Integrity.

It is amazing to consider how such a small word, can harvest such a diverse range of opinions.

There are the cynics, who argue in a world of never-ending scandal, capitalism, intrigue, and politics, that integrity is in short supply. Certainly within a free market economy, or in a world in which FIFA can be an international governing body.

On the other hand, there others out there are for whom integrity is an important part in how they function, how they act, and how they want to be perceived by others.

Now, I am sure that this will not come as a massive surprise to any of you, but RSP is in the latter group. For us, integrity is at the heart of everything we do. It is the foundation of our consultancy model, it is how we function as a business, it governs our relationships with our clients, and it is at the heart of how we interact with our candidates.

I appreciate the old adage about being cautious of those who expound their integrity; I appreciate that they can often be first to stab you in the back.

Especially property developers.

For RSP, integrity is not a means in which we can stake our flags on the mountain of the self-appointed moral high ground, or a cheap attempt to gain some positive interaction with our audience.

That is why I am going to make another promise to you all, I will not mention integrity again in any blog after this one! At least for another six months...

Instead, I will ask you all to judge RSP for yourselves.

Integrity goes beyond a moral code or ethical standards. I know that it is an old cliché, but actions really do speak louder than words.

Take confidentiality. I would like you all to ask yourselves now, how many recruiters have openly disclosed to you within the opening minutes of your first conversation with them that they operate on a confidential basis?

That they would never disclose anything said between you to your employer, the client or to any third party until such a point as you authorise them to do so?

At RSP, that is how we operate.

That is why you would never see us publicise on Facebook or X of a successful placement.

Perhaps that is one of the benefits of us being a consultancy rather than an agency; we do not "spray and pray" CVs to a client, hoping that one would stick, but rather take the time to establish relationships, so that we know we are placing the right candidate to the right client.

It is about making the right placement to the mutual success of both parties, rather than worrying about our quarterly sales figures.

Clients also value our discretion. Heard of the client we have helped with their succession planning by recruiting a future managing partner? Or did you see the tweet about the firm we are currently helping to reform their business structure?

No?

As with our candidates, we do not publicise the work we do for our clients.

I appreciate that this may not be the best marketing strategy, but clients need to have confidence in our professionalism. Considering the sensitivity of our clients' business, and their clients, it is imperative that we abide by this principle.

As our corporate slogan suggests, we go beyond recruitment solutions, and I am sure that you all know by now that we are not a recruitment agency, but rather a consultancy in which recruitment is but one of our service provisions.

I think I have only mentioned that once in this blog so far...

But to get our clients to open up about their challenges, their potential weaknesses, they need the assurance of professionalism from us that their clients would expect from them. As unfortunate as that may be for a social media campaign, it ensures that we can never publish a story about our work beyond general terms.

For us, a word-of-mouth referral from a client once a month is more valued than a thousand hits on our Facebook page about a client who is currently suffering from problems in their fee generation.

But what is just as important is that our clients trust us enough to be able us to do our job for their future development, whether that be a recruitment, succession or a business issue. Publication of a service we are providing, or have provided a client, will benefit no one but their competitors.

As far as we are concerned, confidentiality leads to trust, and trust leads to greater understanding of our clients and our candidates. This greater understanding, in turn, leads to better service delivery. Confidentiality provides to security to clients and candidates whilst allowing us to do what we do best.

Understated, modest, undertaking its work with a confidence built upon humility; this is how RSP, as a consultancy, operates. Our clients trust us to deliver, our candidates trust us to represent their best interests, both professionally and also personally.

Whether you are a candidate looking for professional advice for the next big stage in your life, or a client looking for a solution that will generate the commercial results required, then you can proceed with the confidence that our commitment to confidentiality and trustworthiness will garner you with the best results.

Don't be a cynic, let our integrity guide you.