Coaching for the people who run recruiting.

Retainer-based support for heads of talent, directors and TA managers. Real-time help with the decisions you cannot take to your own team, and the ones only you can make.

Leading recruiting is the loneliest job in the function.

Nobody to think out loud with

Your team looks to you for the answer and your executives want the answer already formed.

The numbers do not land

You have the data but not the framing, so the business hears cost rather than capability.

Structural calls with no do-over

Org models, headcount cases and operating rhythms that are expensive to get wrong and hard to reverse.

How the coaching actually works.

A typical retainer is two to four hours a week: one or two live, the rest spent on research and preparation so the live time is worth having.

Step 1

Agree the priorities

We start with what is actually on your plate this quarter and which of it only you can do.

Step 2

Work the real problems

Live sessions on the business case, the org design, the executive conversation or the metric that is not landing.

Step 3

Prepare between sessions

Research, drafting and analysis done offline, so you walk into the room with something built rather than an idea.

What you get out of it.

Support aimed at the parts of the job you cannot delegate.

Strategy you can defend

A talent strategy that survives contact with a finance review.

Business cases that land

Headcount and investment arguments framed the way your executives buy.

Org model decisions

How to structure the function for the hiring you actually do.

Metrics that persuade

A small set of numbers that answer questions the business is asking.

Executive conversations

Preparation for the meetings where your credibility is set.

Change management

Getting a new process adopted rather than announced.

Program deployment

Bar raisers, training rollouts and hiring standards, planned properly.

A second opinion

Somebody outside your reporting line who will tell you when you are wrong.

How the retainer runs.

Live coaching

One to two hours a week of video time, focused on what is live for you now.

Offline preparation

Two to three hours of research, analysis and drafting behind each session.

On call between

The short questions that come up between sessions, answered when they matter.

Most TA leaders are one good conversation away from a much better decision.

John has coached talent leaders through org redesigns, executive reviews and first ninety days for twenty years.

Teams who changed how they hire.

Quotes from the teams who have run this programme.

Bloomberg

He really understood our problems, culture, and opportunities, and made the content really relatable and actionable.

Recruiting Manager

The Gap

Best sourcing training I have had in my entire career.

Senior Recruiter

Illumina

I found a ton of value in every slide, every conversation, every tool shared.

Senior Recruiter

Amazon.com

Feedback was great, professional, entertaining, and respectful of their intelligence and time.

Recruiting Director

Slack

This has been one of the best trainings I have taken, after having worked 21 years in the industry.

Recruiting Director

Disney

Awesome content and applicability. I left with a toolkit to be a better leader.

Recruiting Manager

Starbucks

I can leave today and immediately implement these strategies and tools.

Tech Hiring Manager

Google X

Amazing. Worth every penny. Highly recommend.

Recruiting Leader

Nike

Engaging, credible expert who spoke our language. Extremely helpful to move this organization forward.

Recruiting Director

FAQs

The questions buyers ask before committing. Replace with the ones you actually get.

A half day or a full day in person, or two to three live virtual sessions. We recommend a shape once we have seen your interview loop.

Always. We build around your real roles, levels and hiring bar. Off the shelf is not what we do.

We cap most sessions near 20 so everyone practises and gets feedback. Larger groups run as multiple cohorts.

It depends on format, group size and how much tailoring is involved. Tell us the shape you need and we will give you a number.

You keep the guides and scorecards. Most teams add a follow-up once the new process has run a few real loops.

Free tools to start with.

Three diagnostics you can run on your own hiring this week, before you talk to anyone, including us.

  • Hiring Manager Maturity Model

    A self assessment that shows where your hiring managers actually sit today, and what moving them up a level would be worth.

    Get the download

  • Talent Advisor Self-Assessment

    Two diagnostic guides to check whether your recruiters are really operating as talent advisors, or just taking orders faster.

    Get the download

  • Interviewing Effectiveness Diagnostic

    A diagnostic you can run on your own interview loop this week, built from work with thousands of hiring managers.

    Get the download

Contact us

Tell us what is not working in your hiring. If we are not the right answer we will say so, and point you at who is.