Change - ‘We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are.’ Why all businesses should be an advocate for change.

It has been a period of reflection for me following on from our fantastic win at The Global Recruiter Awards. Hard work, persistence and all our teams working towards united goals meant that we came out on top and won Best Large Recruitment Business.

Recruitment is a fast-paced world that is notoriously unforgiving and littered with ever-changing demands from customers which means our clients need to be agile and ready for change. This is why we work hard to continually adapt to provide innovative solutions that enable us, and our clients, to stay ahead of the competition.

There have been a number of significant changes since I took over PMP in 2015. My vision for PMP was a transformative one. PMP and the high volume recruitment market in general was crying out for change. Having reviewed PMP, and the sector, it was obvious where the areas for improvement were to be focused. We wanted to transform the business to become more akin to outsourced FM whilst maintaining the focus on delivering exceptional flexible service for our clients and candidates. 

In the first few months of taking over I asked our business 5 key questions:

1. Does our client respect us and our colleagues?
2. Do they pay us on acceptable terms?
3. Do they allow us to make a marginal return on effectively payroll services (at that time)?
4. Is there an opportunity to transform the current relationship and delivery model to create more mutual value?
5. Based on the 4 answers above, finally ask yourself, would our efforts, energy and expertise be better served looking after deserving clients that are worthy of our attention?

The results were staggering. We exited professionally over ￡60 million pa of business and we replaced it with contract expansion and new clients that suited our ideal customer criteria. Our team's self esteem and confidence was restored. We held a number of workshops with all those who wanted to be involved and lots of new ideas of how to “transform” our business were tabled and explored. Instantly our teams felt in control of their business, they were happier working in partnership with like minded stakeholders, all financial metrics improved, and our journey of change began.

What PMP has done so far, here's a little insight…

• PMP Recruitment has focused on becoming a social business, as part of the Cordant Group, aiming to ‘improve society, person by person.’
• Our welfare to work initiative means that vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society have fair and equal access to employment.
• We’ve established a strong partnership with Unseen to raise awareness around the abolition of modern slavery. Through running regular fundraising and awareness campaigns we have managed to raise over ￡40,000.
• Our learning and development team have been instrumental in providing high quality training for employees and candidates. PMP training packages support, upskill, and train candidates to further their career and create a skilled workforce for our clients.
• We’ve rolled out Cordant Connect - a bespoke software platform consisting of cloud-based technology and mobile applications to support both the candidate and client journey, making processes faster and more efficient.
• Our investment in technology doesn’t stop there. We have implemented labour market insight software which provides us with in-depth insight and detailed information on local demographics and industry trends, giving our clients data that is key to developing labour pools and attracting the right candidates.

So, what changes can you be certain of?

Customers

Customer demands change regularly with social and economic fluctuations altering what people want and when they want it. The increasing expectation from customers to get something immediately means that businesses are expected to deliver products and services quicker and more efficiently than ever. We all need to be agile and have one foot in the future to ensure we don’t get left behind.

Technology

We all witness the relentless changes in technology on a daily basis. Whether it is our kids wanting the latest phone or hearing the latest news on driverless cars! As a business it is impossible to exist without taking advantage of technological developments and the opportunities that these present. Technology can enhance our systems and processes, making us and our clients streamlined and efficient.

You! 

Without always knowing it, we all change. We pick up new skills, we increase our knowledge and develop our working relationships - inadvertently making us more successful in our jobs. Management needs to take advantage of these changes to help both colleagues and businesses move forward, and not become stagnant.

Everyone at PMP is encouraged to share innovative ideas, new ways of thinking, strategies, and solutions that can benefit not only us, but also our clients.

Many businesses have fallen foul to ignoring change and this has had disastrous consequences. We need to embrace change - it's a fact. Without disruptive change it is impossible for businesses and people to grow, and ultimately realise their full potential.

A massive well done and congratulations to all of my colleagues at PMP Recruitment who have worked tirelessly to deliver the best service for our clients and whose efforts have resulted in us receiving recognition from our industry peers.

A great mantra to live and work by - “We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are.”