While many recruiters might have seen the recession as a threat, CBSbutler, winner of best technical recruitment agency and agency of the year at Recruiter’s Awards for Excellence, sponsored by Innovate CV, has seen the downturn as an opportunity to take their business forward.

In the worst recession of modern times, it has realised that sticking to the key principles of staying close to clients and candidates is not just a way of surviving but can be the catalyst for future growth and success.

As David Leyshon, managing director of CBSbutler, explains: “Your in-depth knowledge of candidates and technical skills go hand in hand with knowing individuals and their strengths.” In the case of CBSbutler, this has been built up by operating in its core markets of defence, land/aerospace and marine aircraft, pharma, process controls and healthcare for more than 20 years. Leyshon himself has been in recruitment since 1988.

He says that this knowledge of core markets has been instrumental in reassuring passive candidates about the jobs market and their possible next employer. He told Recruiter that over the past 18 months the firm had encountered a passive candidate community, sitting tight because they think a move would see them worse off, with fears they will be first out should they move to take on a new role. The firm’s success had been in putting candidates’ minds at rest, while ensuring they have an insight into the hiring organisation so they feel comfortable and secure.

And it is that constant contact with candidates that will help CBSbutler excel in the recovery, says Leyshon. “We’re going to be seeing more of a candidate-fluid marketplace, which is good for our business. Our strategy is to make sure that we are in regular touch with all the prime candidates that we have identified over the past 18 months and have indicated they would be interested in moving on.” This ensures that when they are ready to move on, and when there is something of particular interest, they can move quickly.

CBSbutler’s award wins were as much a recognition of its work with clients as candidates, according to Leyshon. Recessions require staying close to clients and responding to their concerns and in a downturn their main concern is retention not recruitment, he says.

As a consequence of many firms finding it difficult to retain staff CBSbutler introduced 100-day plans for clients’ new recruits. The plans involve a coaching process for professionals in more senior and managerial roles, which through a series of questions, focuses individuals on their desired outcomes and gets them to plan a route forward to achieve these outcomes, establishing priorities for the next 100 days.

CBSbutler also run staff satisfaction surveys in client organisations to identify problems early and provide solutions. Leyshon says this has helped CBSbutler keep hold of its clients.

And for those clients considering making staff redundant, CBSbutler works with them to redeploy staff. “Clients have undergone a lot of restructuring and made redundancies. By offering this service, clients felt they were supporting their staff.”

Leyshon believes this will have long-term benefits for CBSbutler. As he explains: “By working with senior level people, they will become our clients elsewhere in the future and will create a lot of goodwill. There was a fair amount of investment but we benefit from it in the long term.”

Leyshon’s commitment to his clients extends to the future. For example, it is working with Surrey SATRO, an educational charity working across the Southern home counties, to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) to 13-18-year-olds, getting them excited by these careers and building future skills.

However, it wasn’t just the way the business operated externally that changed in the recession. Internal change was also crucial to the firm’s success, says Leyshon.

The firm introduced a performance management system combining sales targets and a model for staff behaviour based around customer service, staff development and teamwork. The behaviour model comprises self development, with senior members mentoring junior members, offering advice and guidance or coaching at desk level, identifying training needs and forming personal development plans, with a drive for results and teamwork. It also includes customer focus, problem solving and decision making, planning and organising.

Leyshon says previously the firm rewarded its consultants only on how much they billed and focused on sales objectives. The change in the way that staff is rewarded has already brought benefits. “We had a long period of sustained upswing and a lot of guys at the coalface have not experienced a recession. Those individuals that have come through it are now going to be very strong over the next few years.”

As the recovery gathers momentum, Leyshon is determined to adapt the performance management system, according to market conditions. This, he believes, will ensure that CBSbutler continues to have a team of consultants with the right behaviours.

Consultants will now be rewarded on their ability to go the extra mile to find new business to penetrate and develop customer accounts with more of a ’hunter’ rather than a ’farmer’ mentality that a recovery requires, he says. And he adds the firm will be looking to upskill and build capability in emerging markets such as in renewable energy, the healthcare sector and pharma development, but also internationally in the Middle East, the Far East and South America. Leyshon adds that CBSbutler’s growth will be organic: “We will selectively pursue opportunities based on our existing relationships. We will not just jump straight in there. We will grow organically on the back of our existing clients such as in cases where our Western European clients expand into other parts of the world.”

Consultants involved in this expansion will be well rewarded, with staff who demonstrate high performance able to double their base bonus. The new system has been well received by consultants, says Leyshon, as it rewards those who show effort and commitment and stamps out bad behaviours such as being motivated by personal greed and allowing that greed to take precedence over teamwork and customer relationships. Leyshon says these individuals typically have a short-term mentality at the expense of damaging relationships with colleagues and clients. “We are not interested in individuals who are driven by personal greed. We are interested in those who have the right values, attitudes and are willing to contribute to teamwork and customer service.”

And on the night of the awards it was those individuals at CBSbutler that celebrated with Leyshon, with the jubilant managing director expressing his delight at the double award win, with one of the team recording a speech on their mobile phone at the back of the hall.

Leyshon says: “We were shortlisted in four of the most prestigious and competitive categories. To achieve two awards and two high commendations represents an exceptional achievement. There were big hitters in this category and stiff competition. Given that we are a mid-sized organisation, it does demonstrate that you don’t need to be one of the biggest organisations to be successful.”