Get People & Sales Right – The Base of a Thriving and Sustainable Recruiting Business
Today, we sit down with Tom Lovell, a global recruitment expert whose career spans investment, leadership, and talent acquisition at the highest levels.
Tom’s journey began in the world of charity, where he raised and managed international aid before transitioning into recruitment with Reed, the world’s largest family-run recruiting business. His key insight? People and sales are at the heart of a successful recruitment company - get both right, and you’ll build a lasting, sustainable business that truly makes a difference.
As AI, automation, and changing workforce dynamics reshape recruitment, connecting experienced leaders like Tom with the next generation of talent is more crucial than ever. In this conversation, he shares his expertise on what it takes to thrive in today’s recruitment industry.
From Charity to Recruitment: Your background includes raising and managing international aid before transitioning into recruitment. What key principles did you transfer to building successful recruiting strategies?
Caring about what you do, and the impact of your work gives you a very strong sense of purpose which feeds my motivation to do a great job. Knowing that I am making a positive difference to people’s lives really motivates me, whether that is to help them access the necessities of life such as food, shelter and health, or to get a new job that makes them happier, more fulfilled or more able to support their family. Taking that caring approach to clients has also served me well, as it helps to drive an inquisitive approach to recruitment to really understand and deliver to client needs.
Lessons from Reed: Reed is the largest family-run recruiting business. What unique strengths do you think a family-run model brings to the recruitment industry, and what lessons can larger corporate firms learn from it?
I think one of the greatest strengths of a family-run business is taking a long-term view, to enable the business to pass from one generation to the next. There also must be a strong alignment between the way the business operates with the values of the family. In a leadership role within the organization this was beneficial as it gave me consistent guiding principles to work from.
Sales & People in Recruiting: You emphasize that getting both sales and people right is crucial in recruitment. What common mistakes do companies make in balancing these two elements, and how can they fix them?
From my experience some of the common mistakes in sales are not investing sufficient time and effort into developing the professionalism and expertise required to be a top-performing salesperson. On the people side, I think the mistake is not realizing the need for change, whether that is a change of personnel or a change of role for someone who is unhappy or unsuccessful in their role. It is understandable that people fear change, but in my experience, this can be incredibly liberating.
Sustainable Recruitment Strategies: What are the essential ingredients for building a lasting and sustainable recruitment business that truly makes a difference in the industry?
I think that successful recruitment businesses are built on trust. This is extremely hard to win and relatively easy to lose. Trust is built from consistent delivery against the intimate needs of your candidates and clients. Of course, mistakes can and will be made, but owning and addressing these mistakes will help you to build trust sustainably. And of course, financial sustainability is also key, so you need to really understand and focus on the economic drivers.
Future of Talent Acquisition: With AI and automation reshaping recruitment, how do you see the role of recruiters evolving, and what will define success in talent acquisition in the next decade?
AI is certainly shaping the world, and the recruiting ecosystem. There are two primary ways that this will shape the future for recruiters
Firstly, as with any change, those who can adapt and leverage the change most effectively will benefit, so you need to understand what is going on, what is possible to drive improvement and what problems it will create for your clients and candidates that you can help to solve.
Secondly, recruiters will need to fine tune those skills which AI will unlikely be able to replicate, so the emotional intelligence of recruiters will become increasingly valuable.
We thank Tom for sharing with our group of Talentor leaders his experiences and expertise, and for being a key part of the second cohort of our 2024 - 2025 program.
For more information about our Leadership Program, click here.
