Our CEO – Declan O’Sullivan – attended the interview with theadreview.com where he discussed about what it takes to lead and transform through the challenging times.
First of all, how are you and your team doing in these COVID-19 times?
It’s fortunate that I and my team are in great shape despite the pandemic and challenging times. My team has been growing in size as we continue to hire. You are invited to read more about us and to express your interest in
joining us. Though the recruitment industry suffers quite a lot because an increasing number of companies adopt headcount freeze and thus stop recruiting, the fact that we had a record Q1 of the year 2021 and an outstanding year 2020 is extremely rewarding.
Tell us about you, your career, how you founded or joined this company?
Originally from Ireland and having lived and worked in the United States, Japan, and Australia, I am settled down in Singapore with my family members and am a Singapore citizen. After opening a subsidiary of a recruitment firm here in Singapore in 1996, I founded Kerry Consulting in 2003.
How does your company innovate?
Thanks to the very experienced team that we have here at Kerry Consulting, we have been able to adopt technologies to certain processes, which were otherwise manual, that improve productivity across the board. The innovative
ideas generally come from our active listening to our partners and candidates closely. This feedback loop then translates into the continuous heavy investment to provide our services efficiently.
How the Coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?
The pandemic struck everyone by surprise, including us. When the Singaporean government announced the Circuit Breaker (i.e. lockdown) in April 2020, we had to work from home and adapt to the new normal quickly as this wasn’t done prior. That being said, our overall revenue and profitability were not affected as the professionalism, seniority, and maturity of the team played a critical part. Recently, the Singaporean government announced that up to 75% of the total workforce can return to the office, we are certainly looking to the very busy year of 2021 and beyond.
Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?
Boy Scout as a child. Motto: “Be prepared”. We were and are team quality, emphasis on long-term relationships, industry, and functional diversity, capital base, all combined to allow us to simply “sail on” through the storm. Nothing really new in this.
What specific tools, software, and management skills are you using to navigate this crisis?
As our partners and candidates moved online and utilize various latest technologies, the team at Kerry Consulting had to quickly learn the relevant tools and technologies such as Zoom or Microsoft solutions. Having learned from the past events such as the economic downturn, global financial crisis, Asian financial crisis, SARS, just to name a few, the management, for many years, has always been prepared to ride out any possible storms. That aside, I also learned that communication has been key, such as how to communicate to the team about the situation and yet to remain calm and steady.
Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?
Our competitors are the top 5 global firms and a range of mass-market selection firms. We stay in the game by being true to our core focus – service quality. Additionally, the outstanding consultants and support team coupled
with a solid capital structure and base that we have are absolutely critical parts of our competitive advantages.
Your Final Thoughts
It is a pleasure to have this opportunity and conversation with you. We are looking to the brighter times ahead and the end of this pandemic, which has been an unfortunate event for many. Thank you for the interview request.
The details of the interview can be found here: https://www.theadreview.com/meet-declan-osullivan/