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- Jonathan Graham
Jonathan Graham offers some advice on developing a successful recruitment firm.
Making the decision to go it alone and set up your own agency is certainly something that shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s a big step for anyone, regardless of their experience or education.
However, the biggest point to consider is that very little will go as planned. In fact, preparing for the unexpected is perhaps the best thing you can do.
For many recruitment professionals who decide to set up their own agency, the move from start-up to a highly successful business is no easy task. This is particularly true for those who have set up in the last few years, given the recent economic downturn. But for those who succeed, it is certainly well worth it.
Start out small
It’s quite natural to aim high, but you must be realistic with what is actually achievable. In the past decade, many firms set out feeling like they could take on anything. But then, when the financial crisis hit, they had to naturally scale back what they could deliver.
This may have been by narrowing their geographical targets to focus on just the region they knew best, or focusing their efforts on developing strong relationships through the delivery of a high quality service over simple quantity of placements.
The key lesson here is that it’s important to start out small and specialise in what you’re best at, and then take on the rest of the world once you’re more established.
Be prepared to admit when you’re wrong
As you start to bring in more business, you’ll probably begin to hire more staff to manage the work. However, offering good salaries and commission rates, and taking measures to create a detailed training programme for new starters is not enough. It’s important to take a step back and re-evaluate what you are offering as a business and what your target audience really wants.
You might come from an era when money was the key motivator, but remember, today’s emerging talent is less focused on financial incentives, and more interested in issues such as career development and reward or recognition schemes.
If your business isn’t inspiring people, admit it. You will then be able to make a positive change to the company.
Step out of your comfort zone
Leading on from this, when you do recognise any such flaw, it’s important to be able to step out of your comfort zone to address this. If you’re running a business in a manner that suits you, but it isn’t working for your people, you simply have to change things.
This could mean making the decision to devote time and money to creating a culture that appeals to your target hires – for example implementing a reward structure, or initiating a ‘gamified’ working environment that encourages competition and recognises achievements. Even if you haven’t experienced this in the past, it has paid off for many firms.
Focus on your people
Finally, a successful business can’t grow without the best possible people in place to support and build client relationships. No matter how experienced you are as a recruiter or a manager, there is always something you can learn about creating and managing a happy and motivated workforce.
An inspiring, people-led culture will help put you in a much stronger position to go further than ever before.
Jonathan Graham is managing director at Inward Revenue Consulting.
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