EP 70 - Fix Your Process, Fix Your Agency w/ Saeed Bor
In this episode of The 1 Percent Better Recruitment Podcast, I’m joined by Saeed Bor, Founder of Embedded Ops, one of the most respected voices in recruitment operations, process optimisation, and rec tech implementation. Saeed has worked across agency and executive leadership roles, scaled teams, rebuilt broken processes, and now partners with agencies of all sizes to improve productivity, profitability, and recruiter performance. This conversation is a deep dive into real recruitment operations, not the shiny buy more tech approach, but the truth about why most agencies struggle, broken processes, poor ratios, bad habits, and a lack of operational clarity. Saeed breaks down exactly where agencies lose money, how to diagnose recruiter performance issues, why L&D is now an ops function, and how simple process fixes outperform any tech stack upgrade. He also opens up about his career journey, from selling gym memberships to enterprise tech recruitment, to becoming COO, to launching Embedded Ops, along with the realities of solo consulting, burnout, and balancing business with being a dad of twins. This episode is brutally honest, highly practical, and packed with value for recruiters, founders, L&D leaders, and anyone who wants to improve delivery, performance, culture, and operational excellence. We cover: ✅ Why process beats tech every single time ✅ How to diagnose skill vs will issues in recruiter performance ✅ Why ratios are the most underrated metric in recruitment ✅ The real reason most agencies aren’t profitable ✅ How to map processes properly (not the academic way) ✅ Why delivery breaks when recruiters stop following frameworks ✅ L&D, ops and why these worlds are merging fast ✅ The “spit and sawdust” agencies that outperform big brands ✅ How to fix recruiter habits, data hygiene and workflow bottlenecks ✅ The ROI obsession in boardrooms, and why ops must adapt ✅ What Embedded Ops actually does inside agencies ✅ The realities of solo consulting, boundaries and burnout ✅ Parenting, business, balance and the honest side of founder life ✅ Why personal branding + consistency still outperform every hack ✅ How AI and GPTs can transform operational work ✅ Saeed’s own frameworks for audits, ratios and continuous improvement ✅ His 1% Better tip for recruiters and founders Timestamps: 00:00 – Welcome and intro 01:00 – Who is Saeed Bor and Embedded Ops 04:00 – Processes over tech, where agencies go wrong 08:00 – Skill vs will, diagnosing recruiter performance 12:00 – Ratios, data and the truth about output quality 17:00 – Why process mapping usually fails 22:00 – L and D, ops and continuous improvement 28:00 – Consultants who cannot do the work vs those who will not 33:00 – Selling ROI in ops, tech and training 38:00 – The reality of being a solo operator 45:00 – RecExperts, collaboration and new ventures 50:00 – Balancing business, family, burnout and boundaries 58:00 – Personal branding, awareness and warm BD 01:05:00 – AI, GPTs and the future of recruitment ops 01:12:00 – Saeed’s 1 Percent Better tip Connect with Saeed Bor 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saeedbor/ Connect with Charles Kyriakou 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1/ 🎥 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charles.kyriakou 🍏 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/... 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46LjJfw... 📰 LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7244346543967731712/ 🔗 Find out more about SourceWhale 🐋 Mention 1% Better Recruitment Podcast or my name, Charles Kyriakou, when you sign up using the link, or head to https://sourcewhale.com/demo to get started. 👇 Enjoyed this? Like, comment & subscribe — and share it with someone who needs this episode.
