2020 was one of the most challenging years in business in the 12 years of our experience in Recruitment as a group. Not only were we dealt an unprecedented and unforeseen blow to business but we were given no warning or time to deal with it. We were simply asked to pack up the office and report directly to home, we were given days to react to this and our annual strategies, energy and focus were left irrelevant for the foreseeable future.
Waking up on the following Monday morning in a total lockdown was something out of a horror movie. Deadly silence on the roads, not one person to be seen. Quarter one, was that all we got in the year of promised “2020 vision”?
We were left with many questions and had a responsibility to our people, and in many cases their families too. “How to react” was the question while we watched the unemployment rate skyrocket to record highs.
We have not been resting at all through these times but chose to listen to our clients and adapt. While vacancy volumes were low, we invested in our people with training and upskilling initiatives and managed to hold on to all of our recruiters, support staff and everyone else in the group through this tough time. We also used the time to listen to our clients’ “pain points” and offered up free market research and trends to assist them in getting through the various levels of lockdown, keeping in mind they had not been through a pandemic either. It became clear to us that it wasn’t about billing last year, but surviving, and helping business cope as best we could.
We also chose to use this time to GROW and attracted the best recruitment talent in the market to join our Group as Partners, and thus have given birth to further specialised businesses in the HRW Group.
2020 saw the birth of : HRW Legal, Human Capital, Wealth & UK
We dont’t know what is in store for 2021 as yet, but all indications point to growth, careful growth, and a time to rebuild and get the right people on the bus. A time to build an economy and a time to attack the unemployment rate.
We believe we have the right people “on the bus” in the HRW Recruitment Group and are extremely proud of the tenacity, resilience and total commitment of our people through this time. We are very grateful for the opportunity to be here in 2021 and believe that we are well placed to live our below values.
Compete with the ordinary by being extraordinary
To be passionate about genuine relationships
Above all be trustworthy
From all of us at the HRW Recruitment Group, we wish you a safe and successful journey through 2021. The tide will always turn!