What does it take to become the go-to recruiter in your market?

In this episode of The 1% Better Recruitment Podcast, I'm joined by Rich Westhead, Managing Director of AJ Group.Having spent 25 years in recruitment across Manpower, Search Consultancy and now AJ Group, Rich has experienced everything from large corporate recruitment businesses to rapidly growing boutiques. We discuss how AJ Group has built a high-performance culture across remote and hybrid teams, with recruiters working across the UK and Europe, while still creating genuine camaraderie, accountability and consistency.

Topics Discussed:✅ Building a high-performance remote and hybrid recruitment team✅ Creating a strong culture across different countries and locations✅ Managing remote recruiters without micromanaging✅ Why communication matters even more with remote teams✅ Giving recruiters flexibility, autonomy and accountability✅ Why hybrid working should be tailored to the individual✅ Creating consistency without forcing everyone to work the same way✅ Why one-size-fits-all KPIs don't work✅ Building career progression for remote employees✅ How recruiters can be more productive working from home✅ Why niche specialisation creates better recruiters✅ How narrow should a recruiter's market actually be?✅ Why recruiters should focus on three to six core job titles✅ Building long-term candidate and client relationships✅ Why transactional recruitment doesn't work✅ The importance of meeting candidates and clients face-to-face✅ Why great candidate service creates future business

⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 – Introduction & welcome03:11 – Rich's 25-year recruitment journey05:00 – Building culture across remote and international teams06:59 – Creating a high-performance, high-reward environment09:00 – Communication and keeping remote teams connected11:45 – Managing and supporting recruiters remotely14:32 – How often should managers communicate with remote teams?15:54 – Building structure without micromanaging18:28 – Why one-size-fits-all KPIs don't work20:18 – Giving recruiters genuine flexibility and autonomy23:07 – Why different people need different working environments24:47 – Building careers and offices around great people26:45 – How to maximise productivity when working from home30:17 – Accountability without micromanagement34:00 – Why niche specialisation matters in recruitment37:48 – How narrow should your recruitment niche be?41:36 – When should recruiters step outside their niche?45:54 – Why candidate experience matters46:46 – Training recruiters to be less transactional48:53 – Why recruiters should meet their candidates51:50 – The problem with transactional recruitment53:21 – Why meeting clients face-to-face still matters57:11 – How to get 1% better in recruitment57:55 – Closing thoughts

🐋 Podcast Sponsor – SourceWhaleThis episode is sponsored by SourceWhale, the recruitment productivity platform I personally use and recommend to recruiters and founders.SourceWhale helps recruiters save time across outreach, sourcing, data enrichment, multi-step email and LinkedIn sequences, inbox management and call notes, giving recruiters more time to focus on the human side of recruitment.👉 Book a SourceWhale demo here:https://sourcewhale.com/book-demo/?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign&utm_term=charles_kyriakou&utm_content=book_a_demoMention The 1% Better Recruitment Podcast or my name, Charles Kyriakou, when you book.

Connect with Rich:💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardwesthead/Connect with Me:💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1/📲 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charles.kyriakou🌐 INF1NITE Learning: https://www.inf1nitelearning.com/🌐 Podcast Website: https://www.the1percentbetterrecruitmentpodcast.com/🤖 MILO – Tell Me More: https://ask-milo.com/