We thought it was about time we introduced you to the team behind The Outsourced Recruitment Company, and who better to start with than our Founder and Managing Director, Laura!
Without Laura, there wouldn’t be an The Outsourced Recruitment Company and a team of great people working together to change the industry. An integral part of the local community, Laura has been recognised for her achievements several times, being shortlisted for regional awards and listed in Insider Media’s 42 business leaders under the age of 42.
Since forming the business in 2017, Laura has grown her team to 10 and earlier this year moved into a beautiful new office in Taunton’s Collar Factory. Keep your eyes peeled for more team introductions, but for now, over to Laura…
Name Laura O’Driscoll
Job title Founder and Managing Director
What inspired you to set up The Outsourced Recruitment Company?
I was an in-house recruiter for years and then an in-house recruitment manager and was sick and tired of dealing with poor behaviour from agencies. As a Recruitment Manager, I wished I had other options available to me when I needed to do outsourced recruitment. My thought process was, how great would it be if multiple businesses could pull the resource and share a recruitment team? That’s where the inspiration for The Outsourced Recruitment Company came from.
What do you enjoy about running a business?
Genuinely, the thing I enjoy most about running a business is the team of people that work at The Outsourced Recruitment Company. I have been able to select the people I work with and watch them grow and develop every single day. I’m blessed to work with a great team of people who inspire me and surprise me in terms of them being brave, creative and vulnerable. I love the way that they pick each other up – that’s really special.
I also really enjoy being able to choose the type of clients that we work with. I can say no to things that I don’t think are a right fit for us and I can work hard to bring in the things that I really want to do, bringing in some variation for the team.
If you could describe your work ethic in one word, what would it be and how do you apply this in your role?
Resilient. When it’s your own business you have to pick yourself up and get going again, even when things are difficult. As MD I’m facing things every day that I don’t always feel equipped to deal with; sometimes I make really good decisions and sometimes I make decisions that I wish I hadn’t, that’s where resilience is important. I get up, dust myself off and say let’s go again. I try and apply that to all aspects of the way I operate my life and my work.
Outside of the workplace, what are we most likely to find you doing?
Walking my dog, our Chief Happiness Officer, Sully, along with family time which is so important to me. I love to cook and am a real home bird, so being at home feeding up my husband and son makes me really happy. Essentially, you’ll find me with the people that I love and care about, wherever I am.
Tell us something interesting about you
I dropped out of school at 17, I didn’t complete my a-levels and went on to have my first child at 19.
I think there’s a lot of pressure on kids to follow the traditional route of education and whilst I encourage young people to stay in education for as long as they can, I do want them to know that life doesn’t end if you don’t get the grades you hoped for. If life presents you with challenges, it’s how you respond to them, that will carry you further in life than grades. My failures and challenges have made me the person I am.
Finally, as animals are a big part of our lives at The Outsourced Recruitment Company, what’s your spirit animal and why?
I’m a lioness because I’m highly protective of my pack. Whether that’s my team, my family or my friendship group. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for the people I love, respect and care about. Once people are in that group and they are dear to me, they know they are safe with me and will be looked after.