The RAG Podcast - Recruitment Agency Growth Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Today, I'm excited to look at another of Access Group's products. 

This time, it's an automation platform called ELAY that was recently acquired by the Access Group based on its initial success in integrating well with Vincere and its customers.

 In this episode, I interviewed Mehdi Este, the founder and automation general manager, and Nick Beecroft, the head of new business for Access Recruitment. 

I've known Nick for a long time, but this is my first time meeting Mehdi. They are a really good duo. 

Mehdi tells us the back story of ELAY and explains how it automates processes within recruitment workflows, such as CRM automation, cold outreach emails, and chatbots.

Nick talks more from a client and industry perspective as to why you would want to put this into your operating system. Why automation, both in your CRM and on LinkedIn, will benefit a recruitment business of all sizes and scales

AI and automation are huge industry buzzwords right now.. I've talked about this frequently, and it can be overwhelming and scary. 

In this conversation, we aim to break it down into logical steps in a way that Recruitment leaders can understand 

Key Takeaways

• ELAY integrates with CRM systems and offers features such as CRM automation, cold outreach emails, and chatbots.
• AI and automation can help recruiters save time, improve efficiency, and nurture their database.
• ELAY can be used by recruitment agencies of all sizes, from one-man bands to large enterprises.

If you wish to learn more about AI and automation, then this episode is for you. Education and understanding are key to navigating the world of automation and AI in recruitment, and it's important to start with small steps and build from there.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the RAG podcast and ELAY

09:20 Automating Recruitment Workflows with ELAY

13:09 The Benefits of AI and Automation in Recruitment

25:33 Maximising LinkedIn with ELAY

27:25 Re-engaging with the Database and Remembering Ryan McCabe

28:23 Integration with Access Recruitment

29:17 Early Successes and Acquisition

36:20 Impact of Vincere’s Acquisition

37:15 Partnership and Synergy

40:06 Benefits of Integration

43:30 Future of Automation

48:34 Navigating Automation and AI

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Hoxo Message

Ready to find 25+ warm leads within seven days on LinkedIn?

As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.

This method is super time-consuming, and most people don’t reply because they simply don’t know or trust you.

But it can be different...

If you follow the process in this document, you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want them.

A warm lead is a person who you can 100% guarantee knows who you are, and what you do and has shown interest in you and/or your services in the past 48 hours.

Over 5000 recruiters around the globe follow this process daily, and the results have been amazing!

You can have this, too!

Access the Hoxo 20:10:5 guide here: https://bit.ly/3PLjaJY

If you’d prefer to consume this information directly from our Co-Founder and CEO, Sean Anderson (the creator of 20:10:5), you can join our free training course now!

Get access to:

• 4 bite-sized training videos that can immediately help you boost your business on...

What really happened to Volcanic and why they are making huge progress under The Access Group.

On this week's show, I'm joined by Nick Thomson and Rachel Kirton from Access.

Nick is the GM of Access Recruitment, and Rachel Kirton is Senior Product Manager for Volcanic.

Volcanic is an iconic brand in our sector. 

Famous for SaaS recruitment websites, they were acquired by The Access Group in 2019.

Similar to the situation with Vincere, post acquisition, there’s been some noise in the market. 

It is no secret that the business has faced challenges, including team changes and the need to regain customer trust. 

On today’s show, I wanted to find out what actually happened and the future of Volcanic under the Access Group.

In the show we discuss:

• The reality of post-acquisition
• The vision to provide a complete end-to-end package of technology and services is crucial for recruitment websites
• New features including WhatApp and diversity and inclusion tracking and compliance
• Their strategy for creating good-looking, high-converting recruitment websites
• Inside the Recruitment Operating System (RecOS) which integrates various recruitment products and provides a seamless experience for customers. 

Nick and Rachel are incredibly open, candid and forthcoming in their opinions and what they're trying to achieve. 

So, if you're a Volcanic customer or you're thinking about upgrading your digital marketing and using their platform in the future, then this one's for you.

__________________________________________

Hoxo Message

Ready to find 25+ warm leads within seven days on LinkedIn?

As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.

This method is super time-consuming, and most people don’t reply because they simply don’t know or trust you.

But it can be different...

If you follow the process in this document, you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want them.

A warm lead is a person who you can 100% guarantee knows who you are, and what you do and has shown interest in you and/or your services in the past 48 hours.

Over 5000 recruiters around the globe follow this process daily, and the results have been amazing!

You can have this, too!

Access the Hoxo 20:10:5 guide here: https://bit.ly/3PLjaJY

If you’d prefer to consume this information directly from our Co-Founder and CEO, Sean Anderson (the creator of 20:10:5), you can join our free training course now!

Get access to:

• 4 bite-sized training videos that can immediately help you boost your business on LinkedIn
• Exclusive access to Hoxo 20:10:5 warm leads tracking template

Free support from the Hoxo team to help you implement the process and get the results

This course is part of the hugely successful Personal Brand Bootcamp which has seen over 5000 recruiters graduate and drive millions of warm leads and £££ in revenue as a result!

Get free access to the course once you’ve downloaded our guide.

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Episode Sponsor: Vincere

Vincere’s portals are a quick-win solution for agencies in need of a no-code candidate and client portal. It’s your one-way ticket to attracting top-tier candidates and clients with everything they need in one place.

Easily set...

This week’s episode is a collaboration between RAG Podcast and Recruitment Mentors Podcast!

Hishem and I host two of the most well-known, highly-regarded podcasts in our sector. 

We started them at roughly the same time, and we even used to record them in the same Hoxo HQ studio!  

After sitting down together at the recent recruitment expo, we realised that we’ve released well over 500 recruitment episodes and interviewed/met 1000+ over this period

We thought it would be interesting to come together to discuss the five traits that we see in the most successful recruitment founders. 

You'll find that Hishem and I do agree on most areas, but we have slightly different views in certain areas too.

Hope you enjoy this special episode and do take notes!!

00:00 Introduction

09:03 Chapter 1: Creating a Business that Works for You

16:11 Chapter 2: The Power of Niche and Brand

33:30 Chapter 4: Building a Sales Culture

44:30 Getting Out of Your Own Way

56:44 Prioritising Personal Health and Well-being

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Episode sponsor: Untapped

Safe to say, last year was tricky for the recruitment sector globally. Many have had to operate through uncertain times, making tough calls and streamlining where possible.

However, accessing lower-cost resources internationally has proven to be the 2023 cheat code for business performance. But anyone who has tried it knows it’s not easy to get right. That’s where Untapped comes in. 

Untapped is one of the hottest companies in the market right now, helping agencies in the UK, US, Middle East and Australia transition to the new world, leverage elite remote individuals and even build whole offshore sourcing and recruiting teams. 

They source from the most exciting talent pools on the planet for recruitment staff and embed elite talent into your company to improve diversity, productivity and the cost of your teams. Your UK team will also love the help with some of the repetitive, time-consuming work that lands on their desk, improving their job satisfaction. 

They put around 3000 candidates per month through an intense 4-stage interview and online testing process to find the top 1% and secure these people roles in UK agencies doing research, marketing, finance, sourcing, end-to-end recruiting, coordination and account management. 

All candidates are benchmarked against UK competency frameworks and are tested for the highest level of communication and language skills.  

It’s a simple process: You pay a deposit to kick off the search, they provide a candidates shortlist in 14 days.  You can also put people through your own process and then hire perm or on a freelance basis, depending on your needs. They are totally transparent with salaries. Typically, your global talent will earn 30% more than their local benchmark, giving you high levels of motivation and work ethic, but you’ll still pay 70% less than a UK equivalent support. It’s a no-brainer to complement existing teams to handle surplus demand or to ease cost pressures. 

If you’re not using this time to rip up your business model and rebuild it with global resources, you are going to fall behind those that do. Due to demand and capacity restraints, they are operating a waiting list at the moment, so be quick to get in touch: www.tryuntapped.com

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Episode Sponsor: Hoxo 

Ready to find 25+ warm leads within 7 days on LinkedIn?

As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on...

On today’s episode I was joined by Matthew Eames, the Founder and CEO of Eames Group, a global insurance and financial services recruitment agency with circa 140 people across UK, EU, Asia and now the USA

Matthew was a guest on The RAG in Feb 2019 and whilst the business was a similar size back then, things were very different. Most notably:

- Matt was not the CEO at the time and spent 50% of his time externally facing in business development and exec search

- The business operated 5 days a week in the office

- Matthew personally had a 3-hour daily commute

Now approaching the 20-year anniversary of the business, Matt is again the CEO and more excited about the growth journey than ever.

Whilst grand exit plans seem to be on the agenda for most owners in our industry, Matthew proves that you may enjoy the role too much to want to step away any time soon!

Vincere

If you're following Vincere on their LinkedIn page, you'll notice that they’ve been sharing stories from their customer community on a weekly basis.

If you're shopping for a CRM or wondering if there's something better out there. Check out Vincere. They have a library of customer stories from all sectors and recruitment types, perm, exec, contract and temp, available on Youtube: https://bit.ly/3wFYad3

District4

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with, while having the freedom to do work your way. If you’re thinking of a change, check out District4, where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo to see what they can do for you.

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast I was joined by Jake, my little brother.

One of the most charismatic and successful guys I know (and annoyingly good-looking!)

We got into recruitment in Melbourne together in 2011.

Later in Sydney, Jake became a recruitment owner in his mid 20's, but in 2016 he sold his shares in TheDriveGroup.

He was building a great business but, for some reason, he wasn't happy.

He put this down to being 'home sick' and moved back to the UK.

In 2017 he launched One Life Social Media – a fast-growing 7-figure global digital marketing agency in the fitness industry.

With no experience in the industry, he built a business that operated in 20 countries with over 600 clients, helping them with customer acquisition and lead generation online.

He led a team of 20+ people too, all before the age of 30. 

Jake had all the extrinsic measures of success that society says we need to find fulfillment and happiness – wealth, status, validation from others, approval, a growing company, recognition, etc.

But something wasn't right.

Over the next 2 years, Jake’s life completely changed forever.

He suffered the most severe anxiety and depression I have ever witnessed. Due to this, the pandemic, and realising he simply wasn’t happy and needed to change, Jake closed down his second business. 

I have watched him focus on recovering and embark on a journey of reconnecting to his mind, body, soul, health, consciousness, relationships, and life.

I am so happy and proud to say that now he is a completely different person from two years ago.

He is happy, healthy and present.

Jake is now dedicating his life to helping other high performers who are suffering from the same issues of burnout, anxiety, and depression.

I am going to warn you that this is an extremely raw account directly from Jake.

He talks about the pain he suffered.

How he even had suicidal thoughts (this breaks my heart.)

But it’s all true and I feel like the future is bright.

If you would like to speak to Jake about his story or his coaching services then you can contact him directly on Linkedin here or via his website www.onelifemindsetcoaching.com

Recorded during Mental Health Awareness week. If this helps just one person in any way then I know Jake and I will be delighted!

Sponsor: 

Looking for a way to grow your recruitment business in 2022? Talent Ticker is here to help.

More than 300 recruitment agencies are using Talent Ticker to automate their recruiters’ most monotonous tasks, help them predict who will be hiring 3 months in advance, and provide simple tools to identify ideal passive and active candidates to pitch for open roles.

Learn more at get.talentticker.ai/hoxo and take advantage of their special offer for our listeners.

On this episode of The RAG Podcast I was joined by Joshua Rayner, the Founder & CEO of Rayner Personnel, a specialist in UK Property Recruitment.

I originally interviewed Josh in February of 2019 in my first Hoxo office in London.

At the time, Josh had a team of 13 who were all operating as franchisees. This involved buying into the business and scaling a branch of RP in their specific geographical area of the UK.

In the first year, this approach appeared to be working (listen to the first episode for more on that!).

But in late 2019, it was clear that he had the wrong model and the wrong people.

As the pandemic began, Josh made the bold decision to release all but one of the franchisees and start again.

He redesigned his business model whilst at home and went out on a mission to grow.

Since then, he has built a team of 20 self-employed licensees, making a small change to the old model with huge benefits for Josh and his people.

In 2021, he wrote a book about his journey as a serial recruitment agency owner - The Recruitment Rollercoaster is available via Amazon and is a current best seller! All the proceeds from sales go to Mind Charity.

A really interesting story with a unique approach to scaling a recruitment firm!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere:

Vincere have refreshed their homepage! They’ve redesigned their look and feel to incorporate the full universe of tools in their stable. Vincere’s platform has evolved so much over the past year that their website and branding needed to catch up. The new visuals are a clear reference to the solar system, with the Vincere CRM/ATS at the core and all their other modules working in harmony around it. Go check it out at https://www.vincere.io/ -

If you’d like to request a demo, follow this link https://www.vincere.io/rag - they’ve got an exclusive deal for RAG listeners!

District4:

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with, while having the freedom to do work your way. If you’re thinking of a change, check out District4, where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo to see what they can do for you.

On this week's episode, I was joined by Dan Taylor, MD of Morgan Hunt, a UK Public Sector specialist agency with 150 staff.

Dan started at Hays in 1996 and has worked his way through many positions in his 26-year career.

In 2018 he became MD of Morgan Hunt and has been on a journey to change the business for the better.

Dan shares his unique insights into leading a large recruitment agency on a daily basis and how he never actually considered starting his own agency.

His reason - he wanted to work at scale from day 1 and this is rarely possible with a start-up business.

A genuine, warm, and inspiring story from someone who shines positivity onto our sector.

On this episode of The RAG Podcast, I was joined by Emrah Baykal, the Founder & CEO of RO, a specialist energy-focused recruitment agency. The agency is based in London & Houston with 10 staff, and is part of the Tempting Ventures Group of over 80 recruiters.

Emrah is the first to admit that in the early days of his recruitment career, he loved a billers’ lunch or two.

In the first couple of years as owner of RO, he would find any excuse to take his team out for drinks (mainly because he fancied one!).

However, his attitude to all of this changed during the pandemic, as he began to exercise daily with a colleague.

Emrah began running and weightlifting and taking his nutrition more seriously. He began to develop better habits and in turn feel much healthier for it.

Since then, he has implemented some amazing ideas to ensure his own team follows suit and adopts a healthy lifestyle!

This was a great episode and one for any owner who is seriously thinking about changing their own lifestyle and the culture within their business!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere:

Vincere refreshed their homepage - galaxy/Nasa space vibes theme.

Vincere’s platform has evolved so much over the past year and their website, new modules, and branding needed to reflect that.

They've refreshed their visuals and the product diagram. What you see is a reference to the solar system. With Vincere CRM/ATS as the core and all the other modules working in harmony around it - just like nature intended.

Go check it out: https://www.vincere.io/

If you’d like to request a demo, follow this link https://www.vincere.io/rag - they’ve got an exclusive deal for RAG listeners.

District4:

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with while having the freedom to do it your way. If you’re thinking of a change, check out District4, where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo to see what they can do for you.

Launched in the middle of 2017, the business is almost 4.5 yrs old and has grown extremely well in that period.

In this episode Chris shares the story of why he decided to build a rec agency that gives 5% of operating profit to charity and the impact of having such a clear and powerful mission.

Across the industry, attracting internal talent is arguably the most difficult thing right now. Hiring strong recruiters will allow any agency to capitalise on the crazy opportunity in the market today

SR2 have been hugely successful in attracting experienced talent and believe their brand is the secret weapon!

The RAG sponsor

Looking for ways to stay ahead of your competition in 2022? Talent Ticker is here to help.

Through the end of this month, any Hoxo listeners who request a demo of Talent Ticker will receive a free, personalised list of leads to help them get a jump on the rest of the year. 

Talent Ticker is the world’s first recruitment intelligence platform, providing you with accurate contact information for passive candidates and matching them with companies looking to hire them.

What is unique to Talent Ticker is that they predict when a company will be hiring whilst giving you the projected hiring roles and contact info for the hiring managers.   

Any recruiter who uses this tool will be calling the right person, at the right time and for the right reason. Don't wait. Head over to get.talentticker.ai/hoxo/ and claim your free leads today.

On this episode of The RAG Podcast, I was joined by Ed Stevens, the Founder of 94 Group, a specialist group of recruitment agencies in London with 50 staff.

This isn’t the first time Ed has built up a successful recruitment business. He launched, grew, and sold his shares in Eximius Group over 8 years between 2008 and 2016.

Ed is honestly one of the most impressive recruitment owners I have ever met.

His approach to growing this business is crystal clear:

He is the ONLY shareholder and ONLY person with recruitment experience.

The result is a genuine opportunity for hyper-fast career growth and equity for his business and the people that work in it. 

If you have aspirations of growing a future or current recruitment company, you NEED to tune in to this one!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere:

If you're a recruiter looking to switch careers and move to Tech, this is your chance. Vincere is hiring for a variety of roles across all their offices. There are opportunities to join their Sales, Customer Success and Implementation teams. Learn more about Vincere on their LinkedIn or Instagram for behind-the-scenes updates. Their careers page is here: https://careers.vincere-digital.io/join-the-team

District4:

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with while having the freedom to do it your way. If you’re thinking of a change, check out District4 where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo  to see what they can do for you.