PORTICO INC.

Unicorns: It All Comes Down To How They Are Defined When a prospective client tells me they might be looking for a unicorn (and they occasionally do), my mind doesn’t go to mythical creatures and inevitably doomed engagements. Instead, I ask questions like: Is the position reasonable and marketable? Is the employer willing to make modifications to the position so that it is marketable? Based on my labour market knowledge, do I believe such talent exists? If they do exist, wha

Lone Wolf Recruitment as a Business Model I’m about to admit to what some might consider bad business practice. As the owner of Portico Inc., I rarely engage with fellow recruiters. No offence intended — I simply choose not to. I do know that lack of engagement can make me feel like the “lone wolf recruiter,” and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Perhaps that makes me an outlier. What I do know is that I’ve grown comfortable operating independently in a crowded market. I’ve n

Mitigating Domestic Staff Drama and Conflict I recently came across an excellent LinkedIn post addressing domestic staff workplace drama...

Private Service: An Admirable Profession This article was inspired by another which delved into how to manage a case of domestic theft. ...

Email Blasts and why Portico Inc. avoids them I think it's tempting for busy recruiters to send email blasts to their database about a...

Being and Thinking Differently, Makes a Difference "Gillian isn't sick. She's a dancer." Perhaps some of you are aware of Gillian Lynne's...

Recruiters: Are we Delivering a Product, a Service, or a bit of both? I have written before about recruiting private service staff and...

Working in Private Service can be both Rewarding and Stressful Working as a Private Service Professional can be uniquely rewarding, but...

An Annual Performance Review; Your Employees Want Them When I managed employees, I always made sure to build employee performance and...

Private Chef versus Personal Chef; What's in a Title? In recruitment, correct terminology isn’t just semantics—it’s effective strategy....

The Question that Differentiates the Good Recruiters from the Not-so Good Ones While recruiting and sales share superficial...

Starting a new job is never easy. It's great if the employer offers a robust onboarding program for new employees. In Private Service,...

Okay, so "high-octane nannies" might be a thing for some--at least according to this article in The Telegraph . Nurturing Nannies Some...

Let’s face it, Private Service is not on top of every kid’s list when they are asked by Uncle John what they want to do as a career.

It always amazes me when I encounter intelligent individuals who make the mistake of assuming they have a job “in the bag,” proceed to...

If there is truth to the saying “there is no such thing as a stupid question,” why do so many of us feel the opposite in our jobs and...

So you have assembled the private service staff team of your dreams. It took time, money, and patience to source the calibre of Employee...

Occasionally, a story begins with its ending. This story ends with an emphatic “Oui!” The question that prompted the response? “When you...

There are words that have the ability to evoke images and sounds. The name Natasha is such a word. That final syllable – that “shah”...

I met “C” about a decade ago. He came to the office I was working in at the time with a charming lady for whom he was caregiving. There...