How productive is your team, really?
I often sit down with recruitment leaders who are confident their teams are performing well, even in a challenging market. “We’re holding our position,” they tell me. “We’re holding steady while others are slipping.”
But when we dig into the operational metrics, a different picture emerges.
Consultants are typically working 20% longer hours than previous years. Candidate drop-off rates have increased considerably. Client satisfaction scores are quietly declining. These teams aren’t more productive; they are simply working harder to stand still.
In larger recruitment businesses, this story is more common than you think. And it highlights a dangerous misconception: that hitting revenue targets equates to peak productivity. If you're planning to scale, or preparing for exit, this could be your biggest blind spot.
The productivity illusion
Here's what I've learned from working with recruitment businesses across the market: many leadership teams are focused on measuring activity rather than productivity. It's a risky approach. While metrics like calls made, CVs sent, and interviews arranged are commonly tracked, they often overlook the more important question: are these activities creating sustainable value?
My recent discussions with experts in M&A, Private Equity, Banking, and seasoned sector-focused NEDs have made one thing very clear: the market now expects recruiters to go beyond simply sourcing candidates. There’s a permanent shift toward delivering comprehensive, end-to-end process and compliance management.
In recruitment today, real productivity isn't about doing more - it's about achieving better outcomes with the same or fewer resources. When I work with boards preparing for investment or acquisition, this distinction becomes crucial. Buyers don’t want to inherit a business that relies on a handful of top performers, or worse, one that depends on consultant burnout to meet its targets.
Investors know the difference
The recruitment businesses that truly stand out to investors have one key thing in common: they’ve moved beyond vanity metrics and now focus on outcome efficiency. Rather than celebrating 200 calls per consultant per week, they measure what really matters: time-to-placement, candidate conversion rates, and client retention.
One of my clients, a mid-market recruitment firm, discovered their most "productive" team by traditional metrics was actually their least efficient. This team was making twice as many calls as their peers but had a 40% lower placement success rate.
By shifting to an agile, sprint-based approach focused on key performance drivers, they redefined how success was measured. The business began tracking internal collaboration, reducing waste and inefficiency, and prioritising customer experience. As a result, productivity, measured by placements per hour worked, increased by a phenomenal 60%.
This transformation required a fundamental mindset shift but the payoff was huge: an 8-point increase in EBITDA margin over 18 months, making the business far more attractive to potential acquirers.
When you’re faking it, you’re not making it
When teams appear productive but aren't genuinely efficient, the hidden costs add up fast. You end up with consultants who are busy but not effective, clients who are served but not satisfied, and candidates who are processed but not properly placed.
And the worst time to realise your business is built on shaky foundations, like inflated activity metrics and fee volume, is when you're preparing to sell. Savvy acquirers aren’t swayed by big, exaggerated activity statistics. They see it as simply bludgeoning the way to scale, and they devalue it.
So what does impress them?
A business that has established a deep knowledge of what drives performance. One that prioritises efficiency and compliance at board level, builds lasting client relationships, and continually seeks to innovate.
I've seen firms where consultants spend 70% of their time on administrative tasks, leaving just 30% for actual revenue-generating work. These businesses often show reasonable revenue growth, but dig deeper. You will see that their cost-per-placement metrics are deteriorating. They're scaling their problems, not their solutions.
This is where the real risk lies for boards and investors: inefficient practices become embedded in the business model. When potential buyers dissect your operational metrics, they’ll quickly identify growth that’s fuelled by unsustainable effort.
What genuine productivity looks like
Recruitment businesses that achieve real, measurable productivity gains focus on three key areas:
Smart tech investment that eliminates low-value administrative work, freeing consultants to focus on strategic matching and building lasting relationships.
Data-driven prioritisation that helps consultants focus on high-probability opportunities instead of chasing every lead.
Continuous feedback loops that allow teams to learn quickly from both successes and failures, driving ongoing improvement.
This shift isn’t theoretical, it delivers material gains. One specific client reduced their overall cost of delivering a successful outcome by 50% after restructuring their model. They now fill nearly 70% of roles from their existing database, slashing their time-to-hire and halving their spending on job boards and LinkedIn licenses. And they freed up capacity to deepen client relationships and deliver more strategic value.
Act now to build a scalable future
If you're questioning whether your team is truly productive or just busy, start by examining your outcome-to-effort ratios.
Are your placement rates improving as your activity levels rise?
Are your consultants delivering better results with the same or fewer resources?
Are your clients experiencing better outcomes, or just more noise?
The recruitment leaders who master genuine productivity see the difference in their enterprise value within 18 months.
They're building profitable businesses but also creating assets that investors recognise as genuinely scalable and sustainable.
