The Recruitment Agency Expo in London last week was a blast.

Hundreds of exhibitors, scores of speakers, and thousands of attendees.

I gave four presentations to the attendees at the event, and here are some snippets of what was covered. Jump into the links provided for more information on each point.

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1.   The UK Recruitment industry is worth £41 Billion p.a.

2.   30,000 Recruitment companies were operating across the UK at the start of 2023.

3.   79% of these UK recruitment businesses have an annual turnover of less than £1 million annually.

4.    201,154 people work in UK recruitment agencies (you are not alone!)

5.    Recruitment agencies in the UK place 430,000 people in temp jobs weekly. That’s a lazy 86,000 temp placements a day.

6.   The characteristics of a highly saleable business are the same things that make a business highly profitable in buoyant times and very resilient in a downturn. You need to own or work for a company like that.

7.   Dumb people say, ‘Recruitment is not rocket science‘. Do you? Stop it!

8.  Recruitment is now where ‘art marries science’—where cutting-edge technology intersects with highly evolved human influencing skills. You must excel at both. Structure your process and hire, develop, and reward your people accordingly.

9.  Leadership can be learned. It can be improved. And it is your responsibility.

10.  Strategy is critical, but execution is the differentiator!

11.  You must understand the power of planning. It is the biggest mistake for most owners. ‘Work hard, but no plan‘. Planning builds hunger and resolve. It brings clarity to outcomes sought, decisions faced, and progress made. It keeps you accountable. Plan every plank of business success—client acquisition, candidate sourcing, technology, people, Quality, marketing, performance.

12.  The big difference between average recruitment businesses and exceptional businesses is how they react to the changing market. The current market is a brilliant example. (More here)

13.  Don’t ask, ‘Will AI and tech replace recruiters?’ Ask, ‘What parts of the recruiter’s jobs will be better done by tech?‘. Then 1) automate accordingly, 2) Hire and train accordingly

14.  AI will not destroy recruitment. But it may take your job. A recruiter’s real value is selling…advising…consulting… insights… influencing

15.  Do you know the difference between ‘automation’ and ‘AI’? Automation is typically rule-based and follows predetermined instructions, whereas AI can learn from data and make decisions based on that data.

16.  Top-performing recruitment agencies are 25% more likely to have automated essential tasks.

17.  Top-performing recruitment agencies who automate critical tasks fill 22% more jobs

18. The most used AI tools among the top-performing recruitment agencies address sourcing, conducting interviews, onboarding, payroll and billing, and Temp assignment prep.

19.  Ask about every marketing initiative. ‘How does this grow revenues? If the answer is vague and references’ branding‘ and ‘awareness’, then it is probably not worth doing. Marketing must open a door that allows the recruiters to sell.

20.  Do you know your ‘Cost of Seat’? The average annual cost of each income-producer, not including income-producer salary. (More here)

21.  Revenue = vanity. Profit = sanity. Cash = reality. (More here)

22.  Always be recruiting, even if not hiring. (More here).

23.  A leader has the courage to give the team and the individuals what they need, not always what they want!

24.  When it comes to managing recruiters and ensuring appropriate productivity to give both the company and the recruiter an acceptable return, always balance empathy and outcomes!

25.  Your job is to deliver this! Consistently. Activity x Quality x Target Market. So simple to say. So easy to understand. Exceptionally hard to do

Points 1 – 5, thanks REC
Points 16 – 18, thanks Bullhorn

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