The why not the what
An example of true consultancy
Back in the day, finance directors used to be seen as the bean counters in charge of the spreadsheets. In recent years, the finance team has become so much more valuable - spotting opportunities, challenging the rest of the business, and driving commercial change.
This makes recruiting the right finance people more important than ever, which makes good financial recruiters more valuable than ever. That’s why I sat down with Adrian O’Connor, founder of Global Accounting Network, to get his insights in recruiting for the finance market.
Adrian has a knack for making big recruitment challenges sound simple, so it was a pleasure to have him join me to cover some of the most important issues facing recruiters right now.
His point about asking for the ‘why?’ on a new project rather than the ‘what?’ - as in, “why do you need this role?” rather than “What do you need me to do?” - would make great training for any team wanting to be more consultative.
If you want to be treated like a consultant not a commodity, or want inspiration on how recruiters can run long-term projects for clients that might not even include a placement, it's definitely worth a listen.
Jon
P.S. This episode brings us to the end of season 3, which has included conversations with Greg Savage, Dandan Zhu, and Mitch Sullivan, and taken us from 100% fees in Japan through to nascent recruitment markets in Indonesia.
You can catch up with the episodes from all three seasons here. As always, I welcome your feedback, as well as any guest recommendations for season 4!