In this conversation with the leadership team at clearXperts, we explore their distinctive approach to staffing and talent development. Serge Roofthooft (Managing Director) shares his insights on building a human-centric staffing agency that has grown to over 250 professionals in 17 years.

On the picture (left to right): Arne Vanvlasselaer (Business Unit Manager & Partner), Ellen Vanvlasselaer (Business Development Director & Partner) and Serge Roofthooft (Managing Director) What inspired you to enter the staffing and recruitment industry? Was there a specific experience that sparked your passion? Serge Roofthooft (Managing Director): "My inspiration for staffing and recruitment emerged after a ten-year career in finance. I felt a strong need for change, and to make an impact for young professionals. These were the main drivers going into the sector. After gaining valuable insights and experience working at a competitor, I grew more familiar with the dynamics of staffing and recruitment. However, the main driver to create my own venture in the staffing sector was the need for a human, no-nonsense approach to both people and projects. Throughout my own career, at a Big Four firm and other major consulting companies, I often found this missing element. I wanted to create an environment where young professionals are truly supported in their career evolution, where their development isn't just a buzzword but a core focus. That vision became the cornerstone of clearXperts." What's a challenge you've overcome, and how has it shaped you as a leader? Serge: "Becoming a full entrepreneur in the staffing sector brought both risks and rewards. Along the way, I experienced both failure and success, but I always kept a clear view of the goals ahead. I quickly learned that maintaining focus is essential to success. In this sector, a multi-focus strategy simply doesn't work. As a Managing Director it is my responsibility to maintain this focus and to ensure that everyone is aligned with our vision. This means making decisions early and saying 'No' more than 'Yes.' It's about staying true to our priorities and guiding the team with a clear sense of direction. The key to mitigate risk is diversification in services. From the very beginning, we have focused on spreading risk across various sectors, clients, and services." What sets clearXperts apart from the competition, and how do your clients and candidates benefit from this unique value proposition? Serge: "At clearXperts, we firmly believe that people really do make a difference. When people grow, businesses grow. It's as simple as that. And so, we invest in our people. Both in professionals with several years of experience, and in promising starters who have just graduated. We identify their talents and competencies. But above all, we look at their ambitions. More importantly, we take the time to understand their ambitions and build on them. Over the past 17 years, this philosophy has helped us grow into a team of over 250 colleagues. Their talent and energy… we are only too happy and proud to share that with our clients. By understanding both the needs of our people and the goals of our clients, we ensure that we match the right people to the right challenges. Whether in Finance & Legal, HR, or Marketing." What core values guide the culture and decision-making within clearXperts? Serge: "Our central value is our 'customer focus', the customer is central in our approach towards client satisfaction and development of our people. Beyond that, we cultivate a culture built on flexibility, quality, respect, and fun." How do you ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded in your recruitment practices? Serge: "At clearXperts, we hire for attitude and train for skills. We create an environment where every individual can thrive and be their authentic self. This means our internal staff, management and consultants are very diverse, but also very much aligned towards personal growth and development. We welcome everyone: from young graduates to very experienced professionals. From the moment they join us, each individual has personalized growth and development targets tailored to their ambitions." What strategies do you use to build and maintain long-term relationships with clients and candidates? Serge: "We have an outspoken 'customer intimacy' approach in our long-term relationships with our customers. We aim to understand and support the person behind the business, fostering trust and loyalty through a genuine, human connection. It's the same approach we prefer when we are customers ourselves. It's simply how we like to do business. With our candidates we have the 'Xtra Human' approach to know and follow the person behind the consultants in their career with clearXperts. Our main goal is simple: happy employees who take care of our clients. As Richard Branson famously said, Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients." How do you measure success for your agency beyond financial performance? What key KPIs do you track? Serge: "While financial performance is important, we place equal emphasis on customer and employee satisfaction as key indicators. Customer satisfaction is measured for each consultant's assignment. Our evaluation process provides insight into key competencies such as adaptability, client orientation, communication, initiative and result orientation. These competences are needed in each consultant for each proficiency level. Employee satisfaction is assessed annually through a comprehensive survey covering parameters like work-life balance, communication, feedback, strategy & values, team spirit, training & development, compensation & benefits and wellbeing. For each parameter with a score below 7/10 an action plan is drawn up to improve." What are you most proud of when it comes to clearXperts' achievements, and what impact do you hope to make in the world through your work? Serge: "We are clearly in the business of developing professionals in our focus segments: Finance, Legal, HR and Sales & Marketing. Each professional who chooses for us gets a personal approach to develop and grow. When you see an individual grow towards a higher level as a professional, this is what makes us proud every day." What do you see as the three most significant changes in the recruitment industry over the past five years, and how has your agency adapted to them? Serge: "The recruitment industry has seen three key shifts over the past five years: increasing talent scarcity, a greater emphasis on personal development, and the rise of fast-track career paths. The combination of these three comes down to a challenging environment where skilled professionals are in short supply, and those in the market expect (more individual) development opportunities at a rapid pace. This is why we have moved a lot towards young professionals which we develop ourselves through our own training academies (cX Academies) on their preferred career track." What role does technology play in your recruitment processes, and how are you leveraging it to meet the evolving expectations of clients and candidates? Serge: "Technology plays a key role in our recruitment processes to meet the expectations of both clients and candidates. We use a recruitment app that supports candidates and integrates directly with our Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Initial interviews are often conducted digitally, providing candidates with more flexibility and improved experience. We also leverage digital assessments to map candidate profiles. These assessments are fully online and user-friendly. Internally, we use tools like ChatGPT to streamline administrative tasks, allowing us to focus more on personal support and the overall candidate experience." Their commitment to human-centered staffing is evident. In an industry often focused solely on placement metrics, clearXperts has created a sustainable model that prioritizes genuine development and meaningful connections. By balancing technology with personal touch, maintaining focus while diversifying services, and putting employee growth at the center of their business model, they've built an organization that creates value for all stakeholders. Their approach reminds us that in staffing, as in most industries, success ultimately comes down to understanding people.

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