The Search for Purpose: Identify Finance Recruitment

I’m not usually one for blowing my own trumpet, but as I sat at my desk in February 2020, I allowed myself a small pat on the back. I’d beaten the odds. At this point Identify Finance Recruitment had been trading for 18 months. I’d avoided the fate of so many businesses that fail in their first year. I’d even survived the Brexit saga of late 2019- where whether you were for or against the break from the EU you could at least unite over the complete lack of clarity for how businesses in the UK would operate. Vacancy numbers had been modest, but the business had survived and made some key placements!

The worst was over, and now I could start to enjoy the fruits of my labor- or so I thought. Like everyone else, I hadn’t quite counted on the first global pandemic in over 100 years hitting us a couple of week later.

Coronavirus for recruitment, as nearly all other markets, was and is a complete disaster. Vacancies that had been in the pipeline were, in the space of a few days, all put on hold. Calls to previous clients and prospects were instantly made difficult as people were forced to work from home. So, whilst recruitment even in the best of times isn’t an easy job, things had never looked quite so dire.

It was at this point that I truly began to understand what was meant by business purpose. I’d got it from an academic point of view before, but quite frankly had written it off as business consultant spiel. But now it made sense. The business’ future hadn’t looked so uncertain since its first few months trading. My money, tied up in the business had never looked at more risk. So, what kept me wanting to keep on working and pushing Identify Finance Recruitment? Wouldn’t it be easier to quit now, stick my money in a savings pot, get a job at a supermarket and (to quote Shaun of the Dead) wait for all this to blow over?

Along with many others, I suddenly had a lot of time to ponder on this. Without the day to day rush of hitting action and financial targets, I was able to get a better view of ‘the big picture’- aka. What’s Identify Finance Recruitment’s business purpose? The answer is twofold: Firstly, I love recruitment. Like most, it was a career I’d fallen into. My teenage years certainly weren’t spent dreaming of being a Recruitment Consultant. But I’d really fallen in love with building productive relationships with people- not faceless candidates or clients- but real people. There’s probably no better feeling than helping someone get their dream job, especially for those in difficult situations such as redundancies. It’s a real privilege when you’ve got to know a business and its people and being able to help them achieve their goals and get to the next level by sourcing a fantastic new member of their team.

On a very serious note, the coronavirus will bring death and bereavement to what we hope will be a minority of people. But we can be certain that for a majority, it will bring economic pain. Businesses will have been put on pause for weeks on end. Despite the government’s best efforts, people will find themselves redundant. All of this will take time to heal once the virus has passed.

In my own small way, through Identify Finance Recruitment, I can help be a driver in the economic recovery- helping businesses find their feet once again and people get their chance with new roles, new challenges and new levels of responsibility.

Secondly, I’m someone who strives for continual progress. To be better at every single element of my job every day. Whilst there are some great recruitment companies out there who I could be an employee of, I could never have the same level of freedom to do things my way, change what needs to be changed and be a true business partner with my clients, candidates and suppliers alike.

So, there we have it, I’d instinctively known Identify Finance Recruitment’s purpose all along, just not expressed it in coherent terms. Identify Finance Recruitment exists to help people secure a more positive future, whether that be for their business, their team or their own careers. I’m going to achieve this through ever closer relationships with my ‘business partners’. This purpose will be reflected all stages of the business from marketing, accounting and most importantly the customer experience.

Once the crisis from the coronavirus is over, we’re all going to need a bit of positivity in our lives and I believe Identify Finance Recruitment can help bring this to you, the finance professionals and business leaders of the West Midlands. For more information on how you can benefit from partnering with Identify Finance Recruitment, just get in touch with me on 0121 429 8962 or [email protected]