BEST PROFESSIONAL SERVICES RECRUITMENT AGENCY 2018

Winner: DMJ Recruitment

DMJ Recruitment specialises in placing legal and company secretarial professionals into private practice and in-house clients. It has signed a preferred recruitment partner agreement with a professional institute (ICSA: The Governance Institute). As part of this agreement, DMJ was asked to increase the profile of the profession among students and graduates interested in a company secretarial or governance career. At the end of 2016, the company launched Insight Days, a CPD-accredited initiative that offers students and graduates the chance to spend half a day with a prestigious host organisation to learn about the role and responsibilities of a company secretary.

• The agency saw an impressive 51% increase in profits in 2015/16 and £1m net profit in 2016/17.

• DMJ has worked with insurance company Aviva as part of an internal transformation plan for its company secretarial/governance function, for which Aviva found difficult to attract and retain talent. DMJ has since assisted Aviva in implementing its longer-term strategy to retain its best talent, appoint high-calibre individuals and assist those being managed out.

• A case study of a challenging vacancy that DMJ has filled is the role of UK head of legal and company secretary at Bank of Georgia. The company managed a successful hire, improved internal practices and a positive recruitment experience.

• An example of excellent client service involves work with Tesco, which approached DMJ to help it with hires in its company secretarial/legal function. DMJ worked with the client on role profiles and eventually successfully placed five people on the team.

• A case study of excellent candidate service over the year is its work with a business law graduate seeking an alternative career. DMJ suggested the idea of her becoming a company secretary, and worked with her on obtaining a permanent role.

• Innovation during this period is shown by the Insight Days initiative that DMJ started to raise awareness of the governance profession among students and graduates. Benefits include increased student membership for ICSA, development of the future pipeline of candidates for DMJ and increased awareness of the brand in the market in which it operates.

Judges’ Comments:

“The winner demonstrated a clear link between valuing its own employees and business success… Taking the long-term view pays off.”