Greg McManus Associates – Results

The client and majority owner had acquired this well established, niche recruitment business several years earlier and the revenues and staff levels had fallen since acquisition. GMA was recommended to the client who was seeking to stabilise and then grow the business.

From the initial scoping meeting, we confirmed to the client that the following analysis was required so that Consultancy recommendations could be presented in the Proposal. These were subsequently agreed in the form of targeted objectives for Quarter 1 (Q1) and for end Year 1 (Y1):

Talent:

• Concise introductory presentation to the team with the owner confirming the process as an investment in them and the business, then brief 1-2-1 meetings with each team member to review their ‘drivers’, desk competency and sector knowledge

Markets and Clients Strategy:

• Review 2 years’ revenue including – average fee value, Ratio Analysis, geographic and sector specifics, key client spends and repeat business.

• Candidate –  CRM Management Information including  – contact levels, categories and geographic spread.

• Sales and Operations process flowchart – produced a flowchart specific to this business to identify ‘Points of Deficiency’.

The following confirms the specific actions recommended within the Consultancy Proposal and that were accepted and delivered within the Consultancy program: –

Talent:

• Recommended staff to be retained short and long term and why. Also the need and process to release others and why.Detailed the Skills Gap analysis for existing staff to meet agreed objectives for Q1 and Y1.Provided the Training Program based upon the Skills analysis and the agreed objectives that was delivered by GMA and exceeded the targeted targets. This included Management Coaching to drive the delivery and build long term sustainability.Designed and initiated a structured 3 month Graduate Academy Program which developed Trainees who produced revenue within the Program. This was then extended through the Trainee’s intermediate stage and continuous development into Consultant and Senior Consultant within the L&D Program.

Markets and Client Strategy:

• Based upon the analysis of the client revenues and data, agreed the targeted market segmentation, client definitions and the contact strategy which was driven through the Training Program, Management Coaching and the amended structures and techniques used by the team with clients.

Candidates:

• Defining Priority Candidates (top 10% by defined placement factors) strategy and engagement techniques to gain ‘Exclusivity’ for an agreed period resulting in increased Job Fill rates.Engagement techniques based upon candidate grading’s increasing candidate response and growing Referrals to achieve weekly and monthly targets.Strategy and techniques to engage more senior candidates increasing candidate flow, profile resulting in increased Average Fee ValueDesigned and initiated the Temporary and Contract sourcing and engagement techniques to achieve an increase in available candidates of 900% in 3 months.

Sales and Operations process:

• As part of the Training Program, refocused sales techniques on identifying client and candidate needs and thus the structure, objectives and duration of calls to include specific call sessions with team targets. Resulted in increased call conversion rates.Introduced a rolling 13 week revenue forecasting dashboard for weekly review and updating which resulted in monthly revenue forecasts for the business at start of each month which were within 90-100% accuracy at month-end. This also added to increasing job conversion rates by focussing resources on the more fillable roles.Delivered and coached the Manager-Designate in managing weekly and quarterly 1-2-1 team reviews to drive and focus activity and identify training and support needs for the team. This lead to ongoing quarterly increases in NFI.

• Developed core biller to Management role with ability to develop junior staff delivered through the Graduate Academy structure. Enabled rapid and sustainable growth with development of senior Consultants mentoring newer Trainees to build new sector teams.
• Billing team grown to 3 times original size in first 12 months.

Financials:

• EBITDA growth in Year 1 on previous year = 1,500%
• EBIITDA growth for Year 1 constituted a ROI of 525% on GMA fees for Year 1.
• EBITDA growth in Year 2 on Year 1 = 90%
• EBIITDA growth for Year 2 constituted a ROI of 483% on GMA fees for Year 1.
• Increased Average Fee Value by 105% in Year 1.

Candidates:

• Restructured candidate database with a 650% increase in the ‘working’ candidate database where candidates were spoken to regarding roles at least once per month.
• Increased pool of senior candidates and established as a recruiter of choice for senior roles to increase NFI from senior roles by 400% in Year 1.
• Established key market sectors and grew candidate numbers and quality specific to these sectors whilst developing Consultants sector knowledge for increased job fill rates and average fee values.

Markets and Clients:

• Increased client recognition within key market sectors establishing an increase in repeat client business of 525%.
• Introduced Quarterly / Half-Yearly key client review meetings which increased and established long term client relationships as above.

A previous market leader in their sector, this specialist software provider was experiencing falling new sales, to the point where the key section of their sales team were 50% below budget for the year to date, one quarter into their sales year.

The objective was to change the mind-set and augment the existing sales techniques to achieve budget for the sales year and for long term development of the sales team and future revenues.

Following the initial Scoping and presentation of the Consultancy recommendations, a Training Program was designed and delivered over a 13 week period with half-day sessions on a weekly / fortnightly basis.

The Consultancy Proposal flowcharted the client’s sales process and highlighted recommendations on the key requirements for Change in the mentality, techniques and management review structures for the sales process which included: –

• The Training Program – This consisted of Team Training and Workshop sessions, Team and 1-2-1 live client call sessions with floor-walking coaching and wash-up sessions where the next week / fortnight’s activity objectives were agreed with each team member in conjunction with the Manager, specific to each. Management Coaching was a key part of the Program to enable the improved support and sustainable growth of the team.
• Sales mentality and preparation – This sales team operate within a dynamic and highly competitive market place and had lost focus on presenting the Key Selling Points (KSP’s) of their products matched to their client’s needs and thus how to close on clients. The first part of the Development Program, focussed on introducing more structured techniques for the team to apply identify and match their product options to client’s needs by better preparation for contact sessions and clearer objectives based upon the key qualifying criteria, questions and achieving identifiable milestones.
• Call and meeting structure – This included refining the ‘Call Introduction’ / Elevator Pitch, Qualifying clients, the 3 Steps of Selling and Summary and Closing. These sessions achieved impressive and measurable success in building increased sales pipeline and revenue conversion with each team member based upon their personal experience and style.
• Quarterly and Annual objective setting – The key was for each team member to take ownership of their development and to agree the increases in pipeline and revenue they were targeting themselves. They were then supported to produce brief Quarterly Plans for their ‘business’ desk which included the priority training and support they required to achieve their maximum potential. They produced it – They owned it!

• The team delivered a marked and increasing delivery of the KPI’s and targeted objectives within the 13 week Program.
• By 19 weeks from commencement of the Program, the team’s revenue was back on budget for the year to date
• Target Sales team Year-End revenue – resulted as 60% over budget versus 50% below budget at end Q1.
• ROI on Talent Development Program = 2000% – based on revenue over budget
• ROI on Talent Development Program = 3000% – based on revenue over run-rate forecast at end Q1

The client required development of their Recruitment Team and improved processes to fulfil Talent requirements for C-Suite and mid to senior roles based across EMEA and Africa. There was not the skills or experience of delivering solutions at this level within the team or senior management.

To develop the existing team, processes and techniques in candidate mapping, sourcing and engagement and role stakeholder management through coaching and by leading selected Search assignments to coach staff to deliver.

• Installed and trained on best practice techniques to define and prioritise the stakeholder’s key requirements for the role, commonly labelled as Key User Requirements (KUR’s) in priority order. This is generally obtained from the Reporting Line Manager for the role. To obtain these, requires skill and targeted questioning.
• Designed and delivered the Learning and Development Program documentation and sessions. This involved team and 1-2-1 training sessions, floor walking / coaching during candidate call sessions and leading several C-Suite (COO role) and senior management Search assignments across varied regions whilst coaching a selected team member for future delivery.

• Managed the C-Suite (COO) Search assignment to successful offer and acceptance.
• Increased the fill rates on senior recruitment roles by 225% across 6 months.
• Coached senior recruiter to successfully fulfil C-Suite assignments following the Program.