The Armchair, a fireside chat with an industry leader. 

Richard Earl, managing director of Talent International – a specialised IT recruitment business which has seen phenomenal growth over the past five years – joins us for this month’s fireside chat.

Rosemary Scott: Welcome Richard. Please could you tell us about your background in the recruitment industry prior to Talent International?

Richard Earl: I originally started in software applications development for various financial services organisations such as Grant Thornton and Bradford & Bingley in the UK. I then took a break from work and was sold the “dream” to join the world of recruitment with a national UK company called DP Support Services in 1989.

Based out of the company’s Birmingham office, recruitment seemed to come naturally and I enjoyed some early success, although within several months of joining the business we were acquired by Manpower. This was their first attempt at technology recruitment in the UK but the approach didn’t prove to be a great success and so, with a number of other recruiters, I soon moved on.

My girlfriend was from Perth and having previously secured a software developer’s permanent residence visa for Australia we moved to Western Australia in 1991.

RS:  Can you tell us how Talent International evolved to what it is today?

RE: I moved to Perth in 1991 and got a job with the recruitment arm of a software consultancy called Execom.  Despite a deep recession and a very small salary I patiently built a rapport with an emerging local technology sector that was starting to achieve some great things in the Unix/Open Systems, EFTPOS/smart card and mobile communications sector with companies such as ERG, Intellect, and Unilab. This took off in a major way in 1992-94 as did my earnings.

Although enjoying great success, I developed concerns about how the recruitment division was viewed within the greater business. So in 1995 I started Talent from scratch, and staffed it with new people, not necessarily from recruitment – for example, former IT contractors. I then moved from Perth to Sydney in 2000 and launched the Sydney practice which at the time was in the grips of the .com and Y2K boom.

The subsequent crash meant a rocky start, but by 2003-04 we were tracking well on the back of good accounts in the government, finance and technology sectors. We then opened our Melbourne office in 2005.

In 2007 we decided to build a full national business and launched start-ups in Canberra and Brisbane as well as acquiring the South Australian arm of InfoPeople. We launched in New Zealand in 2009.

At that point each state or territory was a separate company so on 1 July 2008 we merged into one entity – Talent International Holdings – with various branch shareholders taking a shareholding in the whole entity. We went through the process of creating a shareholder’s agreement which was linked to a very clear five year plan which had tremendous upside for all those involved, so long as we could deliver on expectations. There was a strong sense of purpose.

RS: What is your role in the company?

RE: I am the managing director overseeing the development of all operations with the heads of Europe, Asia and ANZ.  The CFO and head of marketing also report into me.  David Carmen has also recently come on board to conduct a leadership development program as well as supporting operational management and M&A activities.

As we embark on our next five year plan, my role will focus increasingly on overseas activities which will likely result in a permanent move to London in late 2014. The business expects a turnover of almost $300 million this year and is probably emerging as the number two in Australia in terms of size and contractor numbers.

RS: What are some of the challenges you have faced over the years?

RE: Getting the right leaders – especially for start-ups. On occasions we have appointed the wrong people and paid a heavy price.  Be thorough in your selection and vetting process and pay an extra $50,000 to $100,000 p.a. if necessary to ensure you get the right leaders. However I’m pleased to say that we now have the strongest executive team we’ve ever had.

Also managing our rapid growth and the associated costs has been a challenge. One smart thing we did was to hire Hudson’s acting CFO in 2007 and a highly experienced operations professional from Julia Ross. Even though the turnover was about $38 million back then we told them to build an infrastructure and systems that could handle a business ten times larger – in other words we prepared for growth.

RS: Talent International has achieved some important wins in the industry such as the Recruitment Extra Awards. What do you put these successes down to?

RE: A very clear strategy. We document what we want to achieve and stay very focused. This may apply to particular markets, clients or people that we wish to work with. Even the best laid plans need good people to execute them. It is also part of our strategy that we continually develop as a business and always look for new ideas.

Naturally you sometimes have to modify your plans at the detail level but the overarching vision remains the same. We also work hard at communicating our vision and objectives to the whole business and fly all staff in once a year for this purpose.

RS: You seem to have grown the company organically and now have made some acquisitions. What is your strategy behind this?

RE: Our acquisition strategy tends to be very specific. We are very strong in state and federal government and therefore look for opportunities to enhance this offering. Acquisitions such as The Tennyson Group in South Australia and Neal Andrews in Wellington met these criteria. Another example is the mining and resource sector where we bought People in Computers’ Western Australian business as the company had a significant number of contractors at BHP where we had just secured a place on the panel. In Hong Kong we needed a licensed entity so that we could engage with some of our global technology clients so we acquired a local high end technology recruitment firm called Sterling Search. In some cases the vendor embraces our vision, becomes rejuvenated and stays on to play a key role.  The UK and Singapore offices though were organic start-ups with carefully selected people.

We’re currently reviewing our acquisition targets in the UK as there is real value to be had for the right business given the strong Australian dollar and the economic cycle.

RS: The IT sector has in general performed fairly well throughout the GFC. How did Talent International fare in that market?

RE: Our business grew 23 per cent year on year including the GFC period.

Firstly some of our businesses were in start-up phase in 2007 and 2008 and therefore coming off a low base. More importantly we chose to invest during a time when most were cutting costs and as a consequence picked up some great people.  We were also in well-chosen markets such as government, mining & resources and the utilities sector. So whilst the downturn was a challenge, a combination of great people, sound strategy and a very positive attitude ensured we dealt with the GFC with relative ease.

RS: What are your future plans for growth?

RE: We are looking to roll out a global technology recruitment brand incorporating some fresh and new ideas around the global workforce. Most of our investment will be targeted at Asia, Europe and ultimately North America which is still one of the most lucrative markets with margins of 18-20 per cent still very achievable.

RS: How do you see the market performing this year and beyond, specifically in the IT area?

RE: During the last few years changes to in-house procurement methods have dramatically changed the landscape. Many parts of the technology recruitment industry failed to foresee the challenges that this would present and are now struggling to address this structural shift in the way things are now done. Alarmingly there are many who may be confusing these changes with a depressed economy and are idly waiting for the good old days to return. The bad news is that those times are gone forever!

Internal recruitment teams now compete with their external suppliers so the answer is to provide value in areas where they are not skilled or prepared to operate and true relationships and better fees will return.

In general terms whilst there may be a number of individual and localised economic setbacks, I believe that there is evidence that the global economy is slowly on the mend and I expect more positive signs as 2013 unfolds.

RS: What changes would you like to see in the recruitment industry?

RE: The standard of people operating in the business could be a lot better. So the introduction of better standards or pre-qualification to operate would be an improvement.

I’m also passionate about much greater care in the wellbeing of contractors which in turn will lift the perception of our industry. At Talent we have a number of initiatives to take contractor care and acknowledgement of loyalty to a new level.

I’m vice president of ITCRA and am conscious of the need to explore additional service lines and add greater value to the membership.

I’d like to see greater licensing requirements for people to enter the industry. Renewal of license should be a rigorous process, one which should be ongoing.

RS: Thank you Richard for your time, that was extremely interesting.

Source: Inside Recruitment

http://www.inside-recruitment.com.au/?p=497

We are very pleased to announce that Sean McCartan has joined our NSW team as General Manager.

We are sure to benefit from the wealth of experience that Sean brings to the role. He has spent the last 5 years at Charterhouse as the Director of its Technology Division. Prior to this he worked for Manpower Professional and Elan for 5 years.

He has enjoyed particular success in the Banking & Finance and Digital Media sectors, and we’re confident that he’ll add great value to our company.

We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Hong Kong based high-end technology recruitment firm Sterling Search.

We are delighted to announce that we have engaged the services of high profile leadership coach David Carman as a fixed-term Management Consultant.

Talent International has been voted the Best Medium IT Recruiter in New Zealand by jobseekers!