3 Signs You Need to Revisit Culture at Your Recruitment Agency


Company culture has become a bit of a buzzword in recent years, but it can have a huge impact on your business if you don’t get it right and keep it right. The culture of your agency defines the personality of your company, creates unspoken rules on how people in your business behave, helps retain your best staff and attracts new top talent to your firm.  

With culture having so much influence on your agency, how do you know if your culture needs a revamp? Here are some common signs that your agency’s culture could do with a makeover:

1. People are quitting and you can’t replace them

People move jobs, it’s normal – we wouldn’t be recruiters if they didn’t!

However, it’s one thing to say goodbye to a few people but if you’re losing recruiters faster than you can replace them something needs to change. High staff attrition is a clear sign something’s wrong and that it’s time to build a company culture that people want to stay and grow in.

Moreover, recruitment is a small world so if your culture isn’t great you can guarantee the market will find about it fast! And what people think of your company culture has a significant influence on whether they want to join your company. A study by Robert Half found that 35% of people wouldn't accept a job offer if they felt the company was a bad cultural fit – even if the role was a perfect match in every other way.

2. Your team's communication isn't great 

Observing how everyone in your business communicates with one another is a great way to measure how open and positive your company culture is.

If your team is speaking with one another (and with you) when they have a problem, or sharing stories of amusing things that happen at work, you’re on the right lines.

However, if you can hear a pin drop in the lunchroom and everyone leaves the Christmas Party straight after dessert it might be time to infuse some positive communication and culture into your agency.

3. No one knows what your agency is trying to achieve

You might be thinking; ‘it's a recruitment agency, we're trying to place candidates’, but that’s the same for every agency and it doesn’t mean your staff know what your agency is trying to achieve or what makes your culture stand out.

Your company’s values and mission should let your recruiters know why they’re there and define your agency’s goals.

If your recruiters don’t know what your values are or understand why they’re in place, they won’t recognise what makes your agency different and therefore they won’t know your culture. If your recruiters don’t know what your culture is, how can it thrive?

If you’ve started to notice some of these signs in your agency it may be time to take a step back and consider some new ways to nurture your company culture. Click on the link below for our agency culture blueprint:  

Download eBook: How to Create a Winning Culture at your Recruitment Agency

Sophie Cunningham

Sophie is a Content Marketer here at Firefish! After working as a 360 Recruiter she found her perfect niche here at Firefish writing about recruitment.

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