Business Integrity Leads to Better Business

The recruiting world has unfortunately earned a bad reputation. We’re often associated with being pushy, disingenuous, and selfish. I get it. I’ve seen this happen firsthand and I’ve seen the negative consequences. Clients are frustrated. Candidates aren’t happy. Business suffers. I’ve also seen the flipside of this and can attest that when people are treated with integrity, everyone wins.

This is one of the many reasons why I love The Planet Group. The expectation isn’t that we do whatever it takes to make a placement or land new business to the detriment of our candidates and clients. Instead, the expectation is that, no matter what, we do the right thing while always going the extra mile to find solutions wherever possible to add value. In return, business will flourish—and it has.

The Art of Communicating

Everyone wants to feel valued, looked after, and heard. A good recruiter or business development person will truly listen to what your objectives are—whether that be new hire requirements or details of your dream job—and will communicate and consult with you effectively throughout the process – with your best interests at heart. However, it’s important to remember that good communication can mean different things to different people.

Sometimes it comes down to simply asking people how they prefer to communicate. In fact, I start all my client relationships by asking: “what does a good partner look like to you, and how can I make your life easier?”  That might mean only contacting them exclusively by email or only calling at 7am while they walk their dog. It’s typically easy to accommodate someone’s preferences and helps the relationship start at a place where they feel helped, not hindered. This also helps me manage my day effectively in line with my internal and personal commitments.

Integrity Should be Built-In

It’s one thing to tell your team to act with integrity, but it’s quite another to empower them to act that way. To truly treat clients with respect (while being true to yourself), it must be built into the team structure—or else it risks failing.

For example, at Planet Pharma (part of The Planet Group) we not only have a leadership team that cares about integrity, but we also have a business model that reinforces it. We have three key teams that deal with the end-to-end recruitment process: Business Development, Account Management, and the Delivery Team. Because each team has their own specific focus, it enables everyone to play to their strengths, giving us a strategic and streamlined approach to recruitment. It also encourages each employee to operate with integrity and ‘do the right thing’, even if this means delivering difficult information.

Our model is completely built on trust and communication, and each team will act in the best interest of their candidate or client. Because of that, we’ve also cultivated a strong internal culture rooted in collaboration. Not only that, but we have strong technical and commercial acumen in our respective spaces as well. This ensures a consultative service that serves to benefit candidates and clients in a way where we are a trusted and valued partner – the philosophy of ‘treat people as you’d like to be treated’ should always be a two-way street.

Better Business

It seems so simple, but it’s more and more rare in the business world to find people who treat others the way they wish to be treated. But that’s the key to success. Being honest, being respectful, and being true to yourself will make you feel better at the end of the day and will open more doors than they close. People value that kind of genuineness and that’s what will keep them coming back to work with you.

Be the person other people can count on. Be the person other people trust. Your business will flourish as a result. Our work at The Planet Group is a good case in point.

Photo Credit: Canva

By Chloe Cuff, Business Development Manager, Planet Pharma EU