#12: Recruiting and Retention Strategies for Midsize Companies with Sarah Englade

 “The days of companies calling all the shots are gone. Top talent now has expectations, and it’s up to employers to meet them.”

 In this Brewing Business with Brady, Mason Brady sits down with Sarah Englade, the founder of Monarch Talent Solutions, to discuss recruiting and talent retention for growing businesses. Sarah shares her expertise on how companies can navigate today’s competitive job market, highlighting practical strategies to attract top talent and avoid common recruitment pitfalls. 

With a focus on the importance of company culture, empathy, and strategic hiring, Sarah’s insights are valuable for business owners looking to build resilient, high-performing teams.

Key Takeaways:

• Today’s candidates value empathy and flexibility from employers as much as competitive pay.
•  Long, inefficient hiring processes lead to lost opportunities. Candidate-friendly processes are key.
• A strong online presence and positive culture attract both clients and top talent.
•  Specialized recruiters act like a sales force for talent acquisition, making hiring more effective.

Connect with Sarah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-englade/

Visit Monarch Talent Solutions: https://monarchtalentsolutions.com/

Connect with Mason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/masonbrady/

Visit BradyCFO: https://www.bradycfo.com/

If you enjoyed the episode, please be sure to rate, review, and of course, SUBSCRIBE!

LEAVE SOME FEEDBACK: If you enjoyed the series, please rate and review!

Have a business growth question you'd like Mason to cover in an upcoming episode? Email: info@bradycfo.com

Transcript

Mason Brady (00:01.52)
Hi everybody. Welcome back to another episode of accelerating lower middle market value. I am really excited about today's Sarah and Glade that Sarah and I have been friends for, for what is it now Sarah, probably about a year and a half. Yeah. Awesome. And, you know, recently I moved to Houston and Sarah is one of my first friends in Houston. So she's got a special place in my heart that, but Sarah is a really, she is an absolute,

Sarah Englade (00:14.368)
Yeah, year and a half.

Mason Brady (00:29.738)
world of knowledge in regards to recruiting and talent retention. So we're super excited to have her here on the show today. And let me give a little bit of background about Sarah for you all that in today's business and competitive landscape, attracting and retaining top talent is crucial for growth and success. So that's why it's really important for our audience to understand recruitment strategies are more important than ever that,  one of the big things that we've talked about in several other episodes of this podcast is how important

and having the right people for your company is and how that builds value for your company that you cannot carry the load on your own as a business owner. So we're thrilled to have Sarah on the show today. She's the owner and founder of Monarch Talent. Sorry, Cindy cut that real quick. We are thrilled to have Sarah Englade, the owner and founder of Monarch Talent Solutions on the show today. Sarah's extensive experience in recruiting, senior level and mid -executive talent coupled with her commitment to humanizing

Keyword there, humanizing the recruitment process makes your insights valuable for both employers and job seekers. Sarah will share essential tips on hiring the right people, avoiding common recruitment pitfalls and preparing candidates to excel in a competitive job market. Whether you're looking to build a strong team or stand out as a candidate, this episode is packed with actual advice to help you succeed. Sarah, thanks so much for joining us today.

Sarah Englade (01:50.381)
Thank you for having me. I'm excited about this.

Mason Brady (01:53.144)
Awesome. Yeah, me too. Me too. so yeah, let's kick it off for the audience here that, you know, what are the key factors in your opinion, Sarah? What are the key factors that companies should focus on when trying to attract top talent for senior level and mid executive roles that, know, I think this is one of the key things that so many are thinking about that. How do I keep these people? I'm spending a bunch of money, especially in the recruitment process, right? Like it's not necessarily a cheap process in terms of recruiting and finding somebody. And so.

Sarah Englade (02:10.931)
Mm

Sarah Englade (02:19.552)
Yep.

Mason Brady (02:21.082)
They want to make sure that I'm going to get an ROI on my investment. How do they ensure that they retain that talent?

Sarah Englade (02:28.854)
You have to be competitive. So the biggest thing is, I think that for a lot of companies that haven't had to hire in a long time, that are entering into a market like 2024, anything after the pandemic really, is understanding how much has changed for candidates. So a lot of ego has to be checked at the door for companies. And most companies have realized that, but there are still some companies right now that are finally able to get back to hiring. And they need to really understand the market and trust

Mason Brady (02:29.029)
All right.

Sarah Englade (02:58.474)
the information that they're getting from whether it's a headhunter or a recruiter or even just candidates that are interviewing when they're offering up expectations for whether it's salary, flexibility, scheduled runway for where they want to be five years from now, like really being open -minded to that because so much has changed. There's a lot of changed with the mindset of candidates. It's really not, it's no longer the days where companies call all the shots. It's not.

And they're realizing that by how hard it is during the interview, trying to attract these folks to their team and realizing that like, wow, now candidates actually have demands too. And their demands aren't extreme. Like they're really not. Now they're just common things like having empathy and understanding. A lot of people have families having the, know, trust from their employer that if they need to leave work or come in a little bit late because it's family things that that's acceptable. Like there's...

No longer like the micromanagement, clock watching. That's not a thing anymore. Like it's not acceptable and very top talent will leave because of those reasons. So you could attract them in, but if you start kind of treating them like they're kids, basically, they're not going to stand for that. They have tons of headhunters, tons of recruiters in their inbox on LinkedIn and they will jump ship. They just will. No longer also is the day of like...

resumes having like two jobs for 10 years, like now from the pandemic, there's a lot of people that have accepted this new lifestyle of hopping. So that's another thing too, is, you know, understanding that that is actually now a thing. I'm having a hard time with that a little bit. I don't love the whole job hopping thing personally, but it is a lifestyle. It is something that when you talk to these folks who have started to do that since the pandemic, they have logical reasons to why they do it. So.

Mason Brady (04:51.044)
Yeah, no, I've, I've personally found when interviewing more candidates these days that I've seen job hopping and I agree that it's always been, you know, a perception that this is not good, but I find more and more like the reasons that they've given me have been very legitimate. I'm like, okay, that that's understandable. Obviously, you know, personally, it still raises a question in my mind, like, okay, but you know, why didn't you do some stronger vetting upfront? And I think that's been a learning experience that they're probably learning.

Sarah Englade (05:05.888)
Mm -hmm.

Mason Brady (05:18.192)
and they're going to bring to the next recruitment process of really vetting that out, right? That they left for, you know, for very good reasons. And so they're going to carry those learned experiences and say, well, yeah, I should be staying longer at a place. And so because I haven't, I'm going to make sure that the next time I come in, I'm going to really vet it. you really highlighted on a key point there and you know, kind of what we talked about, you know, in introducing you that you have this key theme for your business, you know, humanize it.

Sarah Englade (05:21.802)
Yeah.

Sarah Englade (05:36.266)
Mm -hmm.

Sarah Englade (05:45.206)
Mm

Mason Brady (05:45.72)
And you definitely talked about the theme of, you know, that candidates are looking for empathetic, caring employers that, you know, it doesn't sound like, okay, they're looking for a particular base package, you know, of pay, comp, et cetera. They're looking for people that ultimately care about them as people and that are willing to understand what's going on in their personal life. Be flexible with that. Be empathetic to that. Is that what I'm hearing?

Sarah Englade (05:54.738)
Mm

Sarah Englade (06:13.096)
Yeah, mean, compensation is still probably the number one thing that we're going to get from the candidates that I talked to regarding positions, but a very close second right there is that culture fit. It's the empathy. It's that they're looking for a long -term home. They're looking for a place where they can plant roots and stay and grow.

And so if you're showing red flags that you've got high turnover and you know, there's a lot of empty promises that are being made. And listen, like we always talk about this too, reputation is everything. And so for companies, they need to understand that people talk. So people that are working for your company are talking, good people know other good people. So, you know, the people that you're trying to attract in, if you're not kind of giving your employees the full package.

and being able to not only compensate them, but really have that empathetic piece where you're like, listen, we trust you, we hired you because you're so good at your job that all we care about is you doing your job. We don't care about if you need to come in a little bit later, leave a little bit early on certain days. We just want you to be able to feel comfortable here and know that we trust you to do the job we hired you to do. I think as long as that's there, you're going to be able to retain people for a very long time. They won't look. If they're being treated well, they won't leave your company.

Mason Brady (07:22.266)
Yep. Got it. Yeah. Fair. yeah. You know, tell us, you know, and I've been a part of experiences where, yeah, there's big expectations for the recruiting process. And sometimes you get like one candidate, across multiple months. Right. And, I think it does relate back to, you know, Hey, an employer needs to be a really attractive employer. And the more that the marketplace understands that you're probably going to get more candidates coming through the door. And so.

Sarah Englade (07:37.429)
You

Mason Brady (07:51.78)
that emphasis needs to be way before you actually enter a recruitment cycle, that there needs to be a lot of thought, you know, on the front end of just how you're building, you know, a company culture and company values and how your managers treat people. Like, you know, it comes down, you know, to what we're kind of talking about here is that Recruiting becomes a lot more successful with a higher ROI if you spend time on just better people management and better culture development. But I would like to understand tactically,

Sarah Englade (08:15.892)
Mm -hmm.

Mason Brady (08:20.666)
What are some common pitfalls companies face in the recruitment process and how can they overcome these challenges?

Sarah Englade (08:26.934)
I think the most common pitfall really is not understanding the exact skill set you need to hire for. There's a mindset that you need this because maybe that was the skill set a decade ago or whatever, but not really understanding the position that you need to hire for and then not having a process in place. So time kills all deals. We say that all the time in recruiting. Money loves time. Basically, it loves speed.

And so with, with hiring in good talent, if you have this crazy process that you're really making people jump through hoops in the space that I live in, I live in the accounting and finance space and we just don't have a lot of candidates, top talent. They're not going to jump through hoops for you anymore. They're going to show up to interviews. They're going to do one or two interviews, but they're not going to go and they're going to, they're not going to do personality assessments and skill assessments. They're not going to do four rounds of interviews all on site. They're not going to then do some kind of like weird.

project for you like they're not going to and if you expect them to that's cool. They'll do it up until another company comes in who has that process wrapped up in a pretty bow for them and that's the company that they're going to go ahead and accept a job for you're going to lose top talent if you're not willing to speed up your process, but make it a really crisp process. So the way that you treat your candidates from day one from that first pre -screen call where you're you know, just having a chat with them about the opportunity up until the day they start.

You know, I always tell people this, the first day of employment, once you make an offer to a candidate and you hire them, that is day one. So a lot of people will lose candidates between the time that they signed an offer letter to the two or three weeks out from when they start because there's a lack of communication. The employee no longer feels important or valued. They're confused. don't know where's the drug test, the pre -screen, the this, the that. I haven't heard from anybody. Those weeks of silence,

can make you lose your top talent because while they're confused sitting in limbo, even though they know they have a signed offer letter, other recruiters are still hitting them up. So you have to treat them well, like the way that you treat them from the day that you meet them on a resume and a pre -screen to the day they sign the letter to the day they start, all of that matters. You have to put the effort in to really make them feel like they are a true part of a team or at least their time is important and valued.

Mason Brady (10:52.036)
Yep. I agree that. And I mean, especially for our audience, like, you know, there's so many elements of value acceleration, how you build a more valuable business, but you know, two key fundamental elements build a really top, you know, tier culture, a company culture that includes a strong leadership team, accountability, delegation, and empowerment of your actual people. That is really critical that you're building that out, but then also that there's

Sarah Englade (11:11.67)
Mm

Mason Brady (11:18.394)
good quality systems and procedures so that people know how to move through particular stages of a business, particular activities that people know what they're supposed to do so that they actually, in terms of that ownership and accountability, they know that this is how our recruitment process looks, but then it gives them the ability to know what the stages are of how do I make this decision, how do I follow through on this decision, and I'm empowered to make this decision, but this is how I make the decision ultimately.

Sarah Englade (11:47.168)
Yeah. Yep.

Mason Brady (11:47.802)
Yeah, that theme of leadership, delegation, accountability, systems and processes, right? You're speaking both languages here in terms of how we actually build a valuable business. So really appreciate that. And I'm going to take a little bit of a turn here, Sarah, that I think for our audience, and especially I'm aware that I'm working with them, and especially our company on the finance side, we find that this is a common thing that comes up or a common phrase.

Sarah Englade (11:52.928)
Mm -hmm.

Mason Brady (12:14.306)
A recruiter is expensive, right? That, you know, is incredibly expensive investment. You know, and oftentimes they say, let's just do the posting online and see what we come up with first. What is your response to this and how should a business owner understand and evaluate the ROI of an investment in a recruiter?

Sarah Englade (12:16.608)
Yeah.

Sarah Englade (12:32.98)
Yeah, we get that too, a lot. But listen, I always say this, recruiters get paid the big bucks because the job is that difficult. At the end of the day, when you think about it, a lot of the hiring managers that I partner with, they're going to be either controllers, CAOs, CFOs, HR, VP, directors. Those jobs, their main job isn't to hire.

their main jobs are very different. It's usually like the health of the company in the financial space. Like that's a lot of work to be responsible for the financial health of a company. Those, that's the main responsibility, them managing their team, overseeing their team, making sure they're hitting deadlines. Hiring right now, it is a full -time job. It's not just 40 hours for us to find candidates for just one open position. It takes work. It's not just posting a position because listen, ask anybody, okay? Cause we let these...

We do the same thing with new clients that actually call us and say, hey, we want to partner, but I don't think that we can afford you. We're just going to post it on our own. We'll like say, okay, you do that. Let us know how it goes. I'm going to call you in two weeks. And in two weeks, if you haven't seen any candidates, are you going to be open to partnering with me? Yes. And they always end up partnering because the truth of the matter really is once you post a position, 99 .2%, I don't know, I'm just making that number up, but it's very high.

of the applicants that are applied, they don't even qualify for your position. They don't even come close. They don't. It takes true head hunting skills. head hunters are not farmers. We are head hunters. We hunt. So for us, we're constantly making relationships and our relationship building doesn't just start when we get a new reckon, a new job order. We don't start hunting then. We've been hunting the whole time. That's part of the job. So we have these relationships with candidates that like for me, I've been recruiting for 12 years in the accounting and finance and HR space. So

My network's very big. So I just go directly to my network first before I actually go on the true hunt of trying to find new talent to attract them to have a conversation with me to possibly leave for another opportunity. But we go to our networks, they're already built. So we have them in our systems. For me, I'm super organized. So I've got my candidates broken down from skill set to industry to compensation to part of town that they live in and here in Houston. So it's pretty seamless.

Sarah Englade (14:47.254)
And then with the hunt too, this is all that we do. So recruiting is sales. So our job is to sell your opportunity and your company. And so we act as a true extension. So that in itself, the reason why you're paying recruiters so much is because we're literally going through anywhere from like 50 to a hundred. Anybody that says they go over that is crazy. It's probably like 50 to a hundred, maybe like 125 outreach attempts to candidates and

The response rate is low. takes a lot of time. You start having to have these conversations. You warm them up. You go through the vetting process of pre -screening them. We meet our candidates. So for me, I know everything about my candidates. know everything from personal things, like how many kids they have, vacations that they have coming up, the reasons why they left previous positions, the reason why we're having that conversation right now, what it's gonna take for them to leave. So.

That's the value that you're getting. You're getting someone that's able to tell you and present to you candidates that are going to tick off the boxes that are most important to you and be able to tell the story behind those candidates. So is it worth it? Yeah, because it's a time save because recruiting and hiring on your own when you're doing it for yourself, it's a full time job. unless you decide to take all of your job and pause it just to hire, which is going to take weeks anyways, I would suggest you spend the money on the investment because you're going to get the return back.

Mason Brady (16:13.606)
Well, think, you know, even as you were talking there, I think about it and you brought up the idea, like a recruiter is a sales position, right? And, especially like our audience is lower middle market. That usually includes business owners between that between five to 50 million in revenue. Like these aren't massive brands out there. And so, you know, what we find consistently is that a lot of business owners, like they don't have, you know, a strong online presence. and they talk about, you know, like marketing sales of if you're trying to get new clients that.

Sarah Englade (16:19.702)
Mm

Mason Brady (16:41.914)
hey, you can create content out there and the idea is that you create an inbound stream of potential customers and clients. Or, and or, you have a sales team that is actually going out into the marketplace and trying to talk to people. And so given that, what you just said that just like you would figure how you're trying to attract a new client and to get new revenue and new business, that if you don't have this massive

Sarah Englade (16:54.784)
Mm

Mason Brady (17:06.202)
brand out in the marketplace that you can go post a job at and you're going to get tons of qualified candidates. And even then, like you said, like you're going to get a bunch of people that apply that are nowhere near a good match. You need a recruiter like yourself that is going out in the marketplace on your behalf and is selling and hunting for you. Just as if you would, if you had a business development rep that is trying to...

Sarah Englade (17:24.299)
Mm -hmm.

Mason Brady (17:28.932)
go get new business and get, you know, they're doing a bit of marketing, right? Like they're going out and they're figuring out what's the target market, who do I need to talk to, what events do they go to, where are they living? And they're going on LinkedIn and trying to reach out to these people. The recruiter is gonna do the same thing for you except with talent, right? And I think that that perception is so important for people to understand that, you know, they go and they do a job posting and there's, you know, not a whole lot of success either with some crummy candidates or they're not gonna hold out lot of applicants since like, whoa,

Sarah Englade (17:37.471)
Yep.

Sarah Englade (17:43.67)
Exactly, 100%. That's what we do.

Mason Brady (17:58.054)
but nobody knows about your business, and especially in today's world. I personally feel like if you don't have a solid online presence in today's world, you're already lacking, like you're behind the scenes here, so.

Sarah Englade (18:07.702)
Yeah, you can't table that kind of stuff. I just had a conversation last week with a up and coming recruiter. Like, well, she is actually up and coming. She actually launched her own recruiting firm without having any recruiting experience, but from an industry that she came from, and she felt very confident that she could sell this industry. And her and I had a one -on -one and she was talking to me about my brand. And she was like, I love what you're doing. I don't think I'm quite ready to be at that place yet. And I was like, I'm going to give you one bit of advice. Do not table building a personal brand and a company brand.

Do not, it builds credibility. The first thing that I do and that most people do is if we're interested in, it doesn't matter. It could be a doctor, attorney, an accountant firm, whatever. What do we do? We Google them. We go to Google, we Google them, we pull them up on LinkedIn. And when you see the presence is there, it helps to build trust and credibility with your audience. So you have to have a strong brand.

as uncomfortable as that makes a lot of people, you just do. And I hate to break it to people too, when I actually explain it this way, like, I guess you're right. If you have any kind of social media platform anyway, if you have an Instagram, if you have a Facebook and you're active on those platforms, you already have a brand. So it's just about like streamlining the brand to a professional audience, right? But yeah, you gotta get comfortable.

Mason Brady (19:15.44)
Yep, yep, I agree.

Sarah Englade (19:25.044)
being uncomfortable building that brand because it doesn't come natural. It wasn't easy for me in the beginning either, but the more reps you put in, the more posts you create, the easier it is for you to find your voice. And then it helps you again, build your company, get a bigger audience. Yeah, you can't table that. You have to have a brand as a company and as even individuals working for the company.

Mason Brady (19:45.882)
Yeah, I think, yeah, for our audience to understand that, that the brand isn't just for client acquisition and from a, you know, a client marketing perspective, it is also for a recruitment perspective. And, people are going to make decisions as to who they work for. I mean, it's the same thing before, you know, I started my business that, yeah, if I was looking at a job and if the website was absolutely crummy, it already gave me a red flag that.

Sarah Englade (19:56.404)
Mm -hmm.

Sarah Englade (20:11.306)
Yeah, same.

Mason Brady (20:11.76)
my gosh, who could I be, you who could I be working for here that if they don't even, you know, try to put any effort into their online presence that could this be a dinosaur of a company that's not really growing, not innovative, not a place where I'm going to feel like I'm going to bring, you know, the best of me that I'm just going to be stifled with. This is the way we've always done it, et cetera, et cetera. Like, you know, and, and so that's already the sign that you're telling me if you have no existing online presence, no brand built. And so for our audience that.

Sarah Englade (20:28.501)
Right.

Mason Brady (20:37.83)
You know understand that the values that you make in regards to your marketing are not just from a client, you know acquisition standpoint it's also a a recruitment strategy that is also a Candidate acquisition standpoint a future higher acquisition standpoint It's just so important. So You know one question I have You know, and I've actually heard somebody say this Sarah that you know, there's no

Sarah Englade (20:55.094)
Definitely.

Mason Brady (21:03.556)
differences recruiter and their methods versus some of the big brands out there that, know, in the accounting finance space, like Robert Half is one, et cetera. There's some big brands for recruiting out there. And then you have, you know, like yourself, a much more boutique niche brand. And I actually heard from another recruiter say, my methods are no different. If you're paying for one of them, you're just paying for the brand. What's your take on this? there differences that?

you know, business owners should actually look for when trying to find the right recruiter for their company. What's your take on this?

Sarah Englade (21:38.016)
So I've worked for Robert Half. That's where I started my career was six and a half years. They gave me a great foundation to learn the science behind recruiting. I mean, they give you the foundation, but it's a business. For them, it's a great company and they've been in business for a really long time. So specifically in the accounting and finance space, that's really what they're known for. They have lots of different lines of businesses within that organization, but they're known for that piece. That's what I do, right? They're my competition.

What I can tell you is this, the concept of recruiting is the same. So, you know, it's about reaching out and having candidates respond back to you. That's how the whole thing works. The difference is, and I can say this wholeheartedly, is that in my experience and in my opinion, when I worked for larger firms, they were, again, a business. And so we needed to close job orders down because that's how we brought revenue in for our company. And so

Having that empathy and understanding on the candidate side, it lacked. For a lot of people, if you talk to candidates that have worked with those big, large firms, not just RobberHalf specifically, there's tons of humongous recruiting firms all over and we compete with them. And when you talk to candidates that have partnered with these firms in the past, they're going to tell you the exact same things because they all have the same experiences working with them.

the lack of communication, they feel as though they're not being heard, they're being pushed into positions and really being sold these roles that they know aren't a good fit. And when they're saying, I'm not interested, they're still being sold on it. And then they're feeling guilty. They're made to feel guilty when they're like, this is not the right role for me. Because you're not listening to what the candidate wants. You're more concerned with filling the job for the company.

And so I'm not saying they're all like that. There's some really good recruiters within these firms who really care about the whole cycle of recruiting. So they care about the client side. They care about the candidate side. They care about how they feel at the end of the day making that connection happen. But larger companies, they have less of that empathy piece and understanding the candidate side. I am like the candidate's recruiter. Like I was candidate driven my entire career. So I...

Sarah Englade (24:02.336)
had conversations with candidates constantly. understood their story. Some of their stories are really sad. You have to listen to them to really understand what they've been going through and what they don't want to keep going through to really help to guide them into the right opportunities. when you're working with a boutique firm, what you're going to hear is, because we are smaller, our relationships are tighter. We just have a better relationship with our candidates. All my candidates have my cell phone. We text. I'm not ghosting them. I respond back to them. I give them, and this is one of the things I get from me.

specifically one of the feedback pieces that is the most consistent is, Sarah, you're so honest because you're giving me not only just the good about the company, but you're giving me your honest opinion about the bad and the ugly. Like you're allowing me to make my own decision at the end of the day and you never make me feel guilty about it. And that's the truth because they're gonna know more about what's good for their career than I am. It's a gut feeling they're gonna feel before I feel it. I mean, it's not my job.

to understand what's going on in their head, but it's my job to listen to them when they say, I know long -term that this is not the right fit. So it's just about having a better relationship. Also with the larger firms, the other piece of this too is that they do have very high turnover. So if you're trying to build a relationship with a recruiter, it's hard to do with those larger firms because a lot of the time within a year or two, you're dealing with a new recruiter because...

They're no longer there. And that's common because again, going back to what we talked about, recruiting is sales and sales isn't for everybody. And when you're in recruiting, you're in the business of people and people are complicated. And so, you know, the industry isn't for everybody, but that's what you get from the larger firm. So yeah, in essence is recruiting, recruiting. Yes. But the person that's helping to make the connection, that's the difference. It's the, I guess it's the objective to getting to the offer.

which is the way we take the steps to get there, that's going to be the most different, honestly.

Mason Brady (26:02.064)
Yeah. And you know, even, I was thinking why you were saying all that, Sarah, that, you know, I relate it back, you know, I think a big part of this decision for business owners too, if I could add my opinion into it is like, it relates back to like, you know, I think why you and I are friends that I think there's some relatability here of, you know, I'm not trying to sound arrogant saying this, but you know, that we care about people. you know, we want to be as empathetic of people and leaders as possible, but

What I've really enjoyed about you is, you know, you're straightforward. Like you tell it like it is, you tell the truth and, know, there's a lot of people that don't know how to do that in a caring way. And either that or they don't do it. And they think that that's caring. And it's not that you want to be honest and give honest feedback, but also just the nature Sarah that you have a real hustle mentality too. Like you are a very hard worker and you're out there trying to build your business. I.

Sarah Englade (26:35.03)
Mm -hmm.

Sarah Englade (26:53.397)
Mm

Mason Brady (26:57.604)
I think, you know, those are things that like make me want to be a friend with you in that regards, because like there's relatability in that. And I think that for business owners, understanding the brand of the recruiter and you know, what they represent, like what are their core values and making sure that aligns with the values of your company too, because they're probably going to attract those similar types of people. Just as if like I've been, know, that, you know, Sarah and I have been friends that, she is going to attract those types of people that.

Sarah Englade (27:11.124)
Mm -hmm.

Sarah Englade (27:18.806)
That's right.

Mason Brady (27:27.532)
appreciate that in her as a recruiter and therefore would come to expect that from the business as well. And if they're not going to get that, there's a mismatch there that they're confused because all of a sudden they're getting experience with Sarah and the business owner is a entirely different experience or the CEO, et cetera. And the whole process is an entirely different experience. so I for business owners, you know, really understand what is the brand of the recruiter that you're working with and that aligns with.

Sarah Englade (27:46.153)
Yep.

Mason Brady (27:54.566)
you that they may be specialized in particular positions you're looking to fill, that still may not be the answer. That at the end of the day, you want people that follow your core values that are the culture fit that I guess this is my own personal opinion, but I always believed in, hey, hire 70 % of the way for skills, but 100 % of the way there for values. And if you do that, you can figure out the skills. There's a whole lot of things that can be trained out there. And so I would just encourage, from what you were saying and from my own personal experience that

Sarah Englade (28:14.186)
Yeah.

Mason Brady (28:24.006)
for business owners to find a recruiter that aligns with your values and your brand as a company. So, yeah.

Sarah Englade (28:28.31)
Sorry. Yeah, it's great advice. mean, and that's the biggest thing too. Also, when you're working with a much smaller firm, so like Monarch for my company, we don't say yes to every single company that calls us asking for help. We vet them. We want to see, they align with our values to your point? And we say no a lot of the time to be able to say yes to the right companies. And so that's another piece that you're getting to. And that's a big piece for candidates as well. A lot of the time when we're talking to candidates,

One of the biggest reasons candidates leave companies and they're open to having conversations and moving on is because they're leaving bad management. And so when they're working with a smaller firm, we really can be very picky and selective of the companies that we're going to be partnering with versus these bigger companies and these larger recruiting firms who they really don't care that much about it. They're just looking for, you know, a high volume of job orders to fill.

to be able to have as many starts on the board as possible. So that's really what their main thing is, where as we're looking for people to make career moves. And I always say this too, I'm gonna find a better way to say it eventually, but when I'm placing someone, I don't wanna hear from them again. I mean, I wanna hear from them to go and grab lunch and coffee, but like, don't wanna hear from them a year later saying, I hate it here, I wanna leave. We really care about placing them in long -term positions.

Mason Brady (29:43.152)
Yep. Yep.

Yep, yep. To that point, yeah, we've talked a lot about, and I think this conversation keeps coming back to a company understanding their own brand, trying to amplify that, understanding their own values that there's so much to be successful in recruiting and attracting talent and then retaining talent. There's so much that has to be done way before that. So yeah, can you kind of enhance for us that tactically?

What should companies be considering in order to enhance their employer brand to attract high quality candidates? Like what can they legitimately be doing that we've talked a lot about having online presence, but is it just that if it's that, what does that mean, sir? That yeah, can you kind of like help us break this down to tactical concepts here?

Sarah Englade (30:32.512)
Well, yeah, I think that that's probably the first piece of it is that you got to adopt getting on LinkedIn and start sharing information about your company, sharing even company events that you're doing and not like your Friday Pea Party and your casual Jean Day on Friday. No one cares about that anymore. things that you're doing that are there to be supportive of your staff, whether here in Houston, you'll see a lot of crawfish boils with the team and different things like that.

Companies and employees love that kind of stuff. Like just kind of having incentives for your staff and like showing that to your audience, saying like, we treat our people while our people are happy. But that online presence is gonna be really, really big. It really is. You have to spend the money and having someone manage your social media. And with companies, they don't necessarily need to be on Instagram or TikTok or anything like that. But being on LinkedIn and having a...

where you're constantly posting and engaging with your audience is going to be key. And then kind of going back to interviewing candidates.

The candidate experience matters. So even if you decide to pass on candidates, that's cool. They're not the right fit for your organization, but you want to make sure you're treating them very well because those people are going to go talk to other people that are going to talk to other people and going back to reputation. You have to have a really good reputation. You know, I only work in Houston and there's some really big companies here that used to have amazing reputations. I started recruiting 12 years ago and some of these companies, I was like,

really super impressed by them. Things that they offered their staff to keep them. mean, just like different things from compensation, LTI, STI, like lots of different stock options, like all this compensation piece, all this different stuff. Well, now years later, it's coming out. have a lot of high turnover. People are no longer staying just for the comp. It's because they're being treated like they're having handcuffed, like golden handcuffs to their desk and people are tired of it.

Sarah Englade (32:33.194)
So, you have to be able to evolve with the times. And so if you're able to go from a company that was pre -COVID and rigid to being able to evolve into a company that is showcasing a strong culture, you're gonna attract more people to wanna apply to your positions for sure. Tenure is a big one too on LinkedIn. So if you have a high turnover company, you really wanna start to wrap the, figure that piece out and fix it because on LinkedIn, you can go on your company.

page and look at insights and it will tell you the tenure of the people on your team, like the average tenure. And if you're looking at a company that has 50 employees and the average tenure is less than a year, that's a huge red flag. Nobody wants to join a company like that. And if they do, it's because they need a job desperately, but their plan is not to stay long -term. So you really have to kind of be very mindful of the way you treat your people. We can see it now by tenure.

And so if you're looking to attract, you really have to come forward with a strong brand, treat your people well, and they'll be able to see it. And that way you can have these people kind of apply to those positions that are posted that most people don't get good talent that will help your chances of that happening.

Mason Brady (33:43.846)
Yep. you know, we've talked, so we've talked a lot about the brand there. the other aspect that we've talked a lot about that, you know, we want to, I want to dive deeper into is the company culture that, you know, I think, you know, for a lot of business owners that company culture can be a pretty big term, right? That, you know, what, what, what does that mean? like it was, it was really interesting. I was a part of a group the other day where

Sarah Englade (34:03.296)
Yeah, it is.

Mason Brady (34:11.11)
somebody said that they were empathetic and that another person across the room said, what does that mean? And it was like, it's a fair question. A lot of people throw out that word like, yeah, I'm this or I'm that and I have emotional intelligence and it's like, what does that mean? Like, can we actually try to define that? I'm really interested because yeah, company culture is a vague concept, but what would you tell our audience that

in regards to company culture, what should they be doing in regards to forming that and then displaying that to make it attractive to future candidates? What should they be doing there?

Sarah Englade (34:51.926)
I think they have to start with their management team. I think a lot of companies where they fail is they put the wrong people in these leadership positions. You have to have strong leadership on your team because you have to have people that can lead by example. For instance, in the world that I come from, a lot of the time top producers will be moved into management roles because they were a top producer, but they were not made to manage people. At the end of the day, when you're a manager, you are literally there to make the people that

report up to you to make their lives easier. That's really your job. It's to listen to them. It's to solve their problems. That's your managing the team to make sure that your department is a well -oiled machine, basically. And so I think it really starts with investing in the management team and really helping to mentor them. Like for me, I was blessed with my first opportunity in recruiting to have...

company that believed in that. They believed in investing in continuous learning and they sent us to different things all over, honestly, different trainings where we were with other people that were our peers that were maybe in different locations that were at the same level, but we were challenged at these trainings to level up and to be better. And so I think companies that really believe in that piece, when your management team feels like they're being invested in, that's a trickle down effect.

That's going to help everybody else on your team. So culture is, and I think of this big thing with culture has been really twisted too since the pandemic. Cause I think a lot of the time automatically people think culture means hybrid or remote opportunity. And that's not what it means. It really just means having a strong foundation within the company, having managers that you are not scared to approach, having an opportunity to grow within a company, having honest conversations and having

Mason Brady (36:27.684)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Englade (36:44.726)
The ability to be able to deliver on your promises to your employees and not, we hear this a lot where candidates will let us know when we're having conversations about why they're looking to make a move. They'll say, was promised a raise. I was promised a promotion. I was promised this or that and they didn't deliver. That is the first sign that you have just completely broken the trust with your team.

Once the trust is broken, the culture is broken and those people are going to leave. So it really just has to do with having a strong management team, a team that's being invested in at the top for them to trickle down for everyone that reports up to them to feel it, to kind of like, I don't want to be soft on this, but like to kind of feel the love, like you feel the love, you feel the respect. That's what culture really is. In my opinion is having people really feel like they are being heard. They're being respected.

And so, yeah, it's just so much more than just the schedule.

Mason Brady (37:41.328)
Yeah, I agree. And, it really does start at the top that, you know, if, if you're trying to set a, a set of core values, that if you're trying to set a company culture, if the top leadership team is not embodying that, my gosh, then it's absolutely pointless. It's absolutely utterly pointless. If there is not consistency amongst the leadership team, right. And so it really does start at the top that everybody on your leadership team should embody, you know, what you're saying that your company core.

Sarah Englade (37:56.82)
It's the worst.

Mason Brady (38:10.448)
culture and what you are really about. And y 'all that sometimes I feel like for audience that, you know, it's, it's as simple as it sounds simple. I realized that this can be harder in nature, but you know, what are the top five things that are really important to you in a workplace and get those down on paper and make sure that everybody else on your leadership team agrees to that and that everybody's on the same page. And it's not to say that you might have some debate in regards to that, that, Hey, is that really that important? But it's the idea that

Sarah Englade (38:26.944)
Mm

Mason Brady (38:39.066)
you know, everybody is in general alignment that those are the top things. And then when you go hire people that they should also value those same things. I think too, you know, I think realizing as you grow a company, you, people are going to be attracted to the culture. But I think it's also important. I think sometimes we get into this fluffy idea of like creating core values, et cetera, et cetera. And sometimes I think it's more tactful, like for business owners to understand.

what will you say no to and make that really clear? And sometimes that is your culture setting too. it just, sometimes it's easier to say, what would you say absolutely H -E double hockey stick no to? That you would never allow and absolutely enforce that. And that in itself is company culture setting, right? And so, hey, will you feel comfortable if somebody is demeaning another employee? Well,

Sarah Englade (39:14.602)
Yes it is.

Mason Brady (39:35.712)
Stand by that, say that's not happening. If you see that happen, that person's got to go. then, you know, and that is maintaining your company culture as to what you want. And so sometimes it can be as easy as saying, what would I say no to and where will I draw the line? know, that's your company culture. And I think really standing by that though, that sometimes, you know, writing that down, but sharing it and having others hold you accountable to that. That's the key of it too, is what are you willing to say no to?

Sarah Englade (39:51.528)
Yeah, I love that.

Mason Brady (40:04.014)
and making sure that others hold you accountable to that. That's company culture setting as well in itself. So, yeah.

Sarah Englade (40:08.382)
Yeah. You said that well, like a thousand percent. I always say that too with our team as well. We have core values and we do abide by them and we stare at them every day. I stare at them. I I created them with the team, but they meant something to me. I always say to myself too, it's like when you keep the promises that you made to yourself and these core values are promises I made to myself. And so when you keep the promises that you've put on paper and you have made for yourself, your company,

and you abide by them, that helps build confidence. So, you really have to kind of teach people how you want to be treated in business. And so those core values are, I mean, they are really important. As soon as you start kind of bending the rules for this person or that person, the core values, the culture out the window. So you really do have to agree on what those core values are and agree not to break them. That is the way that you run your business.

Mason Brady (40:56.592)
Yeah.

Mason Brady (41:02.96)
Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, yeah, Sarah, thank you so much for the time today that we do like to end every, every podcast with one key question, kind of our signature question that we've talked a lot here that you've given a lot of value. And I think some key themes for our audience that, you know, the culture, the brand are all incredibly important as well as the systems and processes related to your recruiting system or your recruiting function that

Those three areas are three central themes that our audience should be paying more attention to, investing more in, and understand the value of. But yeah, for our audience, what is the one key takeaway here? What's the final sendoff that for our audience of lower middle market business owners, what would you tell them is the one thing to build a valuable company? What should they be considering?

Sarah Englade (41:49.824)
Well, I'm going to be selfish here, but you should be considering partnering with a headhunter that specializes in the skill set of the roles that you're looking to hire for. Because at the end of the day, when you're trying to build your company, you're not going to have enough time to do all of the things that we do for you to get the right candidates in front of you. You made a comment where you said only one candidate will be presented to you and it's been months. That's not how a good solid recruiting firm is going to treat you. We try to put three to five resumes together based off of all the conversations we've had with our clients.

and then with these candidates, when we're presenting them in, like, we're not wasting your time. We're sending you the very best of what we have. So, you know, if you're looking to build a strong company and you really are looking to attract in top talent, sometimes it takes a village. so, you know, investing in a strong recruiter that you have built a relationship with will be a game changer for the growth of your organization.

Mason Brady (42:44.582)
Absolutely. Awesome. Well, thank you, Sarah. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. Where can our audience learn more about you? Where can they find you?

Sarah Englade (42:47.808)
Thanks for having me.

Sarah Englade (42:52.874)
We're on basically every social media platform. So you can start on LinkedIn. You can follow me on my personal page, Sarah Englade, our company page is Monarch Talent Solutions. We're pretty big on Instagram right now. So Monarch Talent HTX is our handle on Instagram. And you can find us on YouTube at Monarch Talent Solutions. We're right there. Yeah.

Mason Brady (43:12.09)
Awesome. Awesome. And for the audience to know that, yeah, Sarah produces some really great educational videos and, and, not necessarily long form that they're great shorts that to get little tidbits of information on, yeah, how to do and implement some of the things that she's talking about. So go check it out on LinkedIn and Instagram. 'all that thank you, Sarah. Really appreciate it. Awesome. Thanks.

Sarah Englade (43:29.802)
Thanks Mason. Yeah, this was fun.