From Chaos to Clarity: How EOS Transforms Recruiting & Staffing Firms

Growing a recruiting or staffing agency is hard – fast-paced client demands, a whirlwind of roles to fill, and the constant challenge of scaling your own operations. It’s no surprise many recruitment entrepreneurs feel their business is stuck in chaos. Enter the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a simple yet powerful framework popularized by Gino Wickman’s book Traction. EOS isn’t just another management theory; it’s a practical playbook that brings order, focus, and growth to entrepreneurial companies. And recruiting firms have taken notice. In my experience as host of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, I’ve seen a surge of staffing agency leaders embracing EOS – with transformative results.

In this article, we’ll explore 2–3 of the top business benefits EOS is providing to recruiting and staffing firms, share real stories from my podcast guests about EOS’s impact, and introduce you to several recruiting veterans who were so inspired by EOS that they became professional EOS Implementers themselves. If you’re a recruiting agency owner looking to scale up, improve leadership alignment, or just regain some sanity in how you run your business, read on. EOS might just be the game-changer you’re looking for.

Before we dive in. Make sure to subscribe to The Elite Recruiter Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcast and make sure to register for our next 2 FREE Summits. AI Recruiting Summit 2025 and the Finish The Year Strong Summit 2025. We have had over 6000 recruiters at our summits over the last 12 months. Join the fun and learn.

Why EOS? Top Benefits for Recruiting Firms

What makes EOS such a difference-maker for businesses like recruiting agencies? It boils down to a few key wins that agency owners consistently report after implementing EOS. Here are the big ones:

• Operational Clarity and Vision Alignment: EOS forces you to clarify your vision and get everyone on the same page with where the company is headed and how you’ll get there. By breaking big goals into actionable quarterly “Rocks” and weekly to-dos, EOS keeps the team laser-focused. One recruiting agency leader described EOS as a company built on “optimizing efficiencies” with meaningful metrics and a mindset where everyone is rowing in the same direction. Instead of each recruiter doing their own thing, you instill a shared vision and common processes. The result? No more “random acts of recruiting” – everyone knows the plan, understands the core values, and is accountable to the goals week by week.
• Leadership Team Accountability and Alignment: Recruiting businesses often grow out of small founder-led teams. EOS helps install a real leadership operating system so that leaders run the business, not the other way around. The EOS Model emphasizes getting the “Right People in the Right Seats.” In other words, ensuring your team fits your culture and each role is clearly defined and owned. As EOS Implementer (and former recruiter) Adam Kaplan explained on a podcast, “In the EOS system, we talk about two things... they need to be the right people and be in the right seats”. By establishing accountability charts, scorecards, and regular meeting rhythms, EOS removes ambiguity at the top. Your leadership team becomes more cohesive and disciplined, tackling issues openly instead of letting them fester. Several staffing firm owners credit EOS with transforming their internal culture – turning leadership meetings from firefights into productive problem-solving sessions with everyone aligned and accountable.
• Focused Growth and Scalability: Perhaps most exciting for agency owners, EOS can be a catalyst for growth. By instilling focus and discipline, EOS frees you from the hamster wheel of day-to-day chaos and lets you work on the business strategically. This often translates into accelerated revenue and profit. For example, one of my podcast guests, Jeremy Jenson, grew his recruiting firm from a startup to over $12.5 million in revenue. He says EOS was a “massive growth catalyst” for the business – helping implement the processes and structure needed to scale up. EOS got his team clearly defining their mission, values, and quarterly priorities, which doubled their customer base in a year and drove significant revenue growth. I’ve heard similar stories from others: after adopting EOS, recruiting agencies report better use of KPIs, more proactive business development, and the confidence to scale knowing they have a solid operating system under the hood. In short, EOS gives entrepreneurial firms traction – it turns your big vision into a manageable roadmap so you can grow faster and more sustainably.

Voices from the Elite Recruiter Podcast: EOS in Action

One of the perks of hosting The Elite Recruiter Podcast is hearing firsthand how EOS is changing the game for recruiting businesses. Across multiple episodes, my guests – from brand-new founders to industry veterans – have shared eye-opening testimonials about EOS. Here are a few that really stand out:

• Jeremy Jenson 🐐 (Encore Search Partners) – As mentioned, Jeremy implemented EOS and saw explosive growth. On the podcast, he recalled hiring a new COO who introduced EOS to the firm, and suddenly everything clicked. “EOS helped us implement processes, systems, and scalability… it created an ecosystem that held me accountable to scaling the business,” he told meeliterecruiterpodcast.com. With EOS, Jeremy’s team began meeting quarterly to set “Rocks” (priorities), which forced them to focus on high-impact projects rather than chasing every shiny object. He credits this focus for enabling Encore to break through revenue plateaus. “I would say EOS was a massive growth catalyst for us,” Jeremy said emphatically eliterecruiterpodcast.com. Considering he built one of the fastest-growing recruiting firms in Houston, that’s a strong endorsement!
• Domenic Maiani (Lazio Search Group) – Not just large firms are benefiting; even newer agency owners are leveraging EOS early. Domenic launched his recruiting agency and hit $1.5M in his first year. A former athlete, he loved the structured approach EOS gave him. In our conversation, Domenic explained that he uses the Entrepreneurial Operating System to keep his business thriving and everyone on track, eliterecruiterpodcast.com. For someone juggling rapid growth and a lean team, EOS provided a framework to organize the madness. By adopting habits like weekly Level 10 Meetings (an EOS staple) and tracking a handful of key metrics, Domenic maintained control of his young company’s growth trajectory. His takeaway: discipline wins races, whether in sports or business, and EOS instilled the discipline he needed to scale.
• Patrick Corrigan (Palladium Point) – Pat’s episode highlighted how EOS concepts are spreading even to those considering scaling beyond a solo practice. When I asked Pat about growing from a one-man shop to a team, he brought up the book Traction. “Do you know EOS?” he asked me, mentioning he had seen it used elsewhere. “I’m not all in yet on EOS,” Pat admitted, “but the book Traction is about a visionary and an integrator… I’m the visionary... the integrator helps the visionary stay on track” eliterecruiterpodcast.com. He had just made his first ops hire (essentially an integrator) before adding more recruiters. Even without a full EOS implementation, Pat was influenced by its core idea of pairing a big-picture entrepreneur with a focused operator. That move allowed him to systematize his startup firm before hiring additional recruiters. It was great validation that EOS’s principles (like the visionary/integrator duo) are helping recruiting founders build smarter from the ground up eliterecruiterpodcast.com.
• Sharon Hulce (Employment Resource Group) – Sharon adopted EOS to move beyond running her already successful $1.4M recruiting desk into a scalable recruiting business. EOS provided the necessary clarity, accountability, and empowered leadership team to sustain significant growth. “It’s not about the person, it’s about the issue,” Sharon emphasized, highlighting how EOS transformed her firm's culture, enabling her team to solve challenges efficiently rather than getting stuck in the blame game. By clearly defining roles and goals, EOS helped Sharon confidently step back from daily operations to focus on strategic growth. - eliterecruiterpodcast.com
• Brent Orsuga (Pinnacle Growth Advisors) – Brent implemented EOS to transition from a solo recruiting practice into a thriving Inc. 5000-listed firm. EOS was pivotal in creating disciplined systems, measurable goals, and scalable processes, helping Brent’s firm consistently achieve ambitious revenue targets. “If you don’t have an actual system…you’re setting people up to fail,” Brent shared, emphasizing that EOS gave his team clarity and a clear playbook. Brent's structured approach to scaling—driven by EOS—allowed him to confidently hire, delegate, and grow rapidly without losing control of his business operations. eliterecruiterpodcast.com

These are just a few examples, but the pattern is clear. Recruiting entrepreneurs are finding real value in EOS, and they’re eager to talk about it. As a podcast host, it’s been rewarding to hear people say EOS gave them clarity, confidence, and control over their business that they never had before. And it’s not just talk – they’re backing it up with results like higher placements, smoother operations, and business growth that once felt out of reach.

If you’re curious to hear more, I highly encourage you to check out those podcast episodes (and others). There’s nothing like hearing a fellow recruiter explain how they went from feeling overwhelmed by the day-to-day, to running their company with the calm and focus of a well-oiled machine – thanks in large part to EOS.

From Recruiter to EOS Implementer: Meet the Coaches Driving Change

It’s not only agency owners adopting EOS; some recruiting leaders believe in it so much that they’ve made a career out of coaching EOS to others! Below are a few standout professionals I’ve come to know who transitioned from successful recruiting and staffing careers to become Professional EOS Implementers. Their backgrounds give them a unique edge in helping recruitment businesses. Let’s meet these folks:

• Adam Kaplan (Detroit, MI) – Adam is a former executive search entrepreneur who has truly walked the walk. He founded an executive recruiting firm (Kaplan Executive Search) in Michigan and later discovered EOS when a client introduced him to it. After implementing EOS in his own search firm, Adam saw such dramatic improvements that he eventually pivoted his career to help other companies do the same. In fact, one of the companies he led doubled its customers in a single year after adopting EOS. Adam often says he realized his recruiting clients “needed more from me than just a person… they needed a complete system to run their business better.” That epiphany led him to become a Certified EOS Implementer. Today, based in Detroit, he coaches dozens of businesses (including many staffing firms) on EOS. (Fun fact: Adam even shared hiring tips on an SBAM business podcast, stressing EOS’s “right people, right seats” hiring philosophy)
• Mark Goldman (San Antonio, TX) – Don has a 25+ year pedigree in the recruiting industry. He started off as a CPA, but found his passion in recruiting – eventually spending years placing accounting professionals. In 2007, he opened MGR Accounting Recruiters, an ultra-specialized staffing firm focused on accounting roles. As a business owner, Don joined peer advisory groups to improve his company, which is how he encountered EOS. He felt EOS was the missing piece that could help not just with strategy, but with actually executing that strategy throughout a company. Don became one of the early adopters of EOS in Texas and loved it so much he now runs JDSM Enterprises, through which he is an Expert EOS Implementer and business coach. Given his background, Don often works with recruiting and professional services firms. He’s also active in the San Antonio business community, spreading EOS wisdom through speaking and coaching (in addition to co-owning a TAB franchise for peer advisory). Don’s journey – from founding a staffing firm to coaching other entrepreneurs – showcases the natural fit between recruiting leadership and EOS leadership.
• David Ingram (Richmond, VA) – David is a three-time Inc. 5000 honoree who knows how to scale a recruiting business. He founded Capital TechSearch (CTS) in Richmond back in 2001 and grew it into a nationally recognized IT staffing and executive search firm. Under David’s leadership, CTS helped over 100 companies find talent and earned a spot on Forbes’ list of top executive search firms, all while consistently hitting Inc. 5000 growth benchmarks. After two decades in the staffing game (and even writing a book of business lessons), David decided his next chapter would be helping other entrepreneurs succeed. He became a Professional EOS Implementer and now works with businesses (including recruiting agencies) in the Virginia area to implement EOS and drive growth. David’s recruiting background is a huge asset – he understands the nuances of our industry, from sales metrics to talent management. That experience, combined with the EOS toolkit, makes him a powerful coach for any recruitment firm looking to scale up. (Side note: David remains CEO of Capital TechSearch while coaching, so he’s truly practicing what he preaches with EOS in his own company.)
• Chris Glover (Little Rock, AR) – Chris’s path is a winding one – from lawyer, to entrepreneur, to staffing industry leader, to EOS Implementer. A University of Arkansas law graduate, Chris spent a chunk of his early career in Hong Kong, then returned to the States to dive into business. He took a senior role at a staffing company, where he got his first exposure to EOS (even if only a part of it). Later, at a second recruiting firm, Chris experienced a full EOS rollout with the help of an Implementer. The impact was profound: he witnessed financial growth and cultural improvement across the organization thanks to EOS, which solved many of the issues he had struggled with in previous ventures. This “light bulb moment” led Chris to his true calling – coaching. He realized “EOS provided the business framework I’d been looking for all along”. Today, Chris Glover is an EOS Implementer who focuses on small to mid-sized businesses, including staffing agencies. He’s passionate about helping fellow entrepreneurs in Arkansas and beyond get what they want from their businesses. And with his varied background, Chris brings a strategic and empathetic approach – whether he’s guiding a law firm or a tech recruiting startup through EOS, he gets the challenges of building a business.
• Derek Pittak (Cleveland, OH) – Derek is known in the staffing world for his operations expertise. He served as the Integrator (COO) for TalentLaunch, a Cleveland-based network of independently operated staffing firms under one umbrella. In that role, Derek was effectively the chief operating officer for multiple recruiting brands at once – a massive coordination challenge. He used EOS to drive consistency and core values alignment across those teams, removing misaligned people and re-focusing the organization on the right talent and culture. After seeing EOS turn around TalentLaunch’s internal health, in 2019 Derek decided to start his own EOS consulting practice to help other companies. Over the past few years, he’s become the go-to EOS Implementer for staffing companies in particular – even speaking at industry conferences (ASA Staffing World, etc.) about applying EOS in the staffing context. Most recently, Derek made headlines in early 2024 when Lingo Staffing named him CEO of the company. Lingo was actually a client he had advised as an EOS Implementer for three years, so when the opportunity arose, Derek stepped in to lead the firm. It’s a testament to his credibility that a staffing company wanted him at the helm. (Don’t worry – Derek still continues his EOS coaching with other clients as well.) If you want someone who deeply understands how to scale a staffing firm through process and people, Derek is your guy.
• Jessica F. (Scottsdale, AZ) – Jessica’s story is a bit different: she made her mark in the experiential marketing and event staffing space. For 18 years, she was the founder & CEO of a leading national agency that provided brand ambassadors and event staff to Fortune 500 clients. At its peak, her agency had 10,000 W-2 employees across the country on assignments – talk about high-volume recruiting operations! After successfully exiting that business, Jessica became an advisor and eventually a Certified EOS Implementer. She has a self-described “fast-moving” style and leverages her gig-economy staffing expertise when coaching companies on EOS. Not only does she serve regular businesses, but a large portion of her EOS clients are fellow members of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), meaning they are sizable, high-growth companies. In fact, her EOS clients average $40M in revenue. Jessica’s specialty is helping leadership teams crystallize their vision and then execute aggressively. Her own background scaling an agency with thin margins and rapid client deadlines gives her a no-nonsense, results-oriented approach as a coach. She often says EOS is the best framework she’s found to share her 23+ years of entrepreneurial lessons. If your recruiting firm is in the creative or gig staffing arena, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better EOS guide than Jessica.

Each of these implementers marries real recruiting/staffing experience with EOS mastery – a powerful combination. They’ve lived the pain points of our industry and can translate EOS tools (like the Level 10 Meeting, Scorecard, or Issues Solving Track) into context that makes sense for recruiting teams. It’s no wonder so many staffing companies choose EOS Implementers as their coaches; we relate to where you’re coming from.

(Disclosure: I have no formal affiliation with EOS Worldwide – I just believe in the system, and it’s great to see members of our recruiting community leading the charge in implementing it.)

Conclusion: Time to Get a Grip on Your Recruiting Business?

The bottom line is this: recruiting agency leaders don’t have to settle for chaos. There is a better way to run and scale your company, and thousands of entrepreneurs across industries (including many of your staffing and recruiting peers) have found it in EOS. The Entrepreneurial Operating System provides the structure and game plan that allow you to break through growth ceilings, strengthen your team, and reclaim control of your business. Instead of feeling like your agency is running you, EOS helps you run your agency with clarity and purpose.

If you’re a recruiting or staffing firm owner facing challenges – maybe unclear responsibilities on your team, inconsistent results, or simply the sense that you’re hitting a ceiling – it might be time to explore EOS. Implementing a new operating system is undoubtedly a commitment, but as we’ve seen, the payoff can be huge: happier leaders, more engaged recruiters, streamlined operations, and accelerated growth in revenue and placements.

Call to Action:

I encourage you to take the next step. Read the book Traction by Gino Wickman to get a primer on EOS. Talk to peers who’ve done it. Consider reaching out to an EOS Implementer (perhaps one of the folks profiled above in your region) for a consultation or a workshop. Many offer a free 90-minute initial meeting to walk through the EOS model applied to your business. It could very well be a turning point for your firm.

And of course, if you want to hear more real-world stories of how EOS and other strategies are fueling recruiting businesses, tune in to The Elite Recruiter Podcast! We’ve had candid conversations with firm owners who share the ups and downs of their journey – including how they achieved the successes you’re aiming for. Sometimes, the best way to learn is from those who’ve been in your shoes. So check out the podcast, dig into those episodes on EOS, and see what ideas spark for you.

At the end of the day, running a recruiting company will never be easy, but it can be simpler. It can be clearer. It can be fun again – the way it was when you first made that entrepreneurial leap. Systems like EOS are there to help make that vision a reality. If they can transform companies for the better, why not yours?

Oh, and don't forget to register for our next 2 FREE Summits. AI Recruiting Summit 2025 and the Finish The Year Strong Summit 2025.We have had over 6000 recruiters at our summits over the last 12 months. Join the fun and learn!

Here’s to turning great recruiters into great business builders. Let’s get after it! 🚀

Need to hire? We can help! This article was written by Benjamin Mena who is a Managing Partner of Select Source Solutions which is a boutique executive recruitment firm.

If you’d like to have a conversation about employee retention, growing your team, or hiring plans for the rest of the year, please get in touch! Benjamin@selectsourcesolutions.com

If you are a recruiter join me on upcoming episodes of the Elite Recruiter Podcast on Apple or Spotify!