- Image Credit: Dennis B. Mallari/ANM
- Toby says he was blessed by his father’s international career, which gave him an exciting childhood.
First impressions can be deceptive. Toby Simpson looks more like a retired rugby player (which later turns out to be true) than the head of a hotshot recruitment firm. But beneath the guileless exterior churns a razor-sharp brain. Toby, 35, the managing director of The Gulf Recruitment Group, is a deep one.
He’s a closet workaholic – he averages 12 to 14 hours every day – but once he’s out of the door he switches off totally. “There’s no way I can come back the next day recharged if I am always thinking of work,” he says.
For all that, Toby’s not a number cruncher and just wants his staff to give 110 per cent. “We don’t aim to be the biggest, just the best.”
He’s a closet workaholic – he averages 12 to 14 hours every day – but once he’s out of the door he switches off totally. “There’s no way I can come back the next day recharged if I am always thinking of work,” he says.
For all that, Toby’s not a number cruncher and just wants his staff to give 110 per cent. “We don’t aim to be the biggest, just the best.”
Work
In my mind the only reason to start a business is because you have a superb idea that has been burning a hole in the side of your head for a while, and it might just be terminal if you don’t get out there and give it a vehicle to succeed. So many businesses are started out of a desire to be your own boss, for a lifestyle or purely money, but without the idea you’re less likely to break new ground or have the passion that gives you the energy to make something work.
We came into the recruitment industry with a core idea of what we wanted to do. The industry is a perfect breeding ground for good business to grow. Yes, it is one of the most volatile sectors in the market, but it really hasn’t done anything different since the advent of email and therein lies the opportunity.
Our domain is that of people’s careers, so there can’t be many industries that matter more to people. We have a responsibility to be better than we have been, and if you find yourself in a business whose processes could easily be replicated by a sweatshop somewhere in Asia, market forces will kill you in the end.
We came into the recruitment industry with a core idea of what we wanted to do. The industry is a perfect breeding ground for good business to grow. Yes, it is one of the most volatile sectors in the market, but it really hasn’t done anything different since the advent of email and therein lies the opportunity.
Our domain is that of people’s careers, so there can’t be many industries that matter more to people. We have a responsibility to be better than we have been, and if you find yourself in a business whose processes could easily be replicated by a sweatshop somewhere in Asia, market forces will kill you in the end.
My management style comes less from all the seminars I’ve been on, than simply being a rugby captain. If you can motivate young people to turn up and train day in day out in snow, sleet or sunshine, then get out there and win, even though on
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