Mark Whitby

In Part 1 of this article (hyperlink to previous article) I asked you:

"How is the credit crunch affecting your business?"

I gave you a case study of two recruiting firms in the same sector.  One was thriving while the other was barely surviving.  We said that there were three key differences:

• A difference in attitude
• A difference in strategy
• A difference in skill

This week, let's look at Factor #2: Strategy. 

Want to recession-proof your business?  Then you need a strategy, a long-term plan for achieving your goal. 

How about modelling your recruiting business after the Parthenon in Athens?  This isn't an original idea, but then often the best ones aren't.  The Parthenon has survived 2500 years of war, pillage and pollution.  How? It was built on strong foundations, and the roof was supported by 65 pillars. 

How many pillars does your business have supporting it? 

Most recruiting firms have only a few pillars.  If any of those revenue streams dry up, they're in serious trouble.  So how can you add more pillars to strengthen your business in today's uncertain marketplace?

Multi-disciplinary agencies tend to do better in a recession than single sector specialists.  So if you're a recruiting firm owner, you might consider creating one or more new divisions by hiring recruiters with a proven track record in that sector.

For recruiters my advice is different.  Stay focused on your core market!  You don't want to dilute your impact by becoming a "jack of all trades, master of none."  And if you're already well established in your sector, I don't recommend changing.  However you can still "diversify" your desk in one or more of the following ways:

• Fill different roles, but for the same clients. 
• Fill the same roles, but for different clients. 
• Fill similar roles, for related industry sectors.
• Increase your range -- take job orders in more junior and more senior salary bands.
• Broaden your reach -- work the same sector but in a different geographic location. 
• If you do temp or contract, add perm.  If you do perm, add temp or contract.
• If you work retained, then offer contingency. If you work contingency, then go for the retainer.

Diversification is not the only way to add pillars to your Parthenon.  You can also expand your range of marketing and business development activities.  For example, in a buoyant candidate-driven market, many recruiters have become over-reliant on emailing speculative CVs (reverse marketing) to win business and generate interviews.  Now that the pendulum is swinging back to a client-driven market, you'll want to come up with several more ways to generate vacancies!

In our Parthenon metaphor, the "foundations" that your company is built on are the people you employ and the skills they possess.  It stands to reason that the better quality people you have in your team, and the more effective they are at their job, the better your company will perform in any economic climate. 

So next week, we'll look at the third key to success in a tough market: Skill.  How you can develop your people into top-performers and equip them with the skills they need to dominate their niche.

© 2008 Mark Whitby, All rights reserved.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER, WEBSITE or BLOG? You are welcome to republish this article as long as you notify me where it will appear and include this complete attribution, including live website link:

"Mark Whitby -- The Recruitment Coach -- helps recruiters and recruiting firm owners to maximize their billings and business performance.  If you want to generate more clients, candidates and placements, get your FREE tips now at: http://www.RecruiterTrainingOnline.com."