JCW Search

JCW Search

• Rank: 1
• Headquarters: New York
• Top staffing segment(s) served: Finance/accounting
• 2019 US staffing revenue: $16.3 million
• Compound annual growth rate 71.7%
• Website: www.jcwresourcing.com

Treating workers well and having a great process in place are keys to growth at JCW Search, the fastest-growing staffing firm on this year’s list.

“We are good at creating an environment that people want to turn up to every day to work hard, to be successful, and - crucially in recruitment - they don’t want to leave,” CEO Jamie Woods says. JCW Search has an extensive training program, offering guidance to internal workers whether they are just starting or seasoned veterans of staffing.

The company follows a philosophy of “explain and retain.” Workers are trained and understand what they must do to be successful. And the training happens at all levels, from those who are just starting - it largely hires new grads - to those staffing industry veterans.

And taking care of employees means that they stay longer and take better care of customers. Chief Commercial Officer Et Halstead says the company has a 90% retention rate in its New York office over the past four years, and all of its senior managers in New York joined the company as graduates.

“The longer you keep someone in the job, the better they get at it,” he says.

But taking care of workers is just one factor driving growth. JCW Search also focuses on processes. Woods describes it as “almost like a factory line,” which helps people know how to do their jobs and be successful. People are managed consistently and there is no ambiguity about what constitutes great performance.

The real differentiator between staffing firms is how effectively they are run over a period of time, Woods says.

Woods started the company in London during 2007 with a focus on what some considered an unexciting area: governance staffing. It was an underinvested area prior to 2008. Firms weren’t taking risk and compliance seriously. But when the wave of regulations hit, JCW Search was one of the few firms specializing in that field. Governance positions include heads of compliance, who make sure the bank or financial institution is following rules; risk management, which includes workers looking into credit risk, who decide whether a financial institution should give another company a $100 million loan; IT security; and business continuity.

The company still gets a majority of its revenue from governance. However, in 2012 it opened an office in New York and now also has offices in Texas and Los Angeles.

In addition to keeping workers, the company also focuses on customer retention; 80% of its revenue comes from repeat clients. And it welcomes difficult-to-fill positions.

“You don’t really build credibility with the client by filling very easy positions,” Halstead says.

While Covid-19 is hitting the staffing industry hard, the company still expects to earn a profit this year.

And for the long term? “My expectation is that when the recovery comes, it will be pretty huge,” Woods says.