In a recent presentation at Indeed Explore, I was surprised to hear in Mark Reilly’s presentation that outstanding performers, i.e. those in the top 1%, were often responsible for 4, 10 or even 25 times the output of average performers in any field.

The presentation went on to help recruiters understand how to attract these outstanding individuals by looking at their job search habits over a period of time. Surprisingly, to me at least, 91% were actively browsing job sites and career pages in order to keep an eye on the market whilst they were being outperformers in their current roles.

It was certainly an interesting presentation, however it got me thinking. The outstanding performers in their field are sought after of course, but is there a point to be made about average, good and even great performers too?

What about incremental changes to their working habits that will result in that one more placement, one more retained client, one more backfill opportunity? Over time, these incremental changes must have more of an impact on team productivity, happiness and ultimately profitability.

At a recent networking breakfast, I asked a number of owners of boutique recruitment agencies which factors had helped them scale from 1 to 10 staff, or get to the next level in their business evolution. As expected, the technology and processes they implemented were important, but the resounding answer was investment in their people. In an industry that is known for high staff turnover (insert statistic or moral outrage here), I was pleased to hear that unanimously the business owners I spoke to valued their colleagues and team members over all else.

Not all people can be top billers, but if you can help average performers become good ones, and good ones great, then you’ll certainly see more output than expecting them all to emulate the one guy who bills more than all of them put together.

So, in a world where every vendor to the recruitment industry will tell you you’ll see a huge ROI from their product or service (I include myself wholeheartedly in this category!) – how can you determine where to invest to make a difference?

At HIRABL we believe the key is delivering timely and actionable information to help them get to their next fee faster. After all, I’m sure you already know your team is full of superstars, sometimes they just need a little help to shine.