Hear from one of Hong Kong's award winning boutique international recruitment agencies on their plans for expansion and what they look for when hiring Recruitment Consultants internationally.

1. Recruiter Abroad - London to
the Cayman Islands and now
CEO of Hong Kong
headquartered GRMSearch
Pro Recruitment Solutions: International Recruitment to
Recruitment (Rec2Rec) experts

2. GRMSEARCH
UK Entrepreneur Rob Green tells Pro Recruitment Solutions
about his experiences from recruiting in London and the
Cayman Islands to setting up an award winning recruitment
agency (GRMSearch) with offices in Hong Kong, Johannesburg,
Tokyo and Melbourne.

3. Pleasetellus aboutGRMSearchandwhatthe
keyareasofexpertisearewithinyourbusiness.
GRM is a recruitment and executive search firm, which also offers talent
intelligence, talent acquisition and advisory services. We are headquartered in
Hong Kong and we are steadily building our global footprint.
We are a company that has hard work and enjoyment as core foundations of our
business. Recruiting is a tough, tough business these days, so you have to enjoy it –
if you don’t it’s a lonely place. At GRM we make sure we bring people into the
family that have a real passion for people and deal making.
We are driven by our people, so we make sure we give them everything they need
to succeed: infrastructure, training, support, top clients, head-hunters, admin,
finance – whatever they need to give our clients and candidates the very best
service in the market. Our thought process is if we look after our people, they will
look after their clients better.
Currently our core specialist areas of staffing are legal, front office finance,
insurance and technology, but we have identified 11 other practice areas we are
keen to bring on.
We are a generalist agency staffed by specialists. Five of our legal recruiters are ex
Solicitors/Barristers, our Insurance Consultants have worked in Insurance, as have
our Banking Consultants, and our IT Consultant in Tokyo has lectured on IT
Engineering at Tokyo University.

4. Whenlookingathiringsomeone,whatarethe3main
areasyoufocusontodeterminewhethertheywillfitin
withyourbusiness?
Planning, Time management, Attitude (and creativity if we are
allowed a 4th!!)
Perseverance, customer care and closing skills are also vital to a
consultant, but the three above are the ones we look for
initially.

5. Howwould youdefinethecultureatGRMSearch
andwhathas enabledyou toattracttopsenior
talentthus far?
The culture at our firm is loyal, open, sharing, caring,
hardworking and honest. We don’t do gossip or politics.
I think my openness and honesty is what attracts people in an
interview. They can feel my passion for the business, the fact
that it’s a privately owned business and every client, candidate
and employee matters to us.
We give people every tool they need to succeed and provide
continued support. I always say, if you give me 100% every day,
I’ll give you 110%. The atmosphere in the offices is one of
achievement, all GRM’ers have pride in their work and they
come in every day to excel.

6. Whatarethekeydifferentiatorsbetween
recruitinginHongKongvs. othermarketssuch
asthe UKandAustralia?
The pace of change is the biggest one. Asia is moving at light speed,
faster than anything I have seen working the UK or US markets, and
certainly a lot quicker than Australia. Clients and candidates can
change at the drop of a hat.
The financial markets are the biggest key to recruitment in Asia. When
I first got here, one of our clients, a Global Chairperson of a major Law
firm, said to me over lunch that I would never know a market that is
ruled by its stock market like Hong Kong. One day the markets are up
and they need something, the next they are down and the world is
coming to an end.
The attitude towards recruitment as a profession is also different. Its
not really something you “fall into” over here. It’s a respected
profession with good entry level and grad level schemes, good training
and great pay/career paths.

7. AfterservingyourtimewithahighlyregardedUKrecruitmentfirminEngland,
youmovedtotheCaymanIslands.Canyougiveusaninsightintostrategically
whyyoumadethatmoveandwhattherecruitmentmarketislikethere?
Personally, I left London as it was time for a change of scene. I am a Londoner, born
and bred and at the age of 29 I wanted to challenge myself overseas.
Professionally, leaving a very hierarchical City firm and joining a small one-man
band in the middle of the Caribbean Sea was just the challenge I needed at that
stage in my career. I am always in admiration of people who move to difficult
countries, and although the Caribbean sounds idyllic, it has its problems. And it
worked out well - we built the company up from four people to over 30; I became a
Partner and brought the firm to Asia, and I ended up buying out the partners
entirely, and that’s when GRM was born.
The Offshore recruitment market is an interesting one. It’s small and very
relationship driven; many have tried it and failed, but if you get it right it can be a
good one to work. You have a lot of “unknowns” like the specific islands
Government and whether they are favourable to expat workers (there is never
enough local candidates), to hurricane season, to the financial markets to the
global view on “tax havens”. In recent years, due to increased competition in
recruitment, some “on island” suppliers have wrongly (in my opinion) dropped their
fees to ridiculously low levels, in order to compete – a strategy that has turned off
many excellent recruitment providers and a short term solution that could harm
the recruitment sector offshore.
GRM has always been linked to the offshore world and it’s certainly a market that is
in our growth plans.

8. Youhavesetupanumberofofficesnowindifferent
locations,whatarethekeystepsyoutakeinorderto
ensuretheywillbesuccessful?
The person, the person, the person. The first key step is making sure
you attract the right person as its head, someone who shares our
beliefs, our goals and our values as a service provider and an employer.
Next is that their specialist practice area must fit into our portfolio,
either an existing offering or a complimentary one.
We then spend many months working on a realistic plan for the first
three years with specific targets to be met. Then we build a structure,
a team and a framework around that person to allow them to get on
with it and start generating revenue.
Our growth to date has all been done organically, we don’t have any
debt, no overdraft/loans, and everything we have done is debt free.
This will continue. If we make money, we reinvest, in our people, our
clients and candidates and our services.

9. In2009andyoumovedtoHongKong,what
wordsofwisdomwould you giveto anyaspiring
recruitersconsideringa moveto theregion?
Come with an open mind, and admit you may not know
everything. Come expecting to be challenged, that Asia is
moving quicker than then rest of the world and just focus on
your own output – give it everything you have and you’ll be a
success.
Remember – balance is the key, enjoy yourself but work hard
too.

10. What do you love most about living in
Hong Kong?
It’s where my kids were born, the friends we have made, my
colleagues, and the view from my house.
The opportunity it presents if you work hard.
The excitement in the City – this place is alive!
The best thing about HK is that it’s given my colleagues and me
the chance to build and grow GRM. Asia is a continent that
embraces success, if you do well, people like it – it’s not a
continent where people are pessimistic and waiting for you to
fall. Asia is a fantastic, ambitious place that encourages success.
I feel enthused everyday I come to work, to strive to be better,
every single day.

11. Youhavebeengrowingyearonyearatarapid
rate,whatdo youseeasthe futurefor
GRMSearch?
Our future depends on retaining our people and ensuring we continue
to attract the best out there.
If we can retain our best performers and encourage the best to join us
I can keep investing in them through training and development.
If we continue to have success then we can look at new offices and
practice areas. There are not many firms out there that have seen the
organic growth we have in the past two years, with four new practice
groups and three new offices. To continue this into London, New York,
the rest of the US, plus Sydney, mainland China, mainland Europe,
more offices in Africa and Central and South America (not forgetting
the Caribbean) will depend on who we can attract. If we find the right
people, we will commit to giving them the right framework and
support in order to have success and grow, and they of course will
need their own personal desire to succeed. I will open anywhere if we
can find the right person.
If we get that right we can be truly global.

12. Interested in moving to Hong
Kong?
Get in touch with us today to find out what opportunities are
waiting for you!
charlotte@prorecruitmentsolutions.com
dualta@prorecruitmentsolutions.com
+44 (0) 207 993 5659
www.prorecruitmentsolutions.com