I’ve worked in recruitment long enough to see the industry chase every shiny new thing. AI sourcing. Automated outreach. Endless dashboards. There’s always a new tool promising to solve hiring forever.

And yet, after all the innovation and transformation, the one thing that still makes the biggest difference, is service. How you show up. How you communicate. How you make people feel.

People remember that. They remember if you were present, if you listened, if you cared about the outcome as much as they did. They remember if you treated them with respect when they were excited, nervous, unsure, or stuck. That emotional experience has more impact on hiring success than any piece of tech ever built.

I’ve seen perfect shortlists fall apart because candidates felt left in the dark. I’ve seen roles that looked impossible suddenly become easy once someone actually took the time to guide the process with clarity and urgency. The difference isn’t luck, it’s delivery. It’s service.

My perspective on this comes from every seat I’ve sat in. I’ve been the candidate who never got feedback and wondered if the interview even happened. I’ve been the recruiter fighting to repair trust after someone before me treated hiring like a transaction. I’ve been the partner who knew we could deliver the talent, if only we could rebuild the confidence in the process first.

Those experiences stay with you. They shape what you value. They shape how you lead.

Today at Tides, my job is to ensure that delivery is done right. Not because it’s a differentiator in a pitch deck, but because hiring is personal. Behind every vacancy is a team that needs support. Behind every candidate is a life that could change. Behind every search is pressure, expectation, hope.

Service means acknowledging that. It means chasing feedback so candidates aren’t left guessing. It means asking the hard questions and bringing hiring managers the truth, not just what’s easy to hear. It means creating momentum and not letting anything stall. And most of all, it means caring about the outcome like it’s your own.

Hiring is a reflection of culture. If recruitment feels sloppy, slow or detached, candidates assume the organisation is the same. They’ll use that experience as their proof. In a competitive market, you don’t get many chances to get that impression right.

Speed matters, as does technology. But if you don’t pair those with genuine human service, you’ll lose the very people you’re trying so hard to attract. The best talent always has options, and the way you treat them is the clearest signal of what kind of employer you really are.

Service is still the difference. It’s the deciding factor more times than anyone admits. It’s what we prioritise every single day. Because the truth is simple: companies don’t choose a recruitment partner to receive CVs. They choose one to feel confident, confident that the right people will join, confident that their brand is represented with care, confident that the hard work doesn’t go to waste.

That’s the level we hold ourselves to at Tides. Not because it’s easy. But because excellence never is.

And I’ll always believe that service, real, human, high-quality service, is what wins great hires.