Defining Success- Up, Close and Personal

I was having a festive season catch up with one of the original industry high performers who was one of the first to join us at Tanner Menzies in the early nineties. In order to ensure that privacy is respected, she can remain anonymous but suffice to say this outstanding recruiter arrived with an abnormally high skill set and passion about recruitment. She continued to develop and became one of the top performing consultants, not just at Tanner Menzies where she was the highest billing recruiter for many years but at a national level at a time when the industry was extremely buoyant through the 1990’s and into the 2000s’.

At that time, for a decade or more, Tanner Menzies was in the top 5 executive search and selection consultancies in Australia and this professional was in our top 3 performers for each of her 13 years with us. This was right through until Tanner Menzies was acquired by one of the largest companies servicing industry globally in 2002.

What’s more in 2023 we are still making sure we catch up to celebrate the festive season and reminisce just a little over past success. We are still very much interested and involved in the Australian recruitment industry.

When we met recently I asked what had attracted her in the first instance and why did she stay on board for so long?

“….the brand although still developing was well recognized for a number of things which aligned to her thoughts on the way a business should be run, in what had been an industry of varying values and service for many years….”

There was an overriding objective of allowing people to be their own person but with an infrastructure of support, supplemented by technology at the time which was competitive and continually being improved.

The owners worked in the business and over time were prepared to share equity with key players in the group. This approach provided the opportunity to personally enjoy the benefits of the significant growth being experienced.

Underlying this sharing of success was a culture of accountability.

Other positives included specialization, individual development, fair and representative reward and recognition, industry involvement, a competitive but respectful environment and a collective desire to be a respected and significant business partner to clients and candidates. This approach is often referred to as being a trusted advisor.

Underpinning the various business levers was a strong commitment to integrity and respect for all those operating within what was a very efficient business model.

The company was always working together to be acknowledged as a star team rather than a team of stars.

These were important corporate and cultural traits which remained within the company over decades and are still evident albeit the company is more based on a License model today. The 2023 structure also allows high performing consultants to join as recruiters and either stay in this capacity or move into a position of ownership over time

I do look forward to continuing to have regular catchups with Tanner Menziens, past and present, to talk about the way we were and where we are headed.

If you would like to have a confidential chat about how to create your own success story, please call Peter Gleeson, Ian Stacy or Peter Tanner (03) 9190 8904 or visit tannermenzies.net.au