In recruitment, everybody sells baby! Everybody.

It has ever been thus.

In the ten-year recruiting boom (which ended in March this year BTW), companies got away with squadrons of non-billing managers and platoons of people with sexy job titles and no discernable actual responsibilities.

Recruitment company productivity was declining before COVID, but now the last thing you want is ‘administration managers’ pouring over spreadsheets, number-crunching, tweaking budgets, checking KPIs, planning, strategising, reviewing, assessing and, (God help us!) calling (Zoom) meetings.

Of course, most of those things have some value. However, it’s not a full-time job, except perhaps in the largest of organisations. And even then, I doubt it. Why else is it that these roles get cut the moment the market dips? (They were the first people, along with rookies, fired by the big players in recruitment this time round too).They provide the least value, and everyone knows it.

In recruitment…everybody sells baby!

The actual ‘selling’ will vary… but everybody sells. CEO included. And when I say ‘sell’, do not automatically think cold calling or relentless ‘hard sell’.

It’s often likely to be sophisticated, consultative, ambassadorial, relationship-based, and sometimes digital, but the point is, everybody bills, or directly engages in activity that leads to billing.

The ‘Team Leader’, supervising 1 or 2 people, must hold a full personal $ budget. The ‘Manager’, running a team of up to 8 consultants, will still bill, but will increasingly farm work out to consultants in support. However, that ‘Billing Manager’ still sells, even if s/he is handling just a couple of jobs. The placements dwindle, but they still rain-make, and account manage, and see clients, and front networking events. So, as the team grows, billing drops, but selling does not.

In the Global Financial Crisis,(2008) and other recessions prior, this took care of itself, because recruitment companies cut out middle management, and everyone went back on the desk.

It has happened again, just much faster, in COVID

My advice to you is do not allow non-billing managers to emerge as things improve.

There are only three things recruitment managers should focus on. They should take up 80% of their time;

• Selling. That could be billing. Or rainmaking. Or account management. Or ‘ambassadorial’ work
• Coaching recruiters to greater success.
• Performance management, ensuring no long-term mediocrity.

If you have one, your CFO should see clients. So should your HR manager. Why not? They need to be as connected as possible to the ultimate customer undoubtedly? Admin staff should be brought into sales meetings and rewarded for sales growth.

Your senior management should have sales responsibilities, which might include a goal for client meetings or running key accounts.

In my last ‘corporate’ role, I was the CEO of Firebrand, a company with ten offices in 8 countries, and I did my share of selling. I did 100 client visits in 2012, and I also sold via my ‘ambassadorial’ role, speaking at conferences and events where clients and candidates were amongst the audience, and creating PR and branding opportunities.

It’s a skill to handle selling and leading people. It’s not easy to find people who can manage both. But whoever told you it was going to be easy to run a great recruitment company that makes lots of money and provides real careers?

It’s difficult. But it can be done. And it must be done unless you want a fat layer around your middle.

I am not talking about your physique. ( How could I? Look at me). I am talking about your business; bogged down by overpaid middle management who do not impact profitability, except in as much that they reduce it.

Right now, for sure! But also as the market improves. Don’t lose focus

Everybody sells, baby!

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