Investing In Your Employees: Kathleen Duffy Of Duffy Group On The Benefits of Offering Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Initiatives For Employees
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Ongoing training and development is the best way to maximize talent with productive employees who make a measurable impact on the bottom line.
Investing in team development has become increasingly crucial for forward-thinking companies, who understand that their greatest assets are their people. From implementing innovative training programs and wellness initiatives to cultivating a supportive work environment, these strategic investments play a vital role in enhancing employee satisfaction and retention. As the business landscape evolves, mastering effective methods to support and retain employees is pivotal for achieving long-term success. I had the pleasure of interviewing Kathleen Duffy, president and CEO of Duffy Group, a global recruiting company based in Phoenix, Ariz., that is revolutionizing executive recruitment. Duffy founded her namesake company more than 30 years ago with a proven and industry-shifting Duffy Recruitment Research™ model that is a smarter, more cost-effective alternative to traditional recruitment models that lack the same depth of insights and precision. Beyond the proprietary model, Duffy has never lost sight of her company’s most important asset — people — empowering her staff to build their practices as entrepreneurs, investing $450,000 annually in training and development, and offering unprecedented flexibility as a fully remote workplace long before working from home became popular.
Thank you for joining us. To start, could you share a little about yourself, and how you got started?
I spent the first decade of my career in recruiting at a boutique executive search firm before seizing an opportunity to bring the executive search research process to corporate America. With an innovative Duffy Recruitment Research™ model, my goal was to harness marketplace intelligence and work as a discrete, transparent partner to deliver quality candidates to clients at up to 50% savings over traditional recruitment fees.
That was in 1991. Since then, our company has grown from its humble beginnings into one of the most respected recruitment firms in the nation. That didn’t happen by accident. In addition to delivering results to our clients, our work is guided by two core values — trust and integrity — that are often missing from other recruitment firms nationwide. Today, with 47 employees spread across the country, I am more committed than ever to investing in our team, with training, transparent communication and a development path for anyone interested in growing with us. We are proud to boast the brightest minds in recruiting and one of the highest employee retention rates in the industry.
What was your biggest challenge in those early days?
My biggest challenge was getting started. I had no plan, clients or significant cash flow to lean on. What I did have was a good idea. When I founded Duffy Group more than three decades ago, there were just three methods of recruiting: retained search, contingent search and the Sunday newspaper. I offered my clients something different — an opportunity to tap into passive candidates who may not be actively searching for a job but would entertain a career move. The process also gave clients a chance to work with our team on an hourly basis. I unbundled the traditional recruitment process, enabling clients to focus on areas where they needed the most help. My first clients placed great trust in me, then shared their successes with others. The process worked and referrals from clients bolstered the business.
Was there anything specific that inspired you to prioritize Continuous Professional Development initiatives in your company?
As our company grew, so did the need to standardize our recruiting process. We needed to teach our team to use our proprietary Duffy Recruitment Research™ approach to match qualified candidates with the clients that needed them. Continuous Professional Development also helped provide more training to our growing team, give our star performers the tools to advance through the ranks and address barriers for those struggling in their jobs.
Can you explain why this is important for the success of a business?
Engaged, skilled and happy employees are productive employees. Continuous Professional Development has played a vital role in helping our team members sharpen their skills, improve their job satisfaction and make a positive contribution to our company’s bottom line.
Can you please share with us, and briefly explain the first major initiative you started that directly benefited your employees?
When our company was founded, we knew that training was needed, as most of our recruiters came from other industries but with transferrable skills. We also needed to standardize our recruiting method. As our company grew, we invested in a full-time professional dedicated to CPD to propel our team to an even higher level. My philosophy has always been to create an entrepreneurial environment where, instead of eating what you kill, you teach people to farm so they can eat.
Do you have an example of a situation where you didn’t get the result you were looking for, and tell us what happened as a result?
Like at many companies, our challenge is always time. Our team members must give themselves permission to lean into professional development. That is easier said than done, particularly as a professional services firm, where time is money. Our younger leaders who have been raised on professional development are much better at carving out time for CPD initiatives than some of our industry veterans who are nose-to-the-grindstone in completing the tasks at hand.
What has been the most impactful CPD initiative you’ve seen other companies offer, and how did it inspire or influence your own approach?
At Duffy Group, we see the greatest return in CPD initiatives focused on leadership development. Our goal is to identify employees who are the future of our company and nurture their skills through training and development. This includes everything from one-on-one mentoring to a Pathways Program that grooms team members for positions of greater responsibility while helping them grow the company’s business. There is also a Leadership Development Program and Forum to help senior leaders take their performance to the next level through coach-facilitated assessments and a variety of teambuilding processes using the Enneagram Personality System. The program combines one-on-one coaching sessions with a monthly company leadership forum. CEO advisory and executive coaching services also help build a high-achieving team that is engaged and accountable, optimize our leaders’ unique strengths, mitigate potential blind spots and enhance support, collaboration and teamwork.
Along with the leadership initiatives, we create an individual customized development plan with action steps for every member of our team, which is reviewed monthly.
What challenges might companies face when implementing these initiatives, and how can they overcome them?
The biggest barrier to comprehensive Continuous Professional Development is the cost, as companies constantly monitor the bottom line. There is also lost time. Taking people away from their jobs means they are not generating revenue. Such is the case at our company.
Even so, I am always surprised when I learn that large companies do not invest in their people. At Duffy Group, our team is our biggest asset. We invest $450,000 per year in Continuous Professional Development, including enlisting help from an outside consultant.
In the end, we see a return on investment in the form of employee engagement scores that rival big and small companies alike. When we get feedback from our team, training and development are the benefits they value most.
Can you share a story of an employee who significantly benefited, and how it affected their performance or career trajectory?
During their annual performance reviews, five Duffy Group recruiters shared their desire for a promotion to senior recruiters but none of them was ready to assume the additional responsibilities. Our company’s director of Learning and Talent Development developed customized plans and worked one-on-one with each of them to address areas for growth noted in their reviews. It was risky, as our company could have lost any — or all — of them. Instead, we were intentional with our development to help them grow in their positions and make them feel valued along the way. Four of the five recruiters earned promotions six months after the training began. The fifth recruiter realized the job wasn’t a match and moved on. The extra effort by the recruiters and the focused development plan by our director was a win-win for our team members and our company.
Could you please list the “Top Five Benefits of Offering Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Initiatives For Employees”? Can you explain what you mean?
- Done right, thoughtful CPD programs can improve employee satisfaction, engagement and retention. Our company boasts one of the highest retention rates in the industry.
- Training and development can help a company stand out in a crowded marketplace. For Duffy Group, skilled recruiters are a point of difference, positioning our company as innovative and cutting-edge in an industry that is slow to adapt to change.
- Investing in Continuous Professional Development is a terrific way to upskill and reskill employees. Our company is a big proponent of promoting from within. CPD initiatives help us achieve that goal.
- Investing in CPD initiatives helps create an exceptional culture by making employees feel valued and fostering a sense of belonging. I hear this repeatedly in our employee surveys.
- Ongoing training and development is the best way to maximize talent with productive employees who make a measurable impact on the bottom line.
How do you measure the success and ROI of these CPD initiatives?
We conduct bi-annual employee surveys to gauge engagement. We also track employee retention, time to efficiency — how long it takes a given team member to get trained –
and our recruiter KPIs.
Looking forward, how do you see the role of CPD evolving in the next 5–10 years?
In my view, CPD will continue to grow in the coming years, especially among a younger workforce that craves professional development. Virtual training will be a stable CPD initiative. So will training in psychological safety and generational diversity — specifically how to interact and engage with employees from different generations. Creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, engaged and has a voice will remain a priority. This will be particularly important in a remote and hybrid work environment.
What advice would you give to business leaders who are hesitating to make these changes?
Consider the benefits of CPD initiatives, knowing the best investment a company can make is in its people.
Can you share any upcoming initiatives or plans you have for further investing in your employees?
Duffy Group is making final preparations for its annual company retreat. The three-day event unites employees from nationwide for enlightening presentations on leadership, skills training, fun activities to build camaraderie and community service that brings team members together for a common cause.
Other initiatives include additional career coaching, development plans for back office employees and leaders and ongoing programs to maintain employee engagement and satisfaction.
How can our readers follow your work?
Please visit us at www.duffygroup.com and follow us on social media at https://www.linkedin.com/company/duffy-group-inc-/ and @DuffyGroup on Facebook and Instagram.
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
Investing In Your Employees: Kathleen Duffy Of Duffy Group On The Benefits of Offering Continuous… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.