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How my fear saved my recruitment company in a recession

I had a significant experience during the massive downturn of the ‘90s.

It taught me a crucial lesson about leadership in tough times.

It was something I did. And I did not even know I was doing it!

I was running Recruitment Solutions, a company I had founded with two others. We had a golden first three years. Revenues were up to $13 million. Staff at 75

The recession hit, and revenues dropped 40%, and staff numbers halved.

I operated out of an office at that time, and in the middle of the worst period, I closed and locked my office door, and I announced to the permanent recruiting team that I was coming to sit on the desk with them and recruiting hands-on myself.

And I did – for two years.

Many years later, after the market recovered and some of us ‘old-timers‘ from the recession years were sitting around on a Friday night spinning yarns about ‘the old days’. Two consultants from that challenging era mentioned that the day I closed my office door was the day they decided to stay and see it out with Recruitment Solutions. They believed that if I was going get in the trenches with them, shoulder to shoulder, that was a fight worth fighting.

I want to take credit for that brilliant leadership initiative, but the truth is I had nothing to do in my office. I was lonely, bored, feeling ineffective, scared of the business future, and so I decided to get back to recruiting, where at least I could look busy and maybe make a meaningful contribution.

However, as talk about in my book and often in blogs, leadership is action, and that action had a potent effect on morale and motivation at that tough time.

There is a lesson for all recruitment leaders for today in that story.

What you do often counts for much more than what you say.

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The recruitment agency receives their fee upfront while the hiring company pays by instalments

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  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On August 25, 2020
  • 1 Comment
Tags: coronavirus management, Leadership, Management Skills, Recession, recruitment

1 Comment

Robina Zaman
  • Aug 25 2020
  • Reply
Hey Greg, I have only just discovered you and I am basically implementing every step you suggest to make my wee start up the best it and we can be.You are like having an amazing expensive mentor for free. Your advice is like gold and I would like to thank you for your invaluable insight.

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Greg is the founder of leading recruitment companies Firebrand Talent Search, People2People and Recruitment Solutions, and a current shareholder and director of several others, including Consult Recruitment. He is a regular keynote speaker worldwide and provides specialised advice for Recruitment, Professional Services & Social Media companies.





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