Successful recruitment costs time and money, which is why so many companies find the services of Perfect Team invaluable as they try to put together their own perfect team.
Founded 21 years ago by Ruth Goodmaker, Perfect Team takes a rather different approach to recruitment and one that has its roots in Ruth’s early career in sales with a stationery company.
What was drummed into her back then, was to focus on the customer’s needs and show them that regardless of whether the stationery was the cheapest or not, what they were getting was a service that went beyond that which was offered by any competitor.
“I learned to take in the room, to understand the office,” said Ruth. “I’d make a note of what stationery they were using and how, but I’d also take note of the people and how they reacted to me. For me, a business where the cleaner stops to ask if they can help you is a business that is getting it right from the top down.
“That’s my approach to recruiting. I want to go in and sit down with my client and find out about them, their business, their ethos, their offices, and what they are looking for in terms of new staff, and then I go back and hand-pick suitable people.”
Perfect Team specialises in corporate roles, from director level to those looking for their first job, at owner-managed SMEs throughout the Home Counties. The firm also manages all the recruitment needs of global manufacturer of CNC machines, Citizen Machinery, covering all areas of commercial and engineering recruitment.
Ruth rarely puts more than two or three candidates forward for interview – saying quite openly that the clients who want a pile of CVs and 10 people for interview are not going to want her services.
“I want to save my clients time and money and because of that, I do the leg work,” said Ruth. “If someone who is earning in the region of £18 an hour is spending time sifting through countless CVs and doing 10 interviews, they’re wasting an awful lot of money. I can do that for them and once they get to know me and trust me, my clients see that they rarely need to see any more candidates than I put forward.”
Perfect Team offers what Ruth thinks may be a unique guarantee – that if the client pays the invoice within 14 days, they will receive a 100% refund of the fee if that new employee leaves within 100 days of their start date – or a replacement will be found free of charge. It’s a promise Ruth has only had to fulfil three or four times in the past 21 years.
“I started off wanting to offer a real alternative to the big agencies and the way I do that is to take great care to match up the business with the right person for them,” she said. “I go in, meet the client face to face, find out what they are like, what their staff are like and what the office is like.
“I want to know anything that’s relevant – good or bad – because for the sake of that 40 minutes of someone’s time, I can get a feeling for which candidate might fit a role. If you’re honest with candidates and give them a clear picture of their potential new employer, you’re bound to have more success.”
Ruth interviews candidates herself before they go any further forward. Her approach is to be a lot more informal, to put them at their ease and get them to open up and make sure they know exactly what the job is and deal with any doubts or uncertainties.
From there, Ruth puts together a detailed profile which is presented to the employer along with the interviewee’s CV.
“A CV is just a piece of paper, it doesn’t tell you very much about the person behind the list of experience or qualifications,” said Ruth. “Personality is so important. I always tell clients to ask themselves, when they are interviewing, can they work with this person? Do they feel comfortable with this person? If the first impression is that you’re unsure, then there’s a good chance that things won’t work out, however skilled they are.
“If a client wants me to sit in on interviews, I’m happy to do that, and once the successful candidate is chosen, I will be the go-between until they start their new job, then I will continue to liaise between the client and candidate for 100 days to ensure they are settling in well. My fee is a percentage of the agreed salary and that is the same, regardless of how much involvement I have in the process.
“I’ve got clients who have been with me for the best part of those 21 years and the key for me is that they get to know me, like me and trust me. I’ve got clients where I started off recruiting for a Marketing Manager role, then that might have extended out into a Financial Director or an HR Manager.
“Because I’ve come to know the company, and I understand who I’ve recruited for them before and what worked, I have a better idea about who else would work well within the same team. That’s the reason for the name of the business – Perfect Team.”
Find out more about Perfect Team on 01923 244848 or visit www.perfectteam.co.uk
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