Enterprise

Ex-pharmacist offers remedies to firms scouting for talent

gloria

Ms Gloria Otieno Muka is CEO of Recours Four Kenya Consultants Limited. Her company consults and partners with organisations to manage human capital. PHOTO | COURTESY

Gloria Otieno Muka ditched reading doctors’ prescriptions to offer remedies to employers scouting for talent.

The trained pharmacist instead followed her erstwhile college pastime to set up a human-resource consultancy.

After graduating from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Ms Muka turned to writing resumes and cover letters for her friends for a fee.

“While I waited for them (job prospects) to respond, I started writing CVs and cover letters for my friends. I did it for fun but I charged them a small fee. Most of them were invited for interviews,” says the 31-year old upcoming HR expert.

She also tried her hand in customer service, working at national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) for about two years.

Wrong reasons

So, why did she venture into pharmacy when she wasn’t in for it? “I chose to pursue a degree in pharmacy because I was always good in sciences. Also because many people were pursuing it, plus it sounded funky. I obviously chose it for the wrong reasons!”

Gloria joined KQ in January 2010 and left in October 2012. She left because there weren’t prospects for career growth. She opened a Facebook page called Recours Four Kenya where she continued to offer her CV-writing services.

“I registered my business as a limited liability company and opened shop in March 2013,” Ms Muka continues.

“Recours Four Kenya Consultants Limited is a full-spectrum consulting services firm that assists organisations manage their human resource. The greatest asset to any company is its people. We consult with government and non-profit organisations, and those in the public and private sector.”

About what they offer, Ms Muka says, “Our services include recruitment, training, psychometric testing, salary survey and other HR-related consultancy services.” 

She has consulted with a number of clients in different industries. She mentions a few notable companies.

“We have done executive recruitment and headhunting for The World Bank Group, National Environment Trust Fund (NETFUND), Alexander Forbes, Profin Group, ActionAid International, Databit Limited and several others,” she says.

Other firms that have sought her services include Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec), SportPesa, GlaxoSmithKline, Parliamentary Service Commission, Capita Registrars, White Rose Dry Cleaners, USAid, DAI firm, and Cytonn Investments.

‘‘We also have other clients in Dubai, United States, United Kingdom and Russia,’’ she adds.

Speaking money, she says, “The services we offer are tailor-made for organisations, corporates and individuals. For recruitment services, we charge 100 per cent of the first month’s gross salary of the selected candidate. The hiring company pays it. For salary surveys, we charge between Sh300,000 and Sh500,000 per benchmarked position.”

Gloria continues, “Training services are completely customised and are dependent on the number of participants sitting in for the training. It varies from between Sh150,000 for a group of 15 participants to Sh1 million for a group of 70 participants. Psychometric testing varies from Sh5,000 to Sh10,000 per candidate.”

Annual revenue

She says their annual revenue has grown more than ten-fold in the last three years. In 2013, it was Sh2.5m, 2014 (Sh12m), 2015 (Sh30m) and in 2016 hit Sh34m.

 Her starting capital was Sh185,000. “I borrowed it from my parents. They were my key seed investors. Dad is an engineer, he’s been running a consultancy for over 20 years. My mom in a teacher.”

“I put in another Sh2 million a year after starting the company for marketing, office assets and getting employees onboard. I borrowed Sh800,000 from my chama and raised Sh1.2 million from another business I acquired,” Ms Muka says about her working capital. 

Recours is a fully sustainable business now. “My finance manager allocated me a salary from way earlier on in the business,” she says, “I have my own targets allocated to me and I undergo performance appraisals just like any other employee in my company.”

 To date, Recours has recruited over 100,000 people. Ms Muka says their database currently sits at 236,000 registered people categorised according to job industry, qualification and education skill set.

Gloria has complemented her HR degree with certifications from other online courses, a necessity to the trade.

Recours has been recognised and rewarded as a company, both in Kenya and abroad. They recently won Best Corporate Partner Award 2016. It’s an award by Eddah’s Hope Cancer Foundation.  “In the next five years,” says Gloria about the company strategy, “I see myself expanding the business more into the international space. I am working on a stronger worldwide presence for the business and I hope to achieve at least 70 per cent of that within this five-year span.”