Introduction
Michael Page encountered two contrasting market scenarios—supporting Swiss-based finance and accounting teams to penetrate the German-speaking sector and adapting property and construction recruitment for culturally diverse Middle Eastern countries (Kuwait, Bahrain, KSA, and Qatar). Recognizing that each environment required a bespoke approach, existing best practices were adapted to standardise lead generation, candidate interviews, and managing job postings. This comprehensive not only attracted new business opportunities but also improved client satisfaction.
Key obstacles
- Market & cultural variability: In Switzerland, proven recruitment tactics needed adjustments and testing depending on the industry and when confronted with non-native English stakeholders. In the Middle East, adapting to diverse cultural norms meant customizing everything from job descriptions to candidate engagement.
- New territory: With a new target market in sight, building a talent pool and ensuring quality candidates required an organized, repeatable framework. Consistent lead generation through cold calls and open tenders had to be established from the ground up.
- Balancing technical and cultural fit: Securing top candidates involved more than just matching technical qualifications. Ensuring cultural alignment with the hiring organization was equally critical, especially when operating in diverse cultural settings.
The objectives
- Market penetration: Customize recruitment methodologies for finance/accounting in Switzerland and for property/construction in the Middle East, addressing local cultural nuances and market demands.
- Consistent talent pipeline: Maintain regular candidate interviews and a sustained lead-generation strategy (including cold calls and tenders) to keep pace with fluctuating recruitment needs.
- Standardize processes: Implement a repeatable system covering screening, outreach, follow-ups, and data tracking, ensuring seamless operations and measurable performance.
- Revenue growth: Leverage upselling opportunities and strategic market positioning to generate additional income beyond core recruitment services.
Strategy in action
- Customized market approach: The Swiss market required testing and refinement of recruitment methods across finance and accounting sub-sectors to discover what truly resonated with German-speaking clients. Meanwhile, the Middle Eastern market demanded a unique cultural lens: adjusting job descriptions, interview protocols, and negotiation styles for each country’s norms.
- Elevated screening methodology: The best proven approach was to emphasise cultural fit over rigid technical requirements. his shift encouraged clients to evaluate candidates on broader criteria—including adaptability, complete skillset, communication style, and potential for long-term growth—rather than focusing solely on immediate technical abilities.
- Consistent lead generation: A consistent pipeline was slowly built by standardizing cold-calling scripts and proactively addressing open tenders. This would ensure fuelling a continuous cycle of new candidates, postings, expanded client relationships, and placements.
- Data-driven refinement: Every step of the recruitment journey was tracked—number of interviews, client conversions, success rates—to pinpoint strong tactics and quickly address any gaps. This real-time feedback loop accelerated learning curves, especially across the wide-ranging cultural expectations in both markets.
- Boosted revenue: Through well-executed strategies, additional revenues were unlocked by upselling other services.
Tangible results
- A robust account pipeline: A portfolio of +150 companies was managed with predictable follow-ups and touch-points to ensure swift and effective lead management.
- Strong weekly metrics: 12 candidate interviews and 5 client meetings per week, fortified by about 3 new job descriptions weekly ensured a consistent flow of candidates and leads.
- Additional revenue generation: Over $10k from other services were generated, showcasing how additional offerings could complement core recruitment operations and expand revenue.
- Enhanced market reputation: Positive feedback from satisfied clients bolstered the firm’s market reputation.
Key takeaways
- Local nuances demand tailored approaches: Directly importing tactics from one region into another can result in short-term gains but might undermine long-term success. Earning trust in different markets hinges on recognizing linguistic, cultural, and business customs—adjusting strategies so they resonate authentically.
- 80%-fit criterion provides long-term stability: Perfect candidates are rare, and strict technical checklists may overlook softer, yet crucial, cultural traits. Emphasizing an 80%-fit approach balances skill requirements with organizational alignment, ultimately fostering greater retention, productivity, and workplace harmony.
- Systemic testing, reiteration, standardisation breed consistency: Testing and reiterating existing practices can make them quickly adaptable to new markets or environments. Once the refined steps have been proven, standardising this process ensures that results are predictable and consistent.
- Metrics keep the emotions out, focuses efforts where needed: Reverse-engineering annual targets into weekly milestones—like calls made, candidate interviews or new job descriptions—creates a real-time scoreboard. This data-centric approach replaces guesswork with focused decisions, allowing quick pivots that maximize efficiency and results.
