We don't need to reinvent the wheel, we just have to make it roll better!

I was fortunate enough to spend three days recently with Frank De Raffele, of Entrepreneurial Excellence and this was one of the key quotes that stuck with me: "We don't need to reinvent the wheel, we just have to make it roll better!".  So it got me thinking about how this applies to the recruitment industry.

There are very few recruitment companies out there who are even trying to reinvent the wheel to make it roll better.  Many large companies are stuck to the traditional model of recruitment and despite everything that is going on around us, have not changed their way of thinking. 

What is refreshing to see is that some smaller and newer agencies are approaching the way they deliver service to clients and candidates with a complete focus on quality and personal touch.  We were one of the first companies in Ireland to not pay commission to our recruitment team, and now this is catching on, with more and more companies taking this route to increased client satisfaction, which is fantastic to see.

To those companies who are pushing boundaries and are innovating to improve the perception of our industry, I applaud and thank you.  I look forward to sharing ideas and best practice as we connect and collaborate.  Working  together we can change perceptions. 

I was very grateful this week to be given an amazing opportunity for a large recruitment project which was referred to me by a business owner in recruitment that applies the same philosophy to the industry as Expect Talent, although in a different target market.  Givers Gain in action again, we help each other a lot even though we are in the same industry.   

I learnt a great deal during my time with Frank de Raffele about the importance of core values, leadership skills and the real impact of applied teamwork.  The concept of making the wheel roll better is fascinating and I firmly believe that by breaking from the pack and doing things totally differently to the rest of the industry we can play a part in changing the way the world does recruitment. 

How are you making the wheel roll better in your industry?  I would love to hear your views.

"Delivering Happiness" thanks to Smarter Egg

"Delivering Happiness" is one of the best business books I have ever read, for a number of reasons.  It now has us even more focused on delivering happiness to clients and candidates, as well as focusing on the happiness of our own team.  Tony Hsieh who wrote this book is the CEO of Zappos (http://www.zappos.com/) and describes their incredible story, so thanks to Tony for his genius.  I would never have been exposed to this book were it not for Aodan Enright who runs an fantastic business in Cork called Smarter Egg (http://www.smarteregg.com/). 

I have been a Smarter Egg for 2 years exactly to the day, so what better day to focus my blog on this aspect of Expect Talent.  I meet monthly with a fantastic group of 10 people from all walks of life and business to explore ideas and generate discussion around the latest business books.  Thanks to Smarter Egg, this experience has completely transformed the way we think about our approach to the recruitment industry.

In "Delivering Happiness", Tony Hsieh outlines the 10 core values of Zappos:

1.  Deliver WOW through service         
2.  Embrace and Drive Change
3.  Create Fun and a little Weirdness     
4.  Be Adventurous, Creative and Open-Minded
5.  Pursue Growth and Learning             
6.  Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication
7.  Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8.  Do More with Less                          
9.  Be Passionate and Determined
10.Be Humble 

What a great list, but the thing about Zappos is that every single employee commits 100% to these values, and its not just "a meaningless plaque in the lobby" to quote Hsieh.  If you are intrigued by any of these then you should definitely read the book!  The stories are fascinating and now you can even go on tours of the Zappos headquarters.  Some of the great ideas that I implemented from Zappos include:- 

1.  A library of the best business books around, now in the office (complete with beanbag seats!) available to the whole team - everyone reads or listens to a minimum of 1 book per month, upskilling the team and encouraging learning is so important to happiness at work, and the books give us all creative idaeas.

2.  A Culture book, the Expect Talent team recently defined our own core values and wrote about what the culture of our business means to them. I recently heard a great quote "Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast!".  Zappos now publish theirs annually.

3.  We now have a Staff Happiness factor, and ask the team every month to rate how happy they are with different aspects of their job, and we ask them to come up with ideas on how to improve their experience and happiness working for Expect Talent. 

4.  We now hire people based on our own list of core values:  Passionate about WOWing Clients and Candidates, Quality-Focused in Everything we Do, Always Reliable.

I love the hiring process that all Zappos employees go through, everyone has to be a match to their core values regardless of skills and experience.  They even offer to pay every new starter $2000 to quit after their first 2 weeks!! 

The Zappos story, is one of Profits, Passion and Purpose.  I continue to learn all the time through being a Smarter Egg, and I would like to congratulate Aodan on a fantastic two years, I feel very priveleged to have been involved in the first ever Smarter Egg "Tribe" which helped Expect Talent to "Break from the Pack", with "Creative Habit", my "MOJO" firmly back and strong knowledge of "Where Good Ideas Come From", I am confident that I can contribute a huge amount of my success to being a Smarter Egg.