Off The Record with Andy Hallett

This is off the record. Unfiltered stories from recruitment leaders. No pitches, no playbooks, just real stories from real people who've been in the trenches. I'm Alex Faiers and each episode I'm going to sit down with someone who's lived it. The wins, the failures, the decisions that kept them up at night, all the stuff that rarely makes it onto LinkedIn. So, let's get into it. My guest today started his career managing a £4 million students union at Reading University before becoming a top 10 revenue producer at one of the world's biggest staffing firms. Over 25 years, Andy Hallett has risen through the ranks at SThree, led global change projects, founded recruitment tech products, advised AI startups, and now runs Recspand, helping agencies go from startup to scale up to exit. He's also built RecWired, a thriving community for recruitment leaders. So Andy, welcome to the show.

Hey, thanks for having me.

You're you're very welcome. So take me back. Um it all started at Reading University. We have some common ground.

We do.

Um there at the same time, which is crazy coincidence. So I left there in 98 and you went to was it a year that you were the president?

Yeah, I was president of the students union 98 to9. Uh probably what I'd say is the best job in the world.

Yeah. Amazing.

Elected uh a position, but you're basically paid to be a student and run the union for a year.

And you'd you'd been a student there already?

Yeah. I did a degree in politics and international relations, so I was pretty much unemployable, so the only option I had was to was to get elected and do that job.

Was the gig a one-year gig only or? You could have gone for another year, but I felt you your relevance of being a student at then that you're representing the student body and it was just time to move on, grow up. Also, as well, I was so deeply unpopular, I'd probably lost if I'd have run again.

So, I'm interested to know what was the journey from there into the world of of recruitment? Did you jump in? What took you in? What happened?

I think I think it's the classic answer you get from anyone that's gone into recruitment. They just fell into it. And in my case, uh, my best friend was working from Computer Futures, one of the SThree, now SThree brands. Uh, another friend of mine was working for Progressive. And, uh, I just couldn't believe the money they were making. Um, and you know, they were they were good people. They're bright, but they weren't sales people as such. And, um, I'd previously done sales. I'd worked in in retail

in um, in in the Sony Center in Phum. So, I I learned how to sort of sell and I was taught by some very good people there. And I felt, wow, if they can do it, then I I surely I surely can.

So, you followed them in.

Well, they they recommended me for their uh to go and work with them and um or I think they might have. They clearly didn't because I ended up at another brand. So, they obviously didn't obviously didn't fancy working with me that much, but obviously fancied the referral fee.

Yeah. Yeah. Nice. So, SThree, you have this huge experience. I forget how long you were there. 20 plus years.

Was there 20 years? Yeah. So it does have a reputation in the industry you know XSThree people there's there are stories there's success um huge successes in some cases so uh you were there for 20 years how come so long

uh I think the reason I was there for so long is I perhaps had five or six different careers within the organization uh I went through the classic training recruitment consultant through senior principal team leader manager um but then you I enjoyed recruit ment but it wasn't it wasn't the be all and end all for me. So um I was lucky enough that um the two guys who are running Huxley at the time, Mike Smith, Gary Elden, put me into a role, it's called commercial manager. And uh I think the thing that I really found was I was able to, you know, work with you a big train set and able to do things and able to do um get involved in projects I wasn't qualified to do like building a CRM um like internationalizing a business like um

yeah, so direct marketing campaigns. So I was just allowed um I guess a freedom to go and do the next most profitable thing for for our for our brand.

Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. So away from sales more into commercial.

Yeah.

Um which is clearly you know led to what happened after that. So you're still in the recruitment game so to speak. Um but you've moved in another direction since SThree.

Yeah. So I mean very much I I I was always in the business side. So I' I'd probably say I was I was always in the middle of the business. I was the guy who understood sales, who who had done sales, understood how the back office worked, and to the back office, I was the sales guy who could probably translate the needs and the requirements. So I always tended to be, you know, in one of those project meetings as either the representative of the sales team or the representative of, you know, the back office team. Um, as global commercial director, a commercial director is such a wide title. So if you ever you know looking for a commercial director or commercial manager role, it can mean something completely different in every business.

But for me it was very much you know my my core understanding was how an international recruitment business works

and that enabled me to you know do projects that you know get involved in projects where I I learned so much and that's that's why I think you know I kept you know there for 20 years and hopefully that's why they kept me for 20 years.

Amazing. So figuring stuff out as you go on the fly. I love it.

Um from those days when you were still at SThree, um is there anything that you know now that you'd be doing differently?

That's a really good question. I mean I think the the the one thing um I would I would challenge is I don't think PLC is a great vehicle for a recruitment company. Uh, I think if I look now at the firms that have different ownership structures, be it private, be it PE,

they're able to do things that make sense. And if I think back to my time at at SThree, it often felt like we were more dictated by doing the right thing for city analysts than we were potentially for this is the right thing to do for the business. that involves, you know, markets we went into in terms of sort of, you know, head counts that we took in terms of those sort of decisions that would please the please the analyst as opposed to this is the right thing to do. Um, so so yeah, that that would be something. And the other thing I would say is

I think firms could learn a lot for how SThree built what I very much call a machine. and you've seen a few of them um come out of there. People like, you know, the Frank group, FedEden, they've just built a replicable model. So my my my my takeaway is I haven't seen too many of those since I've since I've left that business. And a lot of businesses I've gone into, I'm feeling right, if you could just make this replicable,

um then you could not necessarily have the success of those big companies I talked about, but you'd be a lot further up.

So what's that ideal model? That ideal replicable model, not getting too big, not change of ownership. What does what does that structure look like?

The replicable model is, you know, starting with a niche and then dominating it and you hiring good people, training them well, retaining them, um giving them opportunities, giving them um a stake in the business. Okay.

And you really um I think actually creating a DNA. If you actually look at what I feel, you know, there's a number of things that made things successful, but you can really trace that business back to the DNA that Simon, Bill, and then all of the people that followed bought into it. And I I would say that's the biggest that's the biggest thing I would say that if you can find a formula that works, find a niche or, you know, an area that you can dominate and then just keep going till you've completely dominated it.

Yeah, it's it's interesting. It's it's something we talk about in in marketing world in in our marketing agency is being or aiming for a category of one. So niching down, niching again and really trying to own your category and being that voice so that you become the dominant choice in that sector or maybe even the only choice. Um, and it's something that I think is is more and more important now as we're at the beginning of 2026

is um is having that voice and standing up and being that category of one in in your industry.

So what happened when you left SThree? What's the the next part of your journey?

Um took six months out and and actually it's the it's probably the first time I've had actually ever had a break of that length. So, uh took took 6 months out and um headed down to uh to to Cape Town. And

what took what took you to Cape Town?

Uh

paragliding.

My my family.

Oh, your family.

So, for the last 18 months I've been at SThree. I was actually uh the family had actually moved

Okay.

down there. And um I had uh decided that I'd see out the projects I was going on and then you know either the family would come back and cuz it had worked or it hadn't or I would um or I followed down there and as it turns out you know it all worked out and followed down there. So

yeah. And how long have you been there?

Well then then then uh I formed my business um Rex Band. So I came back to do a project in um in March 20 and then we got locked down here.

Yeah.

So I was managed to get home.

No.

No. No. You got caught here.

Got caught.

Oh my lord.

So, seven months without the wife and children. They're on the other side of the world doing a lockdown. I'm doing a lockdown.

Um yeah, and yeah, it was uh it was it was pretty tough. Um you know, during that time marriage broke down.

So yeah, by the time I actually got back, we were um we were going through it.

And so got back there, bought a house over there because I'd need to be staying out there to see the kids. went back in December, took the house and then got locked down in South Africa when when the next wave. So co for me was basically living out of you a large suitcase and a laptop.

Wow.

Whilst building two businesses.

Yeah, that's tough.

That is tough.

Yeah.

You said you wanted stories.

This is epic. Yeah. So, you know, we have a lot of similarities. We're both living overseas and running UK businesses. So, um there's there's a lot of similarities with with what we're doing. We're based down in southwest France and all of our clients are UK or or US. So, it is a challenge. Um, we had lockdown and we're in, you know, rural southwest France, which is a pretty good place to be. But you've managed to um build these two businesses. So, you've got Recspand and RecWired. Uh, two different organizations. one the required side is really for helping founders recruitment uh agencies of all different sizes. You have literally hundreds of members in your organization.

Yeah. Approaching a thousand now.

Wow. So, and they're of all sizes.

Yep. Well, the the story of how that started uh was um I'd been working with Dalter. Um he was sort of looking around loosely for jobs and then realized I was unemployable and you know I ended up where I thought I would that I would go I'd go consulting. So I'd done some work with him and Charlotte on their business consulting and uh we were in a another membership group actually and uh I don't know if you remember if you where you were but in those early days of COVID um it was a beautiful summer so uh on a Friday night everyone would get on a Zoom call and drink in their garden basically

and I was the last man standing with Doula on that and we like

we could do this and I think uh probably our excitement our egos thought and that's where um the lockdown leadership network as it as it was was established and um yeah we we built it uh we you know what started after a few drinks is a WhatsApp group

and by the end of the weekend we got 200 people and and what we realized pretty early on was we've got you know leaders of CEOs we've got like the um literally Charles uh Russell Clements people like that in the group and then we've got you know people who are running one man businesses so it's like we all chunk this so Um so actually loosely it still sits where we are now which is we've got a group of founders. Um so we loo you know one to five is our founder group. So it's either people just want to stay at one or you know they're on the growth journey or they it's a lifestyle couple people. Then we've got our growth which is effectively our scale up you know people who are past that point. Yeah.

Five to 50 generally and then enterprise group which is 50 plus heads. So um all the groups actually are they're they're they're wildly different in terms of what they what they talk about and what they need and what they want. But we provide a uh like a safe haven where people can you know running a recruitment business is a lonely job. So we provide somewhere where you know someone can come and ask a question that would have happened to someone else and they can get advice to advice to do it. So

yeah I mean it's it's it's been great. I mean it's a it's a fiveyear overnight success. So, uh, but but it's where we we set it up. It's been great lead flow for our businesses for Delta and Charlotte's Rectorec for my um

for my advisory business and also as well, you know, we it's free to join. Um, and we've monetized it through some amazing partnerships, including your own.

Exactly. Right. Exactly. Right. So, you you're hanging out with uh recruitment leaders, uh, owners of agencies all the time, every day. What's going on right now? at the beginning of 2026. It's been a rough time for some in the last 12, 18 months, maybe a bit longer. What's your take? What are people saying to you now? What are the expectations for 2026?

I I think to say actually, I think it's been a tough time for everyone. Um, you know, 99% of businesses last year weren't having record years unless you're very new and growth. And, you know, last year if if if a business made a profit, had done well, there was many that didn't. Uh, there was many that didn't make it through. Um, and it's been like this for the last certainly two years. Um, and you know, everyone's calling the bottom. I've done it a couple of times and it and it still hasn't um hit the bottom. But what we found was a very strong finish to um uh strong finish to 25. And um it's interesting actually, one of my customers works with an accounting firm and they've got a 100 recruitment businesses. Okay.

So, they've actually got a good um a good view of the market. not just a gut feel like I have, but actually a good view of the market.

And to sum up last year, Q1 appalling. Um Q2 not great. Q3 okay and Q4 really good. Okay,

that would be the, you know, I paraphrase, but um that was a feeling and actually that's my my feeling of how it were. A lot of businesses started November uh sorry, finished November and December strongly

and and January has started well for I think all of my advisories, they're all up and doing well in in January. Confidence is up and I think recruitment is very much a confidence game.

Um

hiring again internally.

Everyone I know is hiring

really.

Yeah. So, and I think it's probably a bit more selective than it has been in the past. It's not like 21 where if you can if you can fill a seat, you can fill a job.

Um, but right now, everyone I know is is actively looking to to grow this year. And I think it's probably a mixture of the data is good. Um, it feels like job flows are up and that's what I'm seeing.

But also, I think people if we if we don't, you know, it's grow or die.

Yeah. We're either going to grow this or we're not going to sit around for another two years. Just

I think people are getting fed up.

Yeah. I mean, I think I think it's recruitment's the best job in the world when it's going well. Uh it it's terrible when it's not. So, um very much I think people have just and and there's been a lot of people left the industry as well. So, you know, if job flow is similar to what it was 2 years and there's 30 best people um depending on which madeup LinkedIn stat you want to believe um in the industry,

then there's going to be more opportunity.

Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Well, I hope you're right. So, out of the people that you're talking to at the moment, the founders that are doing well, that are hiring, that are expecting things to pick up, what is it that they're doing? What are they engaging in? What's working? I think uh founder is and and it depends on the size of the business. So you know if it's a small business, the founders are leading from the front. They're the best salesperson. They're the best example. They're the face of the business.

As they grow,

they need to get other people to replicate that. They need to get other people to buy in and become the journey to be that and to build the brand. So I guess you the best founders I've seen have been able to transition from them being brilliant to their brand being brilliant.

Yeah. very difficult. Easier said than done.

It sounds really easy when I said it. Yeah. But actually that

coming off the tools and expecting your team to be as good as you is something that we hear a lot.

Yeah. And and the other thing I do say to founders is it's no one cares about your business as much as you do. So if you think back to the hierarchy of needs. So actually when you get people who come close to that,

hang on to them, work with them, reward them and you know those are the companies that do really well when when that company can outgrow that original founder and it would be okay if not even better without that founder in the business.

Okay. And specifically within recruitment, we're seeing lots of people trying or wanting to move to be more strategic partners, that more consulting role versus maybe a more traditional um commodity provider, you know, like bums on seats and filling roles. This is something that we've been seeing in the last couple of years. Are owners, directors embracing this in your experience or shying away?

Yeah. No, I think definitely there is an embracement of it and I think it it's moving from you know product sale to solution sale and you know it suits some people doesn't suit uh doesn't suit everyone. What I would say is it's very difficult to go in and get that sort of we're going to come in we're going to be your talent partner. We're going to do everything for you without that initial uh without that initial proof that you can you can deliver. So um what I am seeing is people trying to upsell those relationships and do more with the companies with the customers they have and you know the the most most most companies actually most recruitment firms don't need more customers they just need to do more with the customers they have.

Interesting. So if someone's running a recruitment business right now and they're feeling the squeeze from the last 12 to 18 months what should they be focusing on? I think there's a tendency in a downturn to look at costs. And don't get me wrong, costs are absolutely important, but the easiest thing a recruitment company can do to move the needle is to make more sales. So, I would actually say um do things that aren't intuitive. And I I'll give you an example. In a downturn, what do people look to cut? They look to cut training. They look to cut marketing. They look to cut advisory.

And actually, you actually need to train your people better. You need to market your product better. and you need better advice in in a in a in in a downturn. So, so the I would actually say um be comfortable being counterintuitive on your on your feeling because what does your business you know people look at what their business looks like in 3 months, 6 months, what does your business look like in 5 years? So, if you don't hire that person or you don't train that person, the compound effect of you know we didn't train that person for a year so they weren't as good as they could have been in five years time the compounding effect of that is massive.

Yeah. So for me I think realize where you know look at look at businesses five years if I look at my advisory business five years first two were epically good but then I'm running it with a full head of steam then I you got comfortable then the market changed a bit over five years it's been brilliant and at 5 years ago you said but in the last year or two it's been tougher on the advisory side because

you know customers are looking at you know potentially doing a bit less they looking to reduce their cost base um um and actually, you know, I'm seeing it come back now. It's great. The level of inbound I have is fantastic. Probably the best it's been in two or three years, which is also is a nice symbol. But

yeah, the frustrating thing is I really could have helped these companies two years ago when they probably really really needed it. And perhaps perhaps, you know, with the benefit of experience and now probably they'll see it the benefit of hindsight, we'd have we'd have maybe have done things things differently.

Yeah. Yeah. And it's the same we hear the similar sort of story with from a marketing perspective. It's one of the costs that's easiest to cut, first to cut, um, but can have a a lasting and deep impact. And actually through harder times, the agencies that have survived and thrived out of the other side have doubled down.

Um, you know, we had some great years during COVID when people found they had a bit more time and they thought, well, now's the time to lean in and invest in our marketing and our brand and our messaging. Um, and it paid dividends to those that did versus those that that cut back. So, yeah, it's an interesting take. So, what's next for you and your two businesses that you're running? What does the next five years look like?

Wow. The next five years, um, as a strategic adviser, I should really have a strategy. So, um I think for me, I mean, I've come to a point in my career where, um the two businesses, um the the Rexpan business advisory, um I have two choices. I continue to do what I'm doing or I bring on other advisors and and and then but for me, the bit I enjoy is the advisory. Uh I don't want to be managing seven or eight other consultants, booking their work, getting complaints about them, that type of thing. I actually just want to come and help businesses and work on interesting projects. Nice thing for me is that every time I take on a new customer, um, I learn something new. I meet new people. Um, it's challenges. Some of them I've been through before, but as an adviser, you get kicks vicariously in seeing, you know, people that you backed make deals. in terms of, you know, I think um in terms of uh I think one of the biggest impacts I've had is uh stopping people hiring people that weren't right for their business that I think would have got through had I not have posed a few questions potentially taken a couple of references

pos and and so I think for me as well but just those just those little on so for me the the advisory business for for required I think we've got a real opport opportunity to grow the community and go a lot further. So, we've built out our training platform, Train with Orca, um, which is fantastic. Um, we've got a big announcement coming up of a major enterprise customer that we've signed and we're going to be doing all their training, which is which is fantastic. So,

I guess just getting, you know, knowledge, helping out there, and yeah, just paying it forward. um you know when when when COVID hit when we set up the group all we did was give away our time and you know advice and understanding and opinion you know uh for free. So just more of the same on that. The lovely thing about uh that as a as a business is um as a subscription business it grows. We we can grow the business because we're premium um and yeah you just keep just keep going at that. Uh I've got to keep doing it a while. Um my first son uh went to university last weekighting. So frightening.

And uh two more girls that will be going the same route as well. So um yeah, I've got to you know those those bills aren't going to pay themselves.

I'm with you. My my eldest goes to university in September.

Oh wow.

Um and then there's three more following after that. So yeah.

Yeah.

Same kind of thing.

Got to sell some websites.

Some more sites. Yeah.

Um well, you're clearly doing something right. you have over a thousand members in in your communities. So, uh really appreciate you coming in. Um flying all this way from Cape Town just for me. That's very very kind. I appreciate it.

Yeah, def definitely no no problems doing it.

Are you ready for our quick fire round?

100%.

All right. So, what's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

The best piece of advice I've ever been given that's I mean I've been given some great advice. Uh but it was actually from a management consultant um from Hackit. I think the guy's name was Tony Chow. And he came in, looked at our business, and he said, "Recruitment's like surfing." I'm like, "This is interesting." Okay.

And he said, "It's not about how good you are as a surfer, it's about finding the right wave."

Nice.

Very good. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?

Um I actually feel it's a power of humility. Uh when I look back at how I was when I started and I was a you know we worked in a hostile sales environment, it was yeah quite doggy dog, quite arrogant. Um I genuinely look back and cringe at probably how status obsessed I was. Uh yeah so uh humility probably would be very good.

What's the one thing that recruitment business owners get wrong? The one thing they get wrong um gez only one. Yeah. So I think the main thing they got um that they often put their faith in the wrong people. So and it's or it's a gut feel not evidence-based. So, so for me, I think I think yeah, either letting letting go good people or hiring the wrong people or keeping the people, but I think um yeah, not not trusting the evidence.

What's one tool or resource that you've used that's helped you get ahead?

Uh I using using a CRM always used to get me ahead. Um, I was able to outpace my competitors because I was just stronger on the data. There's an expression that blunt pencils are better than sharp minds. And I think very much just using using data. Um right now um some of the tools that can help streamline your your work um I look at Calendarly I look at um we're using uh Quill now co-recruit you know has just you know made it very very easy for me to uh to to move things quickly but it still underpins

if I look at um why I think we're able to bring on the partnerships we do required is because we understand our members we know our members and you know everything is backed off to data we can we can give very targeted acts. So So for me, using the information you have, storing the information you have, and more importantly, being able to get in it quickly when you need it.

Yeah. What's the bravest decision you've ever made?

The bravest decision? That's a that's a brilliant question. I don't know if I've ever made any brave decisions.

Moving abroad, leaving SThree. No, but I think I think they were they were they were things that sort of, you know, whether or not they were decisions or whether or not they were things that would just, you know, happen through circumstance, you know. So, so for me, I'm not sure whether um a brave decision. I think I think probably if I was to say the the bravest decision was leaving marriage, and I know that's a personal one,

but I was in a situation where it wasn't great. We're probably just hanging around for the kids.

Yeah.

And I'd given it pretty much everything. And yeah, that for me was if I think back to actually brave decisions, that's probably the bravest one I've done.

Yeah, rings true. So, what's the strangest thing that recruitment has done for you?

H strangest thing. Uh, it's a really good question. Um, uh, if you can indulge me, this is probably a couple of minutes of stories. Um, but, uh, you you probably leads in. So uh in 2012 um I went on a like a skinny MBA leadership uh course SThree 12 was through at Henley Business School and it was fantastic and really he worked on some real life projects in the business. You had you know four or five really spot-on lectures who really challenged you and thought about yourself. And so during this they they do the standard um assessment profiles and then they give you a personal coach who will take you through things. And um so I did this profile Hogan profile I think it was and you know the guy's coming to debrief me on my my profile and he says uh you're a bright guy. I'm like oh thank you. He goes yeah cuz if you wouldn't you wouldn't have a job. And I'm like okay this isn't going how I felt. He said, "You've got the lowest recorded score for emotional intelligence at the Henley Business School."

Oh my god. Okay.

I'm like I'm like, "That's a good thing." Yeah. He said, "No." So, but as a as a commercial director, it's quite good because you're un you know, you're dispassionate about results, but you know to being good human and you working in a team is probably not as good. So um and and and actually I remember the discussion he had is we sort of worked out and you can improve EQ and it was actually Lauren Deventura who was our head of learning development sort of gave me some tips on how to do it and and when I looked into all this a lot of it involves around stress

so I'd take bad decisions under stress and load and you know and that's not good. So, so I went on this journey and the guy's like, "Right, well, we can help you de-stress and um you know, we can sp we can we well, we actually said we can spend two or three years working out how to you take better decisions under stress or we can try and do it in half an hour to an hour and you can just chill out." I'm like, "Okay, look, I'm sure my company would rather pay for that version of it." So, we're doing the conversation and one of the things he said is, "When do you know you're being stressed? What are your trigger points?" And I was thinking through it and yeah, I I've ever since I was a child had eczema

and I knew that a trigger point was I'd start to scratch and it get to the point where literally my fingers almost, you know, the skin's coming off and it it's painful and scraping scraping scraping and yeah, I'm like, "Oh yeah, I get this trigger point next week." Goes, "Okay, so what we're going to do, go for an exercise. When you feel this uh trigger point, then stop. Just work out what you're doing. unpack it all and and it'll be fine.

And I remember uh I was going into work. It was one of those days, you know, when you've just got traffic, you don't know why you've got traffic. You're there at the lights, the lights gone green, the lights gone red, and you've not moved. And it goes through a couple of cycles of that. Anyway, start start scratching. I'm like, "Ah, this is my trigger point. This is this is the test. This is the test." My coach was a guy called Dennis Sartan. He said, "Yep, okay, do it." So, I'm like, "Why am I getting stressed? I'm stressed cuz I'm going to be late." I'm like, why am I stressed about being late? Because we've got a culture in the office about being late. Um, you know, everyone's in on time. Um, and then I'm like, why do I care about that? So, I'm going into the reading office. You know, I'm a director of the business. It's, you know, I'm not normally Yeah. It's it's actually okay. And, you know, there's only about four people there. We're closing the office next month anyway. They don't know that. But, um, so like literally

stress.

Yeah. But, um, I'm I'm okay. you know, this isn't this isn't what a hill to fight and day on. And you know, from that minute on, uh, the itching stopped, the lights went green, and, you know, I think I got in on time,

and from from that day on, I haven't had eczema.

Amazing.

And every time I just get a little stressed, I'm literally like, "Okay, I know this is my So, um, yeah." So, business school, stroke, recruitment cured my eczema.

Recruitment killed my eczema.

Cured my

Nice.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I mean, and and it it's things like that that you you take those those experiences and also it helps you with you then other people you like actually just why does this matter?

There's a very good technique called the five W's as well. I don't know if you've

so um again this is this is another learn from recruitment. I was very lucky SThree put me on a lean six sigma course

and uh the the the thing um that really struck me the exercise we did was called I think it was five W's and it's the idea that you know people you people you you look for the end solution you look for the simplest solution so uh I remember this exercise and um I don't know if this is a real thing or just brilliant but um apparently in Washington I've never been there's the Lincoln Memorial and the um Washington Memorial and there are these these two things then the similar buildings at either end of a park or and they they were apparently washing you know sorry they were um the they were made of the same stone and the Lincoln memorial was uh apparently wearing out quicker than the Washington Memorial. So, uh, they did a project to find out why. And it turns out they're actually washing the, um, uh, the the Lincoln Memorial Y, um, uh, more often, twice as much.

Simple as that.

Yeah. So, but okay, why? So, rather than that, normally what you just do is say, we'll just wash them the same. But it was like, well, why are we washing? And it turns out that um there was an inordinately different amount of bird mess on the um on the Lincoln Memorial. So it's okay, right? Okay, put nets up, shoot, why why are birds more likely to

to go crap on the the Lincoln Memorial? So it's like, okay. And so they looked around. Was there any? And it turns out that on the trees there was um the birds were flocking to the trees more in the Lincoln Memorial. So it's like okay so all right cut down the trees you know take the le no but why would they more and it turns out when they looked there was a a parasite on the leaves by the link tree in the Lincoln memorial. So, okay, normally your solution for that will spray all the trees, get rid of the parasite, the birds, you know, it's like, but why are the parasites here more often than than that? And it turns out the parasites were attracted to um fluorescent light and the Washington Memorial had incandescent light. So, the answer was to change light.

Change a light bulb. Nice. And it's things like that that there's there's there's there's pos always possibly look for the simpler solution and look be curious as to as to why. So yeah, I mean uh if anyone is in business and certainly datadriven businesses or services product businesses any business actually lin Sigma is such a uh such a great course. All right. So, um, where can people go to find out more, find out about required and, uh, and everything that you're doing?

Yeah. So, uh, obviously the standard answer for anyone in staffing is go to LinkedIn. Yep.

Uh, we're there.

Uh, links to all the businesses there. So, uh, Recspand, you know, I'm, you know, there and, uh, you can go to my website, rexand.com, find me on LinkedIn.

RecWired required.com. We just keep it really simple like that. recired.com and um it's free for founders um to join and um yeah it's uh just send us the form on the website and uh yeah if we uh we'll get in touch find out the appropriate group find out what you're looking to get out the groups you're more than welcome to join and then train with.com big announcements coming but really proud of that 20 worldclass trainers in recruitment space on that lots of lessons um I think you're coming on to provide us some content for the for that. But bestin-class and um yeah, we've we're building that building. I'm very pleased with what we've achieved in the last couple of years on that.

Amazing. Well, look, Andy, thanks again. Congrats on your success and uh thanks for your partnership, your friendship, and um showing up today. Really appreciate.

Likewise. And and thanks, you know, uh Addictivity and Rexit's been a great partner for us um members and and certainly since you took over that business, the quality, the response we get from Rexite's customers is brilliant. So, thanks again. Appreciate it. Thanks, Andy. That's it for this episode of Off the Record. If you found this useful, insightful, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you've got a story worth telling and you're in recruitment, then please reach out and get in touch. I'm Alex Fez. Thanks for hanging out with us.