Customer success.

How customers benefit and what they say.

Customer A: Growth journey stage - scale-up/exit.

CEO: "Profit wise 6x; value wise 30x; and one of the best and most enjoyable things I've done in 35 years in the recruitment industry!".

New joiners profitable 5 months faster. Overall profitability 20% up. "One firm" culture created.

The early successful business sale was positively impacted by the improved operational platform & profit growth.

  • In 2018, Customer A, a successful global recruitment business, recognised fundamental gaps in their operational framework. Despite their world-class client base and strong culture, they faced challenges with: 

    • Inconsistent operational processes across their growing global business.

    • Difficulty onboarding less experienced recruiters effectively.

    • Sub-optimal productivity during new hires' first 12 months.

    • Pressure on managers who lacked clear operational guidelines.

  • Customer A implemented our comprehensive Growth Framework, which addressed three core aspects of their business:

    1. Strategy: Beginning with vision development and strategic planning.

    2. Operations: Establishing standards of excellence and recruitment processes.

    3. People: Creating a robust talent and culture framework.

    The implementation began at the board level, where the Growth Framework facilitated honest, challenging, yet fulfilling strategic discussions.

    The company developed a three-year plan with ambitious targets, including an ultimate goal to sell the business by 2021.

    The Growth Framework was then personalised to Customer A’s specific needs and integrated into their recruitment software and HR operating platform. This provided a solid foundation for consistent training and established clear operational expectations throughout the organisation.

  • Within just four months of implementation, Customer A experienced remarkable outcomes:

    • New joiners became profitable 5 months faster than before.

    • Overall profitability improved by 20% in the first year.

    • The framework unified global operations, promoting a "one firm" culture.

    • The business was sold to a private equity firm in late 2019, 18 months earlier than planned; the improved operational platform and profit growth were key factors in the acquisition.

Customer B: Growth journey stage - maturity/scale-up.

MD: “Despite worldwide economic challenges at the time of implementing the Growth Framework, we had the infrastructure, and were ready, to maximise future opportunities.”

Reduced dependency on founder. Solid vision management infrastructure. Cultural values & standards part of company's fabric. Maximised skills of every employee. Business development moved from non-existent to integral. Perm fill rate increased to 90%. Meaningful metrics for self-management & driving values.

This business went on to successfully expand globally.

  • Customer B, founded by a talented entrepreneur, had built a reputation for exceptional quality and service in their sector. However, the business faced sustainability challenges:

    • Over-reliance on the founder for business development, recruitment, and consultant training.

    • Need for consistent excellence across the team.

    • Lack of documented standards and processes.

    • Limited strategic understanding among team members.

  • The Growth Framework provided Customer B  with the structure needed to scale while maintaining their exceptional standards: 

    1. Strategic focus: The Growth Framework facilitated strategic planning sessions that helped the entire team understand the vision and growth roadmap.

    2. Operational excellence: By customising the operations models, they clarified expectations and captured their best recruitment practices while introducing new commercial elements.

    3. Cultural alignment: A project team carefully developed their culture framework, ensuring values were consistently embedded.

  • The Growth Framework transformed Customer B  in numerous ways:

    • Reduced founder dependency by embedding standards and processes throughout the organisation.

    • Created a solid infrastructure for managing vision through strategy, operations, and people.

    • Established cultural values and standards for excellence that became part of the company's fabric.

    • Enabled team members to maximise their skills in redefined roles.

    • Transformed business development from non-existent to integral, with clear expectations for everyone.

    • Further improved the already high permanent placement fill rate from 73% to 90%.

    • Implemented meaningful metrics that enabled self-management while maintaining their values-driven approach.

Customer C: Growth journey stage - growth/maturity.

Founder: "The biggest thing this gives an owner is the foundation to grow your business and to achieve what you want to achieve, the way you want to achieve it. It's about moving forward; you know you're going in the general right direction, because you've got the tools to do that."

Customised competency frameworks for use in hiring, onboarding & appraisals. Identification of organisational strengths & improvement opportunities. Evolving materials, adaptable for business changes. Foundation of clarity, substance & confidence for growth.

This business evolved into a number of individual but related businesses, enabling fast growth, aligned with their fast-changing markets.

  • The Customer C, a family of businesses founded in 1990, was preparing for their next growth phase. Their priorities included:

    • Creating a succession plan that allowed founders to move into more strategic roles.

    • Empowering managers to step up while maintaining the company's values and culture.

    • Building a solid foundation for growth without losing their identity.

  • The Growth Framework was implemented through a two-week programme that included customised templates for strategy, operations, and talent development. The Framework was then further tailored to each individual business within the group, ensuring alignment with their unique cultures.

  • The Growth Framework provided Customer C with:

    • Customised competency frameworks and improved processes for hiring, onboarding, and appraisals.

    • Clear identification of organisational strengths and improvement opportunities.

    • Evolving materials that can be adapted as their business changes.

    • A foundation that provides clarity, substance, and confidence for future growth.

Customer D: Growth journey stage - growth.

Founder & CEO: "The Growth Framework has been game-changing. We’ve achieved 100% staff retention and it’s been such a rewarding experience to see the team step up and start to recognise their own potential. Unlocking that capability has been one of the most fulfilling parts of this journey so far.”

Stronger culture. Teams united and in synch. Clearer leadership decision-making & focus. Zero staff turnover & significant savings in hiring time. Improved overall capability in communication and team development.

  • In 2023, Customer D, the highly inspiring, talented Founder CEO of a profitable UK-based medical recruitment business, was struggling to grow the it further. Having built the business from the ground up, attempts to scale were prevented by:

    • Very little in terms of clarified operational processes.

    • Repeated hiring mistakes, in particular for senior roles.

    • Pressure on the founder and long-term loyal staff.

    • An unintended negative culture, leading to high staff turnover.

  • Customer D worked initially with the manual version of the Growth Framework, before switching to the automated version. The implementation addressed immediate needs first:

    1. Values and culture: Clarifying the meaning of values and how they are applied day to day.

    2. Talent: Creating a strong hiring process to incorporate standards and culture factors.

    3. Operations: Establishing standards of excellence for all recruitment processes.

    The senior team began the process with open and frank feedback, that helped build self-awareness, and bonding as a team.

    They then implemented hiring process jointly, with immediate impact on hiring confidence. The remaining Talent & Culture-related items were tailored next, introduced and applied, again with immediate impact, this time on business-wide morale. 

    The remaining Framework content was then systematically tailored to Customer D’s organisation, with initial input from the sales team, ready to be rolled out to the wider business and new overseas operations.

  • At the time of writing, Customer D’s Framework was about to be rolled out to the wider business, and they were already experiencing:

    • A strong culture, with teams much more united and in synch, clearer decision-making and a strong sense of moving in the right direction.

    • Zero staff turnover, retention of key individuals, and significant savings in time.

    • Improved leadership and management capability, in particular “soft skills” enabling better communication and ability to develop teams.