I joined Acorn Recruitment, as it was then called in 2000, as its IT Director having moved from a role in banking. As you can imagine, moving from financial services to recruitment was a big leap of faith for me and I had only planned to stay for five years. Well, 25 years on and I’m still here and still loving it, which says a lot about the company, I think.
Joining as the IT Director was a bit of a misnomer really, as we didn’t have much IT going on. In reality, it was just a handful of emails being sent to a bloke in Blackwood, who then faxed them over to our old Head Office in Newport. Each branch did have their own database, which weren’t connected, so I set about merging them and putting a few other systems in place and eventually my role changed to that of Group Operations Director.
And I’m glad I set us on that path to connected digitisation, as that has been the biggest change that I’ve seen during my 25 years at Acorn. In the early 2000s a lot of our work was done manually, via relationships and networks and basically pounding the streets finding clients who needed workers and workers who wanted jobs. Thanks to the internet that has all changed. The digitisation of our industry has led to a sea change in the way we do things.
Of course, human interaction, relationships and networking are still a key part of getting and retaining clients, but when it comes to candidates, the digital world is key. From job websites to LinkedIn and Facebook, every platform is now being used to attract the right candidates to the right jobs. Even applying for those roles is now handled differently as there is a software solution to the candidate sifting role that means we are saving time on people who might not fit the job.
What all of this digitisation gives us is great data. Data that helps us see if the candidates we are attracting are properly qualified for the roles and are they the right fit for the role? Are our clients getting the right people through the door? If not, we can tweak a job description or think again about a job ad.
There will be bigger changes afoot in the coming years too, with AI playing a part in most everything businesses do these days. Its effectiveness will begin to influence the way more businesses work, and it’s on us to embrace it and harness its power to our advantage, helping our clients and our candidates get the perfect people for the perfect roles.
When I look back on the past 25 years, I’m proud of what we’ve achieved at Acorn by Synergie. In that time, we’ve replaced our IT Systems three times to keep up with emerging trends and we’ve always managed to pay our workers every week without interruption. Although, I certainly can’t take the credit for that as that’s a testament to the fantastic team I have around me.
Covid was particularly challenging for our industry and for us as a business. Like many companies around the world, we didn’t know whether we would be coming out of the other side. To say it was a testing time for us all in recruitment would be a massive understatement. I quickly decided that staying home was not for me, and, as we needed someone senior to be in the office every day to ensure the wider team was supported, I happily took on that role. It was quite a lonely, rollercoaster ride of an 18 months, but through hard work and determination the team got through it, and we lived to fight another day.
What I have learned about the past 25 years in recruitment is that it is an industry that is ever evolving and to be successful you have to do the same. Whether its digitisation, working practices or your own team, change is inevitable and healthy.
I love the fact that no two days are the same in my role here. As well as the day job, we have faced a number of significant challenges which have often been complex and stressful, where groups of people have had to work together to come up with quick solutions to ensure we can move forward. The way in which our teams at Acorn by Synergie work together effectively has always made me proud to be part of this organisation and I hope that I get to see it continue to happen for a fair few years to come