the hot seat
Chris Herrmannsen, Group Managing Director, Ochre House Ltd
Ochre House provides creative solutions in recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), strategic resourcing and specialist recruitment. Our consultancy led services are delivered through a group of companies, each with a clear expertise within its niche market. By working together, Ochre House offers a unique portfolio of services designed to meet the specific needs of our clients. Ochre House employs 190 professionals across a network of offices in the UK and abroad (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland). As experts in recruitment and outsourcing, we provide all the resources, systems and tools an organisation needs to develop leading-edge capability and expertise in the recruitment of top talent.
What was your first job?
Making kites and selling them to friends, aged 11
What attracted you to the recruitment sector?
The recruitment sector is a meritocracy. It promotes and rewards individualism, talent and above all high performance.
What advice would you give to Consultants starting their recruitment career?
Plan ahead, understand what you need to do to be successful; next week, next month and next year.
What’s the greatest challenge facing your business now?
Attracting and retaining the best talent in our industry.
Who is the best manager you have ever had?
Those who truly believe in empowerment. Great managers can spot talent and unlock the full potential of anyone with talent and drive, without over-managing the person.
Who do you most admire/been your greatest mentor?
I have always been inspired by quotes from Jack Welsh, the former CEO of GE. The best one I can remember is: “Control your destiny, or someone else will”.
Who would you want with you on a desert island?
No offence, but not anyone from the recruitment industry.
What is the main key performance indicator that you monitor in your business?
Growth and productivity, often measured as fee/fee earner over any given period.
What’s your worst habit and how have you overcome it?
Being too direct. Still working on it….
What’s been your best business decision?
It is impossible to reduce this to one decision. Success is incremental and the result of hundreds of decisions…hopefully where you get more right than wrong.
What’s been your biggest regret?
Not starting my own (recruitment) business 15 years ago.
What’s your greatest financial indulgence?
Houses. I’m a frustrated architect and have spent far too much money and time buying, building or renovating interesting properties. The most recent being a timber beach house in Dungeness, Kent.
What do you drive?
Porsche Cayenne Turbo
What time do you start work?
8 am.
What gadget can’t you live without?
None.
How do you relax?
By escaping to one of my properties.
