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Morgan McKinley Sydney - Five Things You Didn’t Know About Us

Here at Morgan McKinley, we are more than just a recruitment agency. Our team of dedicated experts are always happy to help candidates with their career journey, and our clients with their hiring needs. Here are five interesting facts that you may not know about us, and why you should join our team.

1. We do not just recruit within Accounting & Finance, or only within Financial Services organisations: this is absolutely our origin story, as Morgan McKinley was born in Ireland from the vision of an accountant, and our founding MDs in Sydney had an Accounting & Finance recruitment background. So, it’s an understandable misconception. However, what many don’t know is all the other areas we excel in. About 60% of our business is made up of revenue from our Commerce & Industry and Government clients. In Australia, we cover all the below disciplines, across our broad client base over Commerce & Industry, Financial Services and Government:

  • Accountancy & Finance
  • Business Analysis
  • Change & Project Management
  • Data Analytics
  • Executive Search
  • IT
  • Risk, Compliance & Audit
  • Strategy & Innovation

Within each area, we ensure our consultants are as specialised as possible in how they work, as we believe this is key to success as a recruiter. It allows our team to build genuine expertise and deep talent pools within their space, enabling them to quickly build their brand and credibility, and be seen as the ‘go to’ by their clients and candidates. Typically we are open to new joiners coming from a different discipline, so long as they are willing to learn and demonstrate their passion for the area they come into. 

2. Our size, globally and locally: in my meetings with potential future MMK-ers, what I tend to find is one of two things. For those that haven’t come across us previously, they tend to have a pleasant surprise in finding out how global we are. What began as a meeting in a basement in Cork City (Ireland) in 1988 has grown continuously and we now have offices in Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, Shanghai, Singapore and the UK, and are strategically placed at the heart of key financial centres, giving us thorough coverage of all the markets in which we operate. On the flip side of that, for those who have heard of us, it comes as a surprise that locally we are not a huge corporate beast, where you are just another cog in the wheel...we are a team that totals around 50, including our wonderful support functions, like the Marketing division, who make every day easier and more fruitful for our Recruitment Consultants. We’re a close-knit bunch that work collaboratively and have each others’ backs; being that ‘Goldilocks’ size works perfectly for us!

Ultimately, this gives us global reach and reputation, yet with a boutique feel locally where we can really add value. 

Morgan McKinley Sydney International Women's Day 2019

3. Corporate culture - people think we’re corporate, in both attire and attitude...we aren’t!

  • Attire: we dress for our days. If we’re meeting candidates and clients from the corporate world then by all means we’ll mirror that and be suited and booted, but if we’re meeting a quirky start-up contact or have a day of admin to catch up on in the office, you’ll certainly see flip flops, shorts and trainers scattered throughout, and every Friday is ‘casual Friday’. If in doubt, we have wardrobe space to keep a back-up ‘corporate’ outfit in, just in case your diary changes last minute (which, let’s face it, happens all the time when you need to dash down to a client to pick up a job or meet that ‘all-star’ candidate last minute!). 
  • Attitude: we are an outcome and values-oriented organisation. What that actually means is that we are not a KPI-driven business; of course, being a sales based role, the higher the input the greater the likelihood of success, but never at the sake of quality. 4 brilliant and qualified business development calls in a week that lead to converted opportunities takes precedence over 10 a day, ‘just because’. It’s a mature environment in the way we work and you’re trusted to do your job and build your business, with the support of those around you. In reality, this sees many of our consultants working from home to a schedule that works for them and their teams, or hotdesking around the office to get a deeper understanding of who their colleagues are working with. There is no hierarchy either, our two MDs and entire management team are in amongst it all on the open plan floor; they are extremely approachable, knowledgeable and just as likely to pop down to the pub on a Friday with the team.
Morgan McKinley Sydney Queenstown Trip 2018

4. Our dedication to charity: this is something we take seriously and globally we have made some hefty commitments to giving back to our communities through our Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, the MMK Million. The goal is to raise one million euro (approx. $1.6 million AUD), across our global group by fundraising and volunteering. So far globally we have raised over $1.1 million AUD towards charitable causes and we are aiming to hit our target this year. We voted to decide on our locally nominated charity and here in Sydney, this is Batyr, a not-for-profit organisation aiming to raise awareness of mental health issues in young people. We’ve carried out a number of both fun and gruelling activities to raise money, including a static bike ride covering the distance from Sydney to Cairns, the Oxfam 100km Trailwalk, an annual pool competition, and much more including trivia nights and bake sales. We also promote giving back by giving everyone two volunteering days per year, to allow more time to dedicate to a cause close their own hearts, individually or as a team. 

Morgan McKinley Sydney CSR Pool CompetitionMorgan McKinley Sydney CSR Bike RideMorgan McKinley Sydney CSR Christmas

5. An ethos of ‘Improving Lives’: in addition to our CSR program, we are committed to improving the lives of those we work with, both internally and externally. Internally, we genuinely believe in progressing the careers of our people in a way that is tailored to each individual, rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach (Read more here about progression at MMK). There are ongoing L&D initiatives at every level in the business, including our onboarding and leadership programs. We also have a strong feedback and improvement culture, with the MDs taking on board suggestions from everyone across the business.

Externally, we care about providing quality service to the clients and candidates we work with. We take service excellence seriously and strive to help our clients find and attract the best talent to achieve their goals, and help our candidates secure the best opportunities to progress their careers and do what they love. Delivering service excellence is the fabric of what it means to work at Morgan McKinley and we are convinced that it is a key reason why our clients and candidates continue to come back to us and refer their friends.

Morgan McKinley Sydney Platinum Lunch

We are always looking for talented Recruitment Consultants who share our values and ambitions in making 2019 our ‘Best Year Yet’. For more information about current opportunities get in touch with Steph Newth, Talent Acquisition Specialist, now on snewth@morganmckinley.com.au or 02 8986 3102.

  • Mar 20, 2019
  • Careers , Culture , Australia
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Vanessa Harding-Farrenberg

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