Jane Wylie-Roberts – Stafffinders
Jane Wylie-Roberts is the Chief Executive of Stafffinders. Stafffinders was established in January 1971 and was one of the first recruitment agencies in Scotland. Staffinders work with a number of high profile global businesses providing staff on both a temporary and permanent basis, as well as working with hundreds of smaller local businesses both for one-off assignments and regular requirements. Staffinders work across 24 specialist divisions and have a team of consultants who have an in-depth knowledge of their sectors, knowledge of pay scales, candidate availability and industry specific knowledge. Jane took over as CEO in 2006. The turnover of the business was £1.9 million at the start of the course.
Jane felt stuck with her personal development. She had considered MIT and Babson but couldn’t afford to take time out of the business and also felt as her business was not in technology they might not be directly relevant. When she heard of the Growth Advantage Programme she felt it really filled a gap in Scotland for training for growth businesses. The weekends worked well cutting down the time out of the business and Jane appreciated the opportunity to reflect in between the workshops.
The Impact
The turnover of Stafffinders has grown by over £800k solely on the learnings from the course. Jane made the following changes and improvements:
- Implemented a new structure in the business.
- Refurbished the Paisley office which boosted staff morale and had a direct impact on customers.
- Revolutionised the time sheet system. This came out of the module on processes looking at how to make the business more efficient and fill gaps. Temps now check in online using GPS. Clients have a site to monitor information. Automated emails are sent to temps and clients and text messages are also utilised.
- Jane worked on LinkedIn maximising updates which led to more business. Social media was improved. A direct result of this was a contract with a global drinks company in Austria and the placing of someone in Australia.
Jane is projecting a turnover of just under £3 million this year with an ambition to grow to £6 million in three years.
The Team
Jane very quickly released two staff who did not buy into the new strategy and has taken on nine new full time team members.
Jane used diagnostic tools and spent a lot of time with the senior management team looking at how they could take ownership of what they do. She has taken on a number two which has liberated her from the day to day to really grow the business. The focus is firmly on the growth strategy.
The Network
The cohort were valued equally to the university learning in Jane’s eyes providing an invaluable network. In addition, Jane made contacts with guest speakers at the masterclasses and used them to gain advice.
Personal Development
Jane felt the course made her look at things in a different way. It gave her the confidence to make changes instantly. She had felt bored, fed-up and frustrated but now feels revitalised and carries a little black book with ideas for improvement. Jane admits to having made more changes and improvements in eight months than at any other time in the business.
In her words, "It was fantastic to keep learning about business in such a supportive environment. I can’t believe what I didn’t know but do now. Oh - and I have also started another business Kingpin International serving the international tax market"
- This case study was prepared by Evelyn McDonald, Chief Executive of Scottish EDGE and Small Business Charter assessor.
