Used to be a great recruitment business, hopefully some day it will be again - Divisional Manager Search Employee Review

1.0
Feb 13, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some really good recruiters and managers have worked here however many have left in recent years. The company has a well-crafted training programme which provides solid baseline skills for trainee recruiters however with the sheer vast turnover of employees means they are in many ways an exhausted resource.

Cons

Offices are of low quality, especially in Scotland where there has been a clear lack of real investment. Even basic things like toilet seats are not there which can be degrading for employees. Systems are exceptionally old and poor and not fit for modern day recruitment. This has been ignored by the executive board and has been for many years with a declining effect on commercial capability and productivity in such a competitive market. That aspect is really inexcusable in any recruitment business. A recent change in executive leadership has also lead to a mass exodus of good people leaving, many of which, were strong billing consultants and highly experienced managers with vast industry expertise, networks and positive energy that in some cases left in horrendous ways. Its a shame, as many were the people who built a really good culture there in the first place. The true cost of this will no doubt take time to establish. The commission structure has been created with a level of complexity that even with a company designed webinar to explain it very few still understand it, including the management team. It cannot be explained at interview so new consultants and managers go in blind and in good faith that it will be ok. It simply is not market competitive, but designed to be perceived that it is. It takes new employees quite a long time to figure that out before the penny drops. This is an honest opinion of someone who knows the recruitment industry very well. If you are new to recruitment it can be a great place to start for the training, if you are an established consultant there are far better agencies to work with. It may change in the future but with a company of this size that can take a number of years, hopefully it does.

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Search Response
6y
Thanks for taking the time to write a review. It’s always disappointing to hear negative comments, but I hope my response can provide insight to readers who might be considering a career move. Over the past five years, Search has relocated five of our 15 offices, with moves to brand new locations in Brighton, Inverness, Leicester, Liverpool and Manchester. In Scotland, our West George Street office in Glasgow was refurbished in 2019, and our Central Services departments relocated to a brand new office in 2017. We have also recently opened new offices in London and Birmingham and we have development plans for Edinburgh & Dundee too. As part of the refurbishment programmes, our technology has been refreshed. We are able to provide WIFI across all of our offices and VPN access is available for all staff who require flexibility to work remotely. We embrace new technology and are early adopters of a number of innovative rec tech products that are changing our approach to recruitment and providing our staff with the very best technology to grow their individual businesses and be successful. Where facilities problems arise, they are always addressed at the point where the issue is raised. The comfort and well-being of our employees is always a priority. Following brand new investment in 2017, our business has experienced significant change and restructure, allowing for a more streamlined approach with clearer paths for career progression for those who succeed and perform well. We are proud of our loyal workforce, where 25% of colleagues have worked with us for more than 5 years. It has also been pleasing to see us create development opportunities for some of our high performing, loyal staff. The commission structures require both Managers and Directors to invest time in reading them, ensuring they understand the detail and can then relay it to their teams in ways that are easily adopted by their people. Those who take the time to do this are getting excellent results. I understand for some this requires individuals to take some time out to grasp the detail. Our newly appointed CEO has personally reviewed all of the schemes and believes they are some of the most generous schemes he has come across in the recruitment space. Clearly those Managers who don’t invest the time to understand them or explain it to their teams struggle. The Exec team at Search meets regularly and reviews all feedback both anecdotal and from our quarterly Search Speak internal surveys. We prioritise any points raised and ensure individuals are accountable for updating and communicating action plans to the business as a result. We clearly can’t always provide everything on the wish list and no business is perfect, but we seek to make Search a great place to work in all that we do. I’d welcome the opportunity to chat to you personally about some of the points you’ve raised and provide clarity on the actions we have in place currently. I’m sorry that Search didn’t appear to be the right place for you to develop your career further and wish you all the best for the future. Thank you for your feedback. Debbie Caswell COO

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