Jonathan Press

When we founded Alexander Daniels 15 years ago, we couldn't have imagined we’d build such a loyal team. Many of our colleagues have been with us for over a decade — which in recruitment, and in business generally, is something I feel incredibly fortunate to say. It seems strange to call them colleagues, because in truth, so many are now our friends. But here’s the reality: along the way, we’ve also lost some truly great people I would have loved to keep. Not because they weren’t performing, or because the culture didn’t fit — but because they needed new challenges we simply couldn’t offer at the time. And that’s okay. One of the hardest lessons as a leader is understanding that retention isn’t about holding on to everyone at all costs. It’s about building an environment where people want to stay — and also recognising when someone needs to spread their wings elsewhere. Sometimes the best thing you can do for a talented colleague is to let them grow beyond your business. When it is right for someone to stay, here’s what I’ve learned about keeping your best people engaged for the long haul, not just through my own journey, but also from the many great CEO's and Leader I get to work with: ✨ Clarity of mission – People stay when they’re connected to the bigger “why”. ✨ Growth opportunities – Even in a startup, you can give space for learning and stretch. ✨ Recognition – A genuine thank-you is more powerful than a bonus. ✨ Flexibility and trust – In today’s world, this isn’t a perk, it’s a baseline. ✨ Listening – Not just at review time, but through ongoing, honest conversations. Retention isn’t about perks, although we've had some great ones! It’s about creating an environment where people feel valued, trusted, and challenged. And when they do move on, it’s about celebrating their growth, not resenting it. What’s the one thing your company does that makes great people stay — and how do you handle it when they choose to leave? Do you measure retention? #Leadership #Retention #Startups #ScaleUp #Talent #Culture #Team

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In big recruitment firms,  “𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩” is broken. Here’s why... Over the last 5 years with one client we had: >5 key consultants work with the client >10+ supporting team members >Delivering across a blend of permanent, contract, and consulting hires Result? That client scaled rapidly, worth 24bn JPY (~$16.3m USD) in recruitment value. No single recruiter could deliver that outcome! >It takes specialization. >It takes collaboration. >It takes solving problems across multiple hiring models. That’s the real value clients pay for. Steven Li follow for more cyber security recruitment content in Japan

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5 ways to ditch your best recruiter 🫡 Thinking of pushing out your top biller? Here’s a handy guide ⬇️⬇️   🫵 Micromanage them to death Hover over every call, second-guess their judgment, re-write emails, and remind them how you did it back in the good old days. Works like a charm.   🎯 Set KPIs for KPI’s sake Who cares if they’re bringing in the most revenue? Make sure they still make 50 calls a day!   🔨 Give them broken tools Outdated CRM? No access to LinkedIn? No automation? Perfect   🙅 Offer zero support Want a healthy pipeline? Don’t bother with marketing. No client intros. No admin. Let them juggle everything   👊 Create constant turf wars Pit them against others in the team, create an environment where your recruiters won’t share candidates/clients/info – nothing like a bit of healthy competition Are you a manager reading this and feeling personally attacked? I’m sorry to say you may be creating a toxic environment 😭 Are you a recruiter reading this thinking, is this post about me? Message me ASAP 🥲 Recruiters don’t leave recruitment They leave environments that make it impossible to succeed #recruitment #agencylife #recruitertips #rec2rec #recruters  

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If in doubt, interims will keep transformation moving… UK job vacancies declined in August for the first time in six months, ending a run of growth in advertised positions. Adzuna data shows postings down 2.1 per cent month on month to 846,567, while the CBI’s latest growth indicator points to private sector output falling by 20 per cent in the next three months. The market is softening, but it is not collapsing. ONS data also reports vacancies slipping by 10,000 to 728,000 with workforce jobs falling by 182,000. On the ground, we know this picture is incomplete. Transformation programmes in regulation, cyber and system resilience continue to move forward, and they need talent now. Interim specialists are the mechanism to deliver without long-term headcount risk. Even as consumer services, distribution and manufacturing forecast weaker activity, firms are still absorbing cost pressures, rising national insurance and higher minimum wages. With AI adoption reshaping skills demand unevenly across sectors, the safest play for critical programmes is often interim capacity. The headlines state the market is cooling, but business-critical transformation does not wait. We are seeing increased interim demand to ensure regulatory deadlines, cyber resilience and systems support are not left behind. If your transformation agenda has a problem, and permanent hiring can’t help you, we can find them… (Target reference for the overgrown 80s kids…)

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Interviews... Its interesting as a recruiter how different jobs are in peaks and troughs, how different topics are asked about commonly during different times. Recently I’ve had a lot of questions around interviews and interview feedback, so; Let’s talk interviews — and why speed & feedback matter more than ever. In this market, good candidates do not hang around for long. Honest and open communication speaks volumes, clients often expect a candidate to be honest to you? It works both ways, be honest with candidates or your recruiters so they can set expectations. Remember, a candidates experience is the clients reputation. I’ve seen it time and again: ✅ Candidate has a great first interview ✅ Everyone’s happy ✅ Second interview is progressed quickly ✅ Again, everyone’s happy ❌ Feedback takes a week – without a word (this is fine if expectations are given, we have a meeting XYZ, we will discuss and come back to you following this) ❌ Another company moves faster ❌ Candidate accepts another offer Client asks you to find another candidate exactly the same as the candidate they missed out on, as they were perfect! Here is what we are reminding both clients and candidates: 🔹 Candidates — it is super important to; ·        Do your own research, understand the business, know who you are meeting ·        Go into interviews prepared to interview them too. ·        Do your own research, understand the business, know who you are meeting ·        Have reasons why you want to work for that business (if you do) ·        Ask the right questions. Show interest. ·        Be clear on your goals. ·        Get your personality across Please reach out if you need help with an interview prep! 🔹 Clients — if you meet someone you’d hire… hire them. ·        Time kills opportunities. ·        Quick feedback shows professionalism. ·        Top talent rarely waits around. ·        Be honest about how ready you are to move – let us set the expectations before setting expectations our clients can move quickly and the candidate gets disheartened. Recruitment is a two-way street — and the companies that move fast, communicate clearly, and respect the process? They win the talent every time. If you’re struggling to land the right people (or hold onto them through the process), let’s have a chat. Happy to share what is working across the board right now.

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Recruiters, don’t be blasé about your billings & commission structure when you are interviewing for a Recruitment position. When you’re interviewing with an agency, your numbers matter. So if you don't know them before you meet an Agency or speak to someone like me: find out. Or if you are a temp recruiter that isn't measured on revenue, it could be number of hours billed per week or day, or temps out. But know them. Be armed with that information. Because it helps you. It also helps you build your desk. We know you aren't billing/placing what you were 18 months ago. If you share your billings and are able to explain your commission structure and how much you have earned in comms, (or not earned) every Leader and Manager in the room will do the maths. Because we work it out backwards, starting with the comms you have earned. If you've earned a certain amount of commission, and your structure pays, for example 30% monthly and your salary is $80k, we can work out what you've billed. If the figures don’t add up, it’s obvious and it damages your credibility and honesty. Instead, approach it like this: Be transparent. The market has shifted. No one expects you to be billing what you were two years ago. Owning that reality shows maturity. Know your structure. Understand your commission scheme and be ready to explain how your earnings were calculated. Highlight your value. If your numbers dipped, explain what you did to adapt whether that’s client development, smarter sourcing, or candidate care. Agencies don’t want a fairy tale version of your billings. They want an honest recruiter who understands their desk and can talk about performance with confidence. 🥰 check out my list of recruitment jobs here. https://lnkd.in/gyyscyX

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