Working with Elsby: Collaboration is key

Elsby has been working with Exceda from the very beginning. We work with them on a retainer basis and in the last 18 months or so we’ve placed 31 new candidates with them. 

It’s been about more than just sourcing new employees. We’ve worked with Elsby collaboratively on employee retention, hiring processes, and induction. 

We grabbed a cuppa with Carl Elsby, Founder and Partner of Elsby, to understand what it’s been like working with us. 

Can you start by telling us about your company?

Elsby are an accountancy firm with two offices in Sywell and Rushden in Northamptonshire. 

I started the business nearly 30 years ago from my back bedroom and in that time we’ve grown considerably to a team of 60+ employees. 

Our clients range considerably, from sole traders to large SMEs. Our ethos is about adding value, so we take time to get to know the businesses we work with and always go the extra mile.

Historically, people have always been our most significant limiting factor. We’ve never been short of work but a shortage of human resources has often restricted growth. We’ve always been looking for good people. 

To me, a business hasn’t reached its full potential until it has enough staff to run out of work, and we're nowhere near that. 

What has your experience been of recruitment previously? Have you used recruitment firms in the past? 

Our recruitment was always reactive, which meant we were always desperate for staff. 

The knock-on impact of this was that we kept putting staff under pressure, couldn’t always do the work that our customers wanted, and couldn’t do as much business development as we’d like. 

We’ve used recruiters before, but haven’t seen the success I would have liked. 

I actually did a survey once, just to find out how successful the different forms of recruitment had been. The recruitment agencies' success rate was quite poor; we always found better employees ourselves. 

That was probably down to us always using recruiters adhoc, we didn’t form as long-term a relationship as we would have liked. 

What made you want to make a shift to Recruitment Process Outsourcing? 

During Covid, everyone put in a huge shift as our clients needed us. Then in the second year of Covid, staff seemed worn down. It was really hard to recruit and our clients needed us more than ever, so we were very conscious that we needed to do something different.

We decided it was time to really reward the employees we already had, so began enhancing our employee benefits. We also needed to reduce the pressure everyone was under, and recruitment was key to that. 

What were you looking for in a recruitment partner? 

Somebody to work with us! As in collaborating and looking after our interests. 

We needed someone who’d be with us long-term and who we could have open and honest conversations with. 

It wasn't just around getting vacancies filled but also thinking wider than that. So advising us on employer brand, our recruitment process and induction and helping us improve retention too. 

I met Nikki, Exceda’s Founder and Managing Director, at a networking event some years ago and we didn’t really have any contact for a while. When she announced on LinkedIn she’d been made redundant I got back in touch and it was a brilliant decision for the business. 

What was the beginning of your engagement with Exceda like? 

Nikki got stuck into recruitment straight away but there was also a lot of process work that needed to be done. 

Together we looked at retention. We’ve made loads of improvements here. We’ve learnt to be more patient with people that weren’t working out perfectly, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised that some situations have turned around well.

We really looked inwards at how we manage people in the office. These changes, we hope, will make people happier and mean we have fewer issues. 

When thinking about recruitment, we’ve improved everything from our job descriptions to our internal processes and realised that it’s just as much about attitude as attributes. Our interviews too, focus just as much on us impressing candidates, as the other way around. 

When we hire, we now have an induction process in place. So candidates join us with a much better framework. 

For those more experienced candidates sometimes there has to be a head-hunting exercise. Here teamwork is key. As it is my head above the door I tend to manage the first bit and then introduce them to Nikki. It works really well for us and means that we are actively looking for the best candidates rather than waiting for them to come to us. 

What have the results been since working with Exceda?

They have been excellent. We’ve recruited some exceptional people and an incredible number of people in a ridiculously difficult market. The fit of the people has been excellent, and they look like being long-term, which makes an enormous difference to our growth prospects.

The reason is that Nikki is on the same wavelength as us, and understands our ethos and culture. She saves us so much time because we trust her, and consequently, we only get presented with good candidates who fit with our culture. This really reduces the amount of time we need to spend on the process. 

A perfect example is our trainees. We normally receive hundreds of applicants but last time, Nikki gave us a shortlist of two, they were both brilliant and we offered them both a job. 

With Nikki’s help, we’ve recruited a lot of people growing from a team of 30+ to 60+ in 18 months. We’ve needed Nikki to help us with this huge growth. It’s been about really refining our processes. We’re working together for Elsby&Co’s best interests and have been able to be proactive about recruitment. We don’t just recruit when we are desperate. It saves time, and hassle, and we have a better success rate. 

Without Nikki's help, I think business would currently be very difficult, which is something I see with other businesses that have failed to be proactive with recruitment and retention. 

I’m now seeing a worrying situation develop in the marketplace. A lot of businesses are finding it tough, and it seems to me that those who are proactive with recruitment are strengthening, but those who haven’t responded, seem to be struggling. 

I believe this is certainly happening in the accountancy industry, and because we have been ahead of the game in this respect, I feel we are now seeing the benefits. We’re continuing to recruit good people and take on good clients because others are struggling to provide a service level in the face of a hostile recruitment market.

What did you think of the quality of service provided by Exceda?

Significantly, Nikki is exemplary in the process. 

When we have had candidates join, they always say what a great experience they’ve had so far. Nikki is very honest, open and pleasant in her dealings with candidates, and ourselves. She is also proactive and moves the process along quickly, and will give honest feedback if she feels we need to change our approach in some way.

From our point of view, we need that drive for success - we need a recruiter who is top of their game so that we don’t lose out on the best candidates. It also means that when a candidate starts with us, they are enthused and optimistic.

How would you rate the calibre of candidates put forward for your vacancies?

We only get credible candidates which is a huge time saver. As I mentioned earlier, Nikki is brilliant at understanding our culture and ethos, and only seems to put candidates forward who are a brilliant match.

What feedback would you give us? 

Nikki understands us, and who we are, so the candidates she finds us are always who we need culturally as well as skillset wise.

Working with Exceda has been what we’ve needed. We now know the processes are how they should be. Nikki is good at what she does, she’s a massive part of our growth. 

Without this service, I don’t know where we would be. This is now a vital part of our business. 

Every industry is struggling. Being proactive and embedding recruitment in the business has been vital. In such difficult times, we have to do something to put ourselves ahead of the competition and this is our way of doing so. 

I speak to a lot of clients who say they need a certain type of employee but there aren’t any available. I think there are people, but they are difficult to find, and then attract. You really have to invest in the process, become an employer of choice, and look creatively at all parts of the process, such as your engagement with prospects on social media sites and networking, etc, your PR, all kinds of things. It takes time and effort, but with partners like Exceda, the results can make it very worthwhile.

For anyone considering working with Exceda in future I would say that they should. They’ll help you put in much-improved disciplines around retention and help you get ahead of your competition.

Recruitment and retention are the most important things when it comes to business success. 

Exceda is better than any other. 

So, what does the future hold? 

There’s no end in sight for our need to recruit. 

Whenever we hire, it always seems to generate opportunities for us. It’s a positive cycle that Exceda will be a key part of. 

You can find out more about Elsby by visiting their website. 

If you’d be interested in working with Exceda then you can find out more about our services here. If you’d like to arrange a call then email Nikki via nikki@exceda.co.uk.