If your leadership isn’t aligned, strategy doesn’t stand a chance

I've sat in countless boardrooms watching brilliant executives dissect quarterly reports, each laser-focused on different metrics. One champions NPS scores, another obsesses over retention rates, while the CEO fixates on revenue per client.

Meanwhile, actual client satisfaction quietly erodes.

After working with dozens of large recruitment firms, the pattern is clear: without leadership alignment on what client satisfaction looks like, your strategy becomes nothing more than costly guesswork.

The consequences of leadership disconnect

Last month, I worked with a £200m recruitment business facing declining client satisfaction. Each leader blamed a different cause: operations pointed to account management, commercial to pricing pressures, and management to market challenges. They were all partially right, which made them all completely wrong.

Without alignment on what drives client satisfaction, each department was optimising for different outcomes. Sales focused on new clients, operations on efficiency and account management on meeting frequency. 

The result was a fragmented client experience that left everyone dissatisfied.

When recruitment processes aren’t aligned, performance suffers. Misalignment not only fails to produce results but also creates significant barriers to improvement, as leaders act in their own self-interest, influenced primarily by compensation and reward systems.

Data alone just isn’t enough 

The recruitment industry is flooded with metrics: client retention, time to fill, quality of hire, candidate satisfaction, gross margins, repeat business rates. Every recruitment business has spreadsheets bursting with data.

But we all know that without context, data is just noise.

I’ve worked with businesses that track over forty client satisfaction indicators, yet still can’t figure out why clients leave. The issue isn’t a lack of data - it’s a lack of alignment on what truly matters.

When the commercial director focuses on new client wins and the operations director prioritises efficiency, you’re not just tracking different metrics, you’re running different businesses.

A unified vision of success 

Top-performing recruitment businesses don’t just measure client satisfaction, they build a shared language around it. Their leadership teams speak the same dialect, recognise the same warning signs, and act on the same triggers.

This alignment isn’t accidental. It takes deliberate effort to define what client satisfaction means for your specific business model, market position and growth goals.

Consider this: a volume recruitment business serving the logistics sector will define client satisfaction very differently from a boutique executive search firm working with private equity clients. The metrics that matter, the benchmarks that drive behaviour and the interventions that preserve relationships will be worlds apart.

Dig deeper on metrics

Most recruitment businesses default to measuring the same handful of indicators: client retention, repeat business ratios, and complaint volumes. These metrics tell you what happened, they don’t explain why or what actions to take next.

Better businesses delve deeper. They measure perception alongside performance, track relationship quality over longevity, and distinguish between satisfied clients and truly engaged ones.

I once worked with a firm that found their highest-spending clients were actually less satisfied than smaller accounts. Larger clients felt overlooked, while smaller ones appreciated the attention they received. Revenue alone would have painted an entirely different picture.

Work through discomfort to get to impact

Alignment starts with an honest conversation. Ask your leadership team: "What does an exceptionally satisfied client look like for us?"

Push for specifics: What behaviors do they exhibit? How do they engage with your team? What language do they use? How quickly do they respond to opportunities?

Then work backwards. What metrics predict satisfaction? What early warning signs exist? What interventions can protect or improve it?

This exercise often reveals uncomfortable truths. You might discover that your highest-margin clients are also your most demanding, or that loyal clients are preventing you from attracting new business in faster-growing sectors.

Getting to strategic clarity

Once your leadership team shares a unified view of client satisfaction, strategy becomes clearer. You’ll no longer debate whether to prioritise growth, profitability or retention - you’ll understand how these elements interact.

Strategic decisions become easier. Should you invest in technology that improves efficiency but reduces personal touch? It depends on what drives satisfaction for your clients. Should you pursue larger contracts that may stretch delivery capabilities? Again, the answer lies in understanding what your clients value most.

The power of being on the same page

In an industry where service differentiation is becoming harder to achieve, aligning on client satisfaction offers a true competitive advantage. While competitors face internal conflicts between departments, your unified approach ensures consistent, valued experiences for clients.

This alignment also speeds up decision-making. When challenges inevitably arise, your team can act swiftly because everyone understands the priority framework. There’s no need for lengthy debates over speed, quality or cost - there’s no mystery. Everyone knows what drives client satisfaction in your business.

Client satisfaction in recruitment isn’t just about keeping clients happy - it’s about building a business that consistently delivers its value proposition. It’s about aligning the entire operation around creating genuine client value. This means going beyond the status quo, taking ownership of what sets you apart, and making every decision with a clear focus on what truly matters.