Since setting up Davidson Gray to invest in and support recruitment business start-ups, I must have had hundreds of conversations with recruiters considering working for themselves. The biggest reason by far most recruiters settle for a new job rather than setting up, is the desire for security.

However is moving jobs really more secure?

Statistically, 4 out of 5 new recruitment business start-ups don’t last beyond 2 years,…

I find it ironic the recent popularisation of coaching is having the detrimental side effect of reducing its use, particularly in recruitment. I’ve seen as coaching has become the buzz word for staff development, training is now often referred to as coaching, so real coaching is being squeezed out. 

Coaching is extremely different to training, if you really want to realise your own, or your employees potential effective coaching is vital.

I recently posed the question on my…

Oddly enough it’s common for recruiters who progress beyond running a desk to stop using KPI’s. It’s the same for a lot of SME business Owner / Managers who not only don’t KPI themselves, they don’t even track the businesses progress beyond placed and invoiced figures. This is easily done in the early days of growing your business, as the owner makes the gradual transition from running a desk to running the business, but remember “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” and if you aren’t…

Mention KPI’s to a lot of recruiters and you get an instant negative reaction. As explained in the book “The Chimp Paradox” by Steve Peters, the brain gets infected by bad experiences, so if a recruiter has been “beaten with a stick” over KPI’s it’s natural their view of them will remain negative and they’ll reject the concept of KPI’s being a good thing.

KPI’s used well are an amazing tool to plan and deliver success, highlight development areas and grow recruiters into business…