and with a keen interest and passion for business. Oliver Sanderson is a dynamic brand in Executive Search & Selection who look after Perm and Interim assignments to FTSE 100 & 250 clients. They offer retained, exclusive and contingent end to end recruitment in a variety of disciplines and serving major UK & Global sectors. They also provide cutting edge service solutions to customers, ensuring the needs are met in tune with the changing marketplace. Natasha on LinkedIn Oliver Sanderson Group PLC website link Oliver Sanderson Group PLC on LinkedIn Oliver Sanderson Group PLC on Instagram Oliver Sanderson Group PLC on Twitter @OliverSanders9 Oliver Sanderson Group PLC on Facebook Snapp CV website link   Special Offer Natasha is launching a brand new version of SNAPP CV & SNAPP RESUME both here in the UK and the USA, in addition to their video interviewing platform: SNAPP INVIEW.  She is happy to offer 5% off any of our pricing plans active from the 5th of July 2020 until the 5th of August, enter code RRP5 at checkout. The app is available from Android and Apple stores.  People and Resources Mentioned Marija Simovic on LinkedIn Gary Vaynerchuk on LinkedIn Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.RecruitmentCoach.com/Breakthrough Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach   Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter  

In these challenging times, staying the same just won’t cut it. Rather than just battening down the hatches and weathering the storm, what strategic changes can you implement now so you emerge in a position of strength? My very special guest, Mike Brennan shares his thoughts on why redesigning your service offerings is key to success in this challenging environment. Learn how Mike drives innovation to become relevant as a partner to his clients. Mike joined Norman Broadbent Group Plc as a ‘turnaround CEO’ in 2016. With his team, Mike has repositioned the Group as a leading Professional Services firm focussing on Talent Acquisition & Advisory Services. In 2018, the business posted its best annual revenues in over a decade, and in 2019 returned to profit. Episode Outline and Highlights [4:53] Why the executive search market needs to up its game. [9:35] How innovation helps Norman Broadbent achieve a 95% closure rate. [13:00] What is the main challenge with traditional executive search firms? [14:50] What can you do to be relevant as partners to your clients? [21:11] Three best practices to get you through these difficult times and be in a position of strength  [38:24] Mike shares pivotal moments in his entrepreneurial journey [44:03] What significant values contribute to Norman Broadbent’s success? [47:45] Hear Mike’s answer to this question: “If you could speak to your younger self, what advice would you give to that young entrepreneur?” Innovation and Why the Executive Search Needs to Up its Game According to Mike, there hasn’t really been anything innovative happening in the executive search market since 1965. He is both a fan and critic of search, and he believes that it has not evolved or developed as much as it should have done. This is how Mike puts it: “I think traditional search has become very transactional.” He added, “There is a frightening statistic, that 37% of all executive search assignments fail in the UK. So if you think about the market in the UK is worth about £1.5 Billion a year, that’s half a billion in wasted spend every year. That’s indefensible. At Norman Broadbent, we’ve got 95% closure rates. We work hard to see how we can mitigate all the risks in the search process. And how can we make sure that there’s a successful outcome.” Mike is a strong believer in innovation and being relevant as partners to clients. Listen to his best practices especially in these difficult times when recruitment businesses are hurting. Living in a “Darwinian Moment” - Covid’s Impact on the Recruitment Industry Mike and I discussed the impact of the coronavirus to major businesses and specifically to the recruitment industry. While there are struggles, successful and resilient businesses are usually agile and innovative. We see businesses completely revolutionizing themselves at warp speed.  As shared by one online business, “We’ve evolved more in the last three months than we thought we would within the next three years.” Mike said, “These are truly unparalleled times. I think this is a Darwinian moment for our industry. And we need to stay focused as a business, as an industry, and help our clients through these very difficult times.” Hear how being agile, promoting change and transformation while helping out clients can be significant factors in weathering these challenging moments in our economy. Mike Brennan Bio and Contact Info Having spent most of his career in the global Professional Services markets, Mike has lived and built businesses in London, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. He also established/managed operations in New York, Dubai, and Singapore.  Starting his first business aged 27 with investor backing from Alexander Mann Group, Mike was one of four founding Equity Partners involved in its sale to PE firm Advent International. He subsequently started an award-winning sister business in HK before returning to London as Global CEO of Alexander Mann's Executive Search arm. Having successfully turned around the business, he led its sale on behalf of Advent/Alexander Mann.  Mike joined Norman Broadbent Group Plc as a ‘turnaround CEO’ in 2016. With his team, Mike has repositioned the Group as a leading Professional Services firm focussing on Talent Acquisition & Advisory Services. These include Board & Leadership Search, Senior Interim Management, Research & Insight, Solutions, and Leadership Assessment. In 2018, the business posted its best annual revenues in over a decade, and in 2019 returned to profit.  In 2019, Mike was recognized by 'CEO Today' as one of Europe’s top CEOs. In 2019 he was also invited to join the United Nation’s UK Judging Panel which recognizes those in business who have promoted the case for diversity. In 2020, Mike was not only invited on to a Bank of England panel but also asked to join The Future Economy Surrey Commission. Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter @MJCBrennan Norman Broadbent website link Norman Broadbent on LinkedIn Norman Broadbent on Twitter @NormanBroadbent People and Resources Mentioned Doug Bugie on LinkedIn  James Caan on LinkedIn  The Real Deal: My Story from Brick Lane to Dragons' Den by James Caan Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.RecruitmentCoach.com/Breakthrough Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Related Podcasts You Might Enjoy TRR #3 The 4 Qualities of The World’s Top Recruitment Leaders, with Doug Bugie   Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter  

In these unprecedented and challenging times, a recruiter can easily lose sight of the “why” and fall into the trap of boredom and burnout. How do you recover from burnout and reignite your passion? My special guest, Sharon Hulce explains how creativity and continuously reinventing yourself can help you overcome these challenges.  Sharon is the president of Employment Resource Group Inc. (ERG) in Wisconsin and has twenty-four years of expertise in Executive Search specializing in placing outstanding leaders. She has won numerous awards including MRI’s Person of the Year and also Account Executive of the Decade. She is also a Forbes Author who recently published her book, “A Well Done Professional Midlife Crisis: How To Bleed Passion & Energy Back Into Your Career”. Episode Outline and Highlights [2:07] Sharon shares the story behind her book, “A Well Done Professional Midlife Crisis”  [7:18] How do you fight “recruiter’s burnout?” [12:29] Running a desk during a crisis - three specific steps you can take. [25:00] How do you uncover an MPC’s real value? [29:07] How inbound marketing is changing the landscape of the recruitment industry. [31:07] Hear the four “buckets” that Sharon applied in order to generate more inbound leads. [41:10] Sharon explains her company structure and how it works. [48:22] How Sharon shifted from contingent to retained search. Resilience in This Time of Crisis In this challenging environment, many recruiters can easily forget their “why.” What helped Sharon operate during times of crisis? As she puts it, “I have been through two recessions, 9/11, and now a pandemic. So, in my career, I’ve been through a lot. The one thing that I think has made us resilient and stay optimistic and energetic, and actually continue to build through all of this is really understanding what does value mean for your customers.” Hear three specific steps she took to stay in shape during times of crisis.    Shifting to a Retained Search Business Model Sharon has been doing a retained search business model for 18 years. I am an evangelist of the retained model for the benefits it brings to the client, candidate, and the recruiter. However, shifting to this model from a contingent business model can be challenging to some recruiters especially if their client would prefer the former.  How did Sharon come about shifting to the retained search? “I had worked a contingent desk for just shy 17 years… The day I decided I wasn’t doing it any other way [shifting to retained] I lost my top 3 clients. So fifty percent of my business went away. And I held my ground… I said listen, “You have changed your value proposition multiple times since we’ve started working together. I am now changing mine. I am good at what  I do. I am a top 5 construction practice in the country. If you want to work with me as the owner of this organization and have my work on your searches, you need to pay me to do it.” Listen to how being firm and being able to deliver helped Sharon shift to the retained business model.   Sharon Hulce Bio and Contact Info Sharon is the President and CEO of Employment Resource Group Inc. and has twenty-four years of expertise in Executive Search specializing in placing outstanding leaders. Her unique approach to business is as follows: “A business and community’s most valuable asset is the people within.  For our clients, our role is to understand the necessary competencies, knowledge, social interaction, and personality critical for integration and outstanding performance within their organization.  For our candidates, our purpose is to help them define their purpose, attain goals, and find their life’s vocation.  We are proud of the emotional intelligence we have been able to share with our clients and candidates alike”  She has won numerous awards including MRI Person of the Year 2019, Champion of the Chamber Award Winner (Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce 2019), 2019 Walter L. Rugland Community Service award, just to name a few. She was also inducted into the Pinnacle Society in 2015 and is a Forbes Author for “A Well Done Professional Midlife Crisis”. Sharon’s website link Sharon on LinkedIn  Employment Research Group website link Employment Research Group on LinkedIn Employment Research Group on Facebook Employment Research Group on Twitter @ergsearch A Well Done Professional Midlife Crisis: How To Bleed Passion & Energy Back Into Your Career, Amazon link People and Resources Mentioned Rich Rosen on LinkedIn Craig Picken on LinkedIn Pinnacle Society website link Inbound Marketing Roadmap for Recruiters, by Mark Whitby Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.RecruitmentCoach.com/Breakthrough Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Related Podcasts You Might Enjoy TRR #6 Habits of a Million-Dollar Biller, with Rich Rosen TRR #22 Craig Picken’s Journey From Naval Aviator to Big Billing Solo Recruiter   Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter  

With the paradigm shift of working remotely in a distributed setting, how do recruitment businesses create a cohesive culture for their employees? In this episode of the Resilient Recruiter, my special guest Boris Epstein shares how he managed to build a company culture consistently aligned with their values while rapidly growing his business to 150 people in three and a half years.   In line with the 4th of July Independence Day celebration, hear how values and company culture, recruitment service differentiation, and value proposition development can give a sense of independence and self-sufficiency to your recruitment business. Boris is the Founder & CEO of Binc, the technology industry’s dedicated flexible recruiting team. Winning best workplace awards two years in a row, their clients include big names such as Paypal, Tesla, Airbnb, Pinterest, DropBox, just to name a few.   Episode Outline and Highlights [3:00] Binc’s service model and what makes it effective  [11:46] How to create a cohesive culture when your employees are distributed. [17:58] Values alignment - how to infuse your business values with different levels of accountability. [20:10] Shifting to a remote culture - how to train your people while promoting camaraderie in a distributed setting. [29:00] From startup to 150 people in three and a half years - how to manage a very fast level of growth [37:04] Boris shares their current challenges during the coronavirus pandemic economy [43:11] How to maintaining your culture in these challenging times [50:23] Boris shares best practices in recruitment differentiation    Building Your Business Culture with Values Boris strongly believes in building a cohesive culture despite his business model, on which employees are distributed in different locations. How do you create such a culture? Values development. For Boris, consistent alignment with your values creates a strong sense of unique business culture. As Boris puts it: “Values are really big. To define our values it took quite a bit of time, it took almost nine months to define our values. The right words, the right level of resonance. Then once you define your values, it’s ‘what are the ways we can make these values visible?’ How are our values visible in business development? How are our values visible in our review and promotion cycle? How are our values visible in our client engagement? Once you go through that exercise, you could very clearly see, oh this value is very visible here. This value is not very visible here.”   Recruitment Differentiation - How to Develop a Clear Value Proposition To stand out from competitors, it is important to have a unique value proposition. This is something that is not easy, otherwise all recruitment agencies would have a clear value proposition. So what advice would Boris give to leaders? “Our philosophy from day one, from 18 years ago, ... was to offer a differentiated alternative to growing technology companies. So we always wanted to offer something differentiated… We think the status quo is something to fight against in perpetuity.” He added, “In general, you have to acknowledge what it is that the market wants. You have to acknowledge what it is that other people in the market are already doing. You have to acknowledge what your assets are. And from those assets, you have to go through a very creative exercise to explore how you could position your assets. Through that, you can land on something distinguished.”   Boris Epstein Bio and Contact Info Boris is the Founder & CEO of Binc, the technology industry’s dedicated flexible recruiting team. He has personally made hundreds of hires in his 16-year recruiting career and is an expert in the development and management of the top recruiters in our industry. He serves on the Board of The Pinnacle Society, an organization consisting of the top-performing recruiters in the US. Boris on LinkedIn Binc website link Binc on LinkedIn Binc on Twitter @BINC Binc on Facebook People and Resources Mentioned Rich Rosen on LinkedIn Shaun McCambridge on LinkedIn Pinnacle Society website link Productivity Tool - Monday.com website link Looker Analytics Tool website link 5 Ways to Differentiate Your Recruiting Firm From the Competition - by Mark Whitby webinar link Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.RecruitmentCoach.com/Breakthrough Mark on LinkedIn Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Related Podcasts You Might Enjoy TRR #6 Habits of a Million-Dollar Biller, with Rich Rosen TRR #11 Recruiting Recruiters: How to Attract, Hire, Develop and Retain Great Recruiters with Shaun McCambridge Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter