Recruit Mint: let’s get to work…

[prev] …this magazine spoke to Rose Landscapes a year ago, they reported that their business had remained healthy throughout – largely because the recession had inspired a ‘don’t move, improve’ mentality. That’s bad news for anyone in property – but if you’re in the DIY market, it’s not too shabby.

‘We wanted to keep a level of service in which the candidates and clients were the most important things’

Mark noted a similar – if more subtle – resilience in the recruitment sector. ‘It was tough. But in recruitment, during the recession, the temporary market had a boom. Recruitment is almost recession proof, because companies still need the people, but to save money they go for temporary staff instead.’ From this year, he’s seen that temporary market shrink again, while the permanent market has become very busy indeed. ‘Confidence in the market is much higher,’ he says. That’s not to say the recession didn’t take its toll on recruitment. According to Mark, the ‘pile-em-high-sell-em-cheap’ attitude of many recruitment agencies during that period soured the general perception of recruitment – and it was frustration with that ultimately inspired him to set up in business. ‘Business became very high volume,’ says Mark, speaking of his own experiences before setting up Recruit Mint. ‘It was just about getting people through the door. It was originally about the people, but that started to get changed by the management. But that was the motivation behind Recruit Mint – we wanted to keep a level of service in which the candidates and clients were the most important things – existing candidates and clients. If we have a candidate who’s been with us for a period of time, they’re incredibly important to us, and we want to make sure they feel that is the case. Service is paramount.’

Because there are now more jobs than candidates, Mark believes that the need to really look after those candidates is greater than ever

So what exactly went wrong with the big agencies? ‘Both myself and Aaron Bowes – the two directors – have worked in recruitment for around 14 years a piece, mostly in the corporate world. We were both senior managers in our businesses – I was a business director for a leading agency, so a senior member of staff – but to be honest I didn’t agree with the philosophy of corporate recruitment and the way it was going. Candidates were just treated as a payroll number, and if clients got too big for you they were taken away to a centrally managed service. They were far more interested in the new clients than existing ones. The culture became very short-term focused – looking more to bottom-line P&L than the long-term vision of the business and the needs of the candidates and the clients. That was the mentality. So, we took the decision to start Recruit Mint to put the focus back on those clients and candidates.’ Because there are now more jobs than candidates, Mark believes that the need to really look after those candidates is greater than ever – in fact, essential to business success. ‘Looking at it as a business, the ethos that we have, we feel, will safeguard us for the future, building up candidates who want to come back, and will contact us first if they need a new job. Basically, it doesn’t waste anyone’s time. If you’re a client, and you call an agency and say you have a vacancy, typically they’ll say: “OK, send me a job spec and I’ll work on it for you.” I won’t do that. I will try to arrange a meeting with you if I can, and spend half an hour to an hour talking in depth about what you’re looking for. We’ll ask things that often are not on the job spec – not just the responsibilities or essential skills for the role, but what culture there is at the business, what sort of personality would suit it, where they see the role going in three to five years, and so on. That gives me a real insight into the vacancy, rather than just relying on a job spec and hoping.

‘Clients don’t really want to see 20 CVs for one role. Although that might seem like you’re getting value for money, it’s wasting a lot of the client’s valuable time. It is about reducing time spent, so it’s much more specific, much more targeted. In an ideal world, you’d pick up the phone to me with a vacancy, I’d send you one CV, you’d have one interview, and then offer the person the job. That would mean I’d done the job properly!’ Mark is striving, he says, to make it ‘very personal, very consultative’. With a wry smile, he adds: ‘The term “recruitment consultant” is used to describe this job, but often it’s the most un-consultative role in the world! We’re aiming to change that. I spent an hour and a half with a guy this morning, going over his CV and finding a better way of laying it out. We’re actually finding out what the person really wants before finding them that job, and what the client wants before finding the right candidate. We’re not a charity, and we are doing it to make money, but we only get paid if the person gets the job, so it’s worth that effort.’

‘His CV wasn’t the best, but after 20 minutes talking to him on the phone I said: “I think you’re potentially right for this role”.’

The ‘very poor’ perception of recruitment agencies engendered during the last few years is something of a double-edged sword for Mark. On the one hand, it suggests simple ways of standing out (do it differently, do it better). On the other, the poor practices of the past can make people wary of recruitment agencies – sometimes with good reason. Mark gives a graphic example of what they are up against: ‘Recently I’ve been working on a vacancy for a client for a training officer. The vacancy has been live with the client for quite a long time, but what happened was they sent out the job spec to a few other agencies. I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what it was they wanted, because I didn’t want to waste people’s time just hoping I got the right person. Eventually I got a call from their HR department inviting me to come and speak to the person who was responsible for the role. I had a good half hour conversation with her finding out exactly what she was looking for, what sort of person, background, skills etc. Then I came across a guy who had been a training manager and on paper looked good. His CV wasn’t the best, but after 20 minutes talking to him on the phone I said: “I think you’re potentially right for this role, but come in and we’ll have a real chat.” So I spent an hour with him and got really detailed information on what… [cont]