About 12 month ago, Paul Quinn, founder of Quinntessential Marketing, was firmly focused on the recruitment sector. His company sells a range of online tools for the HR sector, including tools for staff surveys, salary comparisons and reward and recognition programs.
Then the downturn hit. “Recruitment firms have experienced a horrible past 12 months,” he says. “I know of one niche recruiter who has seen three out of their five main competitors go into liquidation in the last nine months.”
Quinn has been forced to adapt by pushing out of recruitment and into the government and healthcare sectors. It hasn’t been easy, but now he has a much stronger and diversified business.
While many companies are hiring more staff in order to prepare for the recovery, others haven’t been so lucky and are downsizing to cut costs. As a result, some of the Smart50 say they are investing in their workplace culture to keep good staff on board and morale high.
Chris Taylor from Apricus says he is creating a work environment where his staff are “able to be themselves”.
“We invest significant time into ensuring that we create a family and/or team environment that extends beyond our internal work environment to include our agents and resellers.”
Sophie McDonald from Skye Recruitment says it is important to keep the working environment happy, with the company even making use of an office Nintendo Wii console for “banter and competition”.
“We organise events such as staff sports competitions and outings, and we encourage everyone to enjoy their time in the office. If people are happy at work they are more likely to be motivated, and to bring that positivity to their client dealings.”
Alexander Dunn from Assetivity says treating your staff on a level playing field will ensure a sense of devotion to the business.
“Treat all of your people well, and as though they are volunteers, (which, essentially, they are). They will reward you with loyalty, and your business will be stronger for it.”
A number of businesses have used the downturn to invest time and money into the development of their IT systems.
Gary Denton, co-founder of property and business services company Marble Group, says his team has used the past six months wisely.
“We have engaged a specialist IT consultant to work with us on the development of a new website and include integration of social media. We’ve streamlined our intranet, and we’ve upgraded our IT infrastructure to support our move to Melbourne and other capitals.”
Assetivity and online retailer Catchoftheday have also boosted IT spending in order to boost sales as the economy hits top gear.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
