People Leadership
Hire, onboard, coach, performance-manage, and exit recruiters. The full lifecycle of leading the people on your desk — the first of the three Lead-track pillars (People · Desk · Account).
The Bill track (M1–M4) makes one person a biller. The Lead track makes a desk. People Leadership is the highest-leverage thing a PC or MD does: a consultant you coach from $150K to $400K is worth more than any single placement you make yourself. Conversely, a bad hire left unmanaged for two quarters costs more than the salary — it costs the desk's momentum, the clients they touch, and the time you spend cleaning up.
The principle: your job as a leader is to make your people more valuable than they would be anywhere else. Everything in this module is in service of that — recruit well, develop relentlessly, and deal with problems early and honestly.
At APB scale, PCs and MCs still bill while they lead. You earn the right to coach by doing the work yourself. Protect your own desk, but never let your billing become an excuse to neglect your people — block coaching time and defend it.
Mirrors the company value. Coach to the outcome, not to the script. If a consultant gets the result a different way and can articulate why, let them. Intervene on results and behaviours, not on style.
Address the small thing this week, not the big thing next quarter. Direct, kind, specific feedback given early is a gift; feedback hoarded until review time is a failure of leadership. No surprises at review.
Coach, promote and performance-manage from the numbers and observed behaviour, not from impressions. The Cockpit KPI data and your 1-on-1 notes are your evidence base — keep them current.
The leader's trap: the most common failure here is conflict-avoidance — letting an underperformer or a behaviour problem run because the conversation is uncomfortable. Every week you delay compounds the cost. If you're avoiding a conversation, that is the signal to have it.
When a hire is justified
Hire when there is more qualified, winnable work than the current desk can service — not when people are simply busy. The trigger is sustained demand: a pipeline of live Job Orders and BD opportunities a new consultant could pick up within their ramp window, plus the working-capital cover to carry them to first billings. Confirm the financial case against the Budget and cash position before opening a role (see P1: Run the Business when live).
The two branches
Executive Consultant hired directly into the AU entity. Full APB employee under Australian employment law (Fair Work, NES, the relevant award). Use for desks needing on-the-ground client contact and local market presence.
Executive Consultant engaged through the Shore360 EOR arrangement in the PH. Same role and standards, different employment overlay (13th-month pay, SSS / PhilHealth / Pag-IBIG, SIL). Strong for sourcing-heavy and pipeline-build desks. See HR Docs → Regional Provisions for the PH overlay.
Both branches run the same EC Position Description and the same KPIs — the role is identical; only the employment mechanics differ. Pull the right PD from People & Structure (EC-AU or EC-PH) before you start.
What "right" looks like in an EC
Hire for the behaviours that survive the hard months, not just the polished interview. The signals that matter most:
- Resilience & activity tolerance — recruitment is a high-rejection game. Look for evidence they keep dialling after a bad week.
- Coachability — do they take feedback and change behaviour, or defend? Test it live in the interview (give a small piece of feedback and watch the response).
- Genuine curiosity about a market — APB is specialist-first. The best ECs want to become the expert in a niche, not rotate.
- Commercial instinct — do they understand that we get paid for outcomes, and orient to them?
- Integrity under pressure — the candidate and client both have to trust them. No shortcuts on honesty.
Consistency is the point. Same stages, same scorecard, every candidate. It removes bias, makes the decision defensible, and means a future PIP or exit rests on a fair foundation. Keep the scorecards.
Make the verbal offer yourself, by phone, with energy — you're still selling. Confirm package, start date, desk and the development path you discussed. Then move to paper fast; the gap between verbal and signed is where good candidates get poached or get cold feet.
- AU hire: employment contract under the AU entity, aligned to the EC-AU PD. Confirm pay, super, leave entitlements and the commission structure. Route through HR Docs / the standard contract template.
- PH hire: engagement via Shore360 (EOR). The mechanics — 13th-month pay, statutory contributions, SIL — are handled through that arrangement; confirm the Shore360 onboarding steps are triggered. See HR Docs → Regional Provisions.
- Both: the signed PD is part of onboarding — the consultant should sign the EC PD as their performance framework, not just the employment contract.
Stay close in the notice-period gap. A weekly check-in call, an intro to their buddy, and the Day 1 plan sent in advance keep a new hire engaged between signing and starting.
Day 1 / Week 1 / Month 1
30-60-90 milestones
| By Day 30 | By Day 60 | By Day 90 |
|---|---|---|
| Knows the playbooks. Self-sufficient on tools and CRM. Consistent daily activity. First candidates in pipeline. | Running BD independently. Live Job Orders on the desk. First shortlists out. Activity at target. | First placement(s) in progress or made. Desk self-sustaining. Coaching shifts from "how" to "how much". |
Read the ramp honestly. If a hire is well off these milestones at Day 60 with no clear external reason, that's a coaching escalation now — not a Day-90 surprise. The earlier you intervene, the more likely you turn it around.
A current SC or strong EC who answers the "is this a stupid question?" questions, shows them the daily rhythm, and helps them feel part of the desk. Practical, day-to-day, low-stakes. Set a light expectation: a daily check-in for the first fortnight.
A PC/MD (often you) who owns the development arc — the 1-on-1s, the coaching, the career conversation. Strategic and accountable for the ramp.
Pairing a new hire with a buddy also develops the buddy — it's an early leadership rep for an SC on the promotion path. Choose deliberately.
The 1-on-1 belongs to the consultant, not to you. It's their time to think out loud, get unstuck, and be coached — not your time to ask "where's my numbers?". You can get the numbers from the Cockpit. Protect this slot: don't cancel it, don't let it become a deal review.
A repeatable structure
| Segment | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Their agenda | ~10 min | What's on their mind. Wins, blockers, what they want help with. Let them lead. |
| The numbers | ~10 min | Pipeline and activity against KPI — but as a coaching lens, not an interrogation. "What's the story behind this number?" |
| Coaching focus | ~15 min | One skill or deal, coached with GROW (next section). Depth over breadth — one thing done well beats five things skimmed. |
| Actions & close | ~5 min | Agree 1–3 concrete actions owned by them, due before next 1-on-1. Write them down. Review them next week. |
Keep a running 1-on-1 note per person. Actions, themes, development goals, wins. It's your memory, your coaching continuity, and — if it ever comes to it — part of your evidence base for a review, promotion or PIP.
The instinct of a good biller-turned-leader is to solve it for them. Resist it. Telling creates dependence; asking builds a consultant who can solve the next one alone. GROW gives you the questions.
What do you actually want from this? Get a specific, outcome-shaped goal for the conversation. "Land the briefing" beats "deal with this client". "What does a good outcome here look like?"
What's actually happening right now? Facts, not interpretation. Surface what they've tried and what the client/candidate has actually said. "What have you tried? What did they say — exactly?"
What could you do? Generate options before judging them. Push for three before you let them pick. "What else could you try? If that weren't possible, then what?"
What will you do, by when? Commit to a specific action with a deadline they own. "So what's your next move, and when will you have done it?"
The discipline: if you find yourself talking more than the consultant, you've slipped from coaching to telling. Telling has its place (a true emergency, a compliance must), but it's the exception. Default to questions.
Don't try to fix the whole funnel at once. Pick the one skill that, if it improved, would move the most — and drill it until it's a reflex. Then move to the next. The Training Simulator (when live) is built for exactly this kind of spaced, scenario-based practice.
Role-play the first 30 seconds of a BD call until it's natural. Drill the M1 call flow and objection handlers.
Practise the M2 screening sequence and 6Rs framework on a mock candidate. Listen back, score it together.
Drill writing a tight Candidate Profile from a screen — clarity and commercial framing, not a CV restatement.
Role-play the hypothetical offer call and counter-offer defence from M3. High-stakes, worth rehearsing cold.
Make it normal, not remedial. Drills are how good consultants get better, not a punishment for the weak. Your strongest billers should be drilling too. Build it into the desk rhythm.
Pre-call (2 minutes, before the call)
"What's your goal for this call? What's your opener? What's the most likely objection and how will you handle it?" Two minutes of pre-call coaching prevents a wasted call and primes them to execute.
Sit-in (during)
Listen live (Aircall makes this easy). Don't rescue them mid-call unless something is going badly wrong — let them run it so the debrief is real.
Debrief (right after — the gold)
Coach immediately while it's fresh. Lead with their self-assessment, then add one or two specific observations. Always close on a concrete next action. The structure that works:
- Ask first: "How do you think that went? What would you do differently?"
- Reinforce one thing that worked — specifically, so they repeat it.
- Sharpen one thing — one, not ten. The single highest-value change.
- Bank the lesson into their 1-on-1 note and their next drill.
One sharpening point per debrief. Dumping ten observations on someone after a hard call doesn't develop them — it deflates them. Pick the one that matters most.
Resist the reflex to just say "more activity". Sometimes that's right; often it isn't. Work the diagnosis first.
Check the Cockpit: are the inputs (calls, BD, candidate contacts) actually down? If activity has dropped, that's the lever — rebuild the daily rhythm and the reasons behind the drop. Often it's avoidance after a knock-back.
Activity is there but conversion isn't. Sit in on calls to find where the funnel leaks — opener, qualifying, shortlist quality, closing — then drill that specific step. Don't add volume to a leaky funnel.
Working bad Job Orders hard. Review the desk's JOs against difficulty-to-fill and winnability (M3). Sometimes the fix is to kill dead JOs and redirect BD, not work harder on unfillable roles.
A run of losses can spiral. Engineer a quick win (a winnable JO, a warm candidate), increase contact and encouragement, and reconnect them to why they're good. Confidence is a real input — protect it.
Something outside work. Lead with care, be human, and flex where you reasonably can. Loop in HR support if needed. Don't performance-manage a personal crisis — support it first.
Sequence: diagnose the cause → agree a short, specific plan in the 1-on-1 → increase coaching contact for a few weeks → review. If genuine effort plus support over a fair window doesn't move it, that's when it becomes a performance conversation (see PIPs).
Have a proper career conversation at least twice a year with every consultant. It signals you're invested in their future, surfaces flight risk early, and connects their day-to-day to the APB career ladder (EC → SC → PC → MD, see People & Structure).
- Where do you want to be in 12–24 months? Listen for whether they want to bill bigger, lead, or specialise deeper — all are valid at APB.
- What's the gap? Map their aspiration to the next level's criteria (see Promotion Criteria). Make the path explicit and evidence-based.
- What will we each do? Their development actions and your support. Revisit at the next career conversation.
Don't over-promise. A career conversation maps a credible path and the evidence required — it is not a promotion guarantee. Be honest about timelines and the bar.
The quarterly review is where you step back from the week-to-week and assess the whole picture: results against KPI, behaviours against the values and the PD, development since last quarter, and goals for the next. It runs off the EC/SC PD as the performance framework and the Cockpit KPI data as the evidence.
What to bring
- Numbers: billings, pipeline and activity vs target for the quarter (Cockpit KPI Calculator is canonical — see People & Structure for the targets).
- Behaviours: against the four company values and the PD expectations. Specific examples, good and bad.
- Development: progress on the goals set last quarter; what got better.
- Forward goals: 2–3 goals for the coming quarter, tied to the career path where relevant.
The golden rule: nothing in a review should be new. If a consultant is surprised by feedback at review, that's a failure of your weekly 1-on-1s, not a fair review. Review consolidates; it doesn't ambush.
The APB ladder is EC → SC → PC → MD (see People & Structure for the full definitions and KPIs by level). A promotion recognises that someone is already operating at the next level, sustainably — not that they might if given the title.
The test
Consistently hitting the next level's billing/KPI bar over multiple quarters — not one spike. Check it against the level targets in People & Structure.
Already doing the next role's work — e.g. an SC mentoring an EC, owning accounts, raising desk standards — before the title.
A role model on the values. Promoting someone the team doesn't respect damages the desk.
Build the evidence file. Keep examples in their 1-on-1 notes and reviews across quarters so a promotion case is a documented argument, not a feeling. This also makes a "not yet" conversation fair and specific.
A PIP is not a sacking mechanism — it's a genuine attempt to fix the problem, run fairly. But it's also the point where coaching becomes formal, so it must be done properly. Before a PIP, you should already have coached the issue informally (see The Stuck Consultant Playbook) — a PIP is the escalation when that hasn't worked.
Process before a PIP starts: involve HR / the Director and confirm the correct process for the person's branch (AU employment law vs PH/Shore360) before you begin. Getting the process wrong creates legal exposure. See HR Docs and confirm with the Director.
A fair PIP has
- Specific gaps — the exact results/behaviours falling short, with evidence. Not "lift your game".
- Clear, measurable targets — what success looks like, in numbers and behaviours.
- A defined timeframe — a fair window to demonstrate improvement (confirm length with HR).
- Support — the coaching, drills and check-ins you'll provide. A PIP without support isn't fair.
- Documented check-ins — regular reviews through the period, written down, with honest progress notes.
- A clear statement of consequences — what happens if targets are/aren't met.
Run a PIP hoping it works. Many do — a fair plan with real support turns people around. But document every step regardless, so that whichever way it goes, the record is fair and complete.
- Prepare & be timely: know your specific examples and the outcome you want. Have it early — privately, never in front of the desk.
- Be direct in the first 30 seconds: don't bury the message in small talk. State the issue plainly and kindly. People respect clarity more than padding.
- Evidence, not character: talk about specific behaviours and results, not "who they are". "Activity has been below target for three weeks" — not "you're lazy".
- Listen: there may be context you don't have. Ask, and genuinely hear it.
- Agree the path & confirm in writing: close on specific actions and follow up with a short written summary — both for fairness and for the record.
Hard and kind are not opposites. The kindest thing is to be honest early so the person can act, rather than letting a fixable problem grow until the only option is an exit.
- Stay composed and gracious. How you handle a resignation is watched by the whole team and shapes whether they ever come back or refer others. No guilt-tripping.
- Understand why — a calm conversation about their reasons. If it's a fixable, genuine issue and they're worth retaining, a considered counter can be appropriate; if it's a values/fit decision, accept it well.
- Confirm notice and process for their branch (AU vs PH/Shore360) — see HR Docs. Get the resignation in writing.
- Plan the handover — live Job Orders, candidates mid-process, and client relationships reassigned cleanly so nothing (and no client) is dropped. Protect candidate and client experience above all.
- Communicate to the team deliberately and positively, before the rumour mill does.
A consultant who leaves well is a future boomerang hire and a referral source. Treat every exit as the start of an alumni relationship.
Do not run a dismissal solo. Always involve the Director and confirm the correct, lawful process before acting. The process differs by branch — Australian employment law (Fair Work — unfair dismissal, notice, valid reason, procedural fairness) for AU employees, and the PH/Shore360 (EOR) process for PH consultants. Getting the process wrong is where the firm gets exposed, even when the decision is right.
Principles (not legal advice — confirm specifics with HR Docs + the Director)
- Valid reason + fair process: a defensible reason (performance or conduct) and a fair process to get there — warnings, a chance to respond, documentation.
- The paper trail matters: the prior coaching, hard conversations, PIP and review records are what make a dismissal defensible. This is why you document earlier steps.
- Conduct vs performance are different paths — serious misconduct is handled differently from sustained underperformance. Confirm which applies.
- Branch-correct mechanics: notice, final pay, entitlements and any statutory requirements per AU law or the Shore360 arrangement. See HR Docs → Regional Provisions.
- Dignity: conduct the conversation privately, briefly, with a witness where appropriate, and with respect.
The Codex gives you the leadership approach; HR Docs and the Director give you the lawful process. On any dismissal, use both — never improvise.
Run an exit conversation for every departure (resignations especially). Keep it open and non-defensive — you're gathering data, not relitigating the decision.
- Why are you really leaving? Listen for patterns across exits — pay, progression, leadership, workload, fit.
- What would have made you stay? Often more useful than the reason for leaving.
- What should we do differently for the next person on this desk?
- Practical close: handover confirmed, accounts/logins, final pay and entitlements (via HR Docs), and a warm "door's open".
Look for themes across multiple exits — one person's reason is an opinion; three people leaving for the same reason is a problem you own.
Support the consultant — these hit confidence hard. Work the commercial response per M4 (replacement vs credit, the guarantee conditions). Diagnose what went wrong (mismatched expectations? rushed screen?) and feed it back into coaching — without blame-storming.
Take it seriously and respond fast. Get the facts from both sides. Protect APB's reputation and the candidate relationship; coach the consultant on what to do differently. Escalate to the Director if it's serious or has legal/reputational weight.
Step in personally if needed — a PC/MD presence reassures the client. Own the fix, then debrief the consultant. A well-handled complaint can deepen a client relationship; a dropped one loses the account.
Escalation rule: anything with legal, financial or serious reputational exposure goes to the Director immediately. Steady the desk, support the person, protect the client and candidate — and don't carry a real crisis alone.
| Cadence | What you do |
|---|---|
| Daily (new hires) | Check-in during the first month; taper as they ramp. |
| Around calls | Pre-call coaching, sit-ins and immediate debriefs — the highest-fidelity development. |
| Weekly | The 1-on-1 with every consultant — protected, structured, coaching-led. Skill drills built into the desk rhythm. |
| Quarterly | Formal performance review against KPI, behaviours and goals. No surprises. |
| Twice a year | A dedicated career conversation with each consultant. |
| As needed | Hard conversations (early), the stuck-consultant diagnosis, PIPs, resignations, dismissals and crises — always with HR/Director where there's legal exposure. |
Related: People & Structure (org chart, PDs, KPIs by level, career ladder) · HR Docs & Policies (the lawful process for leave, performance, AU + PH provisions). L1 gives the leadership approach; those give the framework and the rules.