Future Proof
intelligence and robotics (see article, page 8).
wasn’t a process they had particular respect for and they
From the outset, Blair has been driven by an innate certainly didn’t see it as a profession. And when I spoke to
entrepreneurialism and an ability to transform set-backs people who worked in recruitment, I found it was something
into opportunities.
most had fallen into by accident.”
“I’ve always been entrepreneurial,” she acknowledges.
She identified an opportunity to create a talent
“I started a number of businesses on leaving school, having acquisition and management organisation that transcended
created small businesses form an early age; I didn’t know it the transactional and revolved around “long-term
was entrepreneurship at the time, but I was creating lots of relationships, with staff who were passionate about the
little things that enabled me to generate money.
people agenda and understood the importance of talent
“I didn’t find school particularly easy because I didn’t and of the whole candidate experience.
realise until I was in my late teens that I was dyslexic; I
“I felt that if I could create the right company, the best
didn’t get a chance to go to university. But dyslexia was people in the industry would aspire to join that company,”
one of the best things that ever happened to me, because she says. “And with clients, I felt there was a gap in the
I honed a lot of other skills: of leadership, being able to market for an organisation that acted as a trusted advisor,
manipulate situations to play to my strengths rather than that actually listened and consulted and would take a long-
my weaknesses – and it got me involved in lots of things in term strategic approach, coming on board as a partner, not a
the local community, particularly altruistic things around supplier. That was really the essence of the business: that we
social justice.
would become an integral part of that organisation – which
“One important skill I learned was being able to see is why we always carry our clients’ brand, and everything we
outside the box,” she specifies. “Whenever I have a problem, do is with that client’s mindset.”
I can nearly always find an opportunity. But the biggest thing
Resigning from Alexander Mann Group earlier than
I developed when going through school
expected to develop her idea, she was
was resilience: never letting anything get
persuaded by its chief executive to build
in the way or get you down.”
her business in-house. “I’d already
Blair’s Alexander Mann Solutions
secured my first client, but I ended up
“The biggest thing
journey began when she was 29 and
doing it as a standalone business, within
moved to London for a year to enhance
the group,” she explains.
I developed when
her knowledge of big business. She
going through
explains: “I had a business plan I hoped
Developing a
school was
eventually to roll out across Ireland and
global mindset
resilience: never
beyond. But this was my year out to join a
Today, 21 years on, Alexander Mann
large organisation and learn everything I
letting anything
Solutions is major force in talent
could about the recruitment industry and
get in the way or
acquisition and management, and
different ways to structure companies.”
get you down”
Blair’s RPO model has been widely
She set her sights on the Alexander
adopted. She remains entrepreneurial
Mann Group, which she felt had every
but has “matured into a CEO and
element she needed to broaden her skills,
corporate leader”.
including franchising, joint ventures
The company’s current focus is on
and partnerships, and where she felt she
“could learn everything about how to operate and run a ‘total workforce solutions’ or as Blair describes it, “how
company, but also every aspect of the recruitment industry”. organisations think about their whole workforce: the
The idea of joining a company was daunting, she admits. permanent workers; the contingent workers; how they
“That was my first time having a job; I’d never worked in a leverage suppliers and embrace robotics; how they’re going
company properly, I was used to working for myself, doing to use AI; how to manage risk and compliance in this ever-
it for myself. It was a new experience to be in the confines changing world.
“I think we can play a huge role in helping organisations
of a company.”
However, her plans changed swiftly when she spotted to think through all that and pivot within it,” she says.
Ever the innovator, she sees more opportunity than
a gap in the market and decided to build a new business
based on her idea of a ‘recruitment process outsourcing’ threat in the current pace of change, globalisation and
transforming technology.
(RPO) concept.
“We’ve made a big push into the US in the past three
“I think the way you create anything is by listening,”
she explains. “So I spent a huge amount of time going into years, and we’ve been operating in Europe and APAC since
organisations, asking questions, just listening to how and the early days, so we have a global mindset,” she says. “We’re
why they did things. What struck me strongly was that, for also a learning organisation, constantly listening, growing
most companies, with the exception of high-end executive and evolving accordingly.”
She is confident that the company is positioned to
search companies, recruitment was a necessary evil. It
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