Hello and welcome back!

If you’re looking for practical strategies and fresh perspectives on recruitment, you’re in the right place. In this edition, we’re spotlighting an award-winning healthcare staffing company that’s redefining retention, revealing the 2025 Talent Business Awards shortlist, and digging into why better data -not just more AI -could be your agency’s secret weapon.

Plus, we’ve got a big survey we’re launching and upcoming events designed to help you connect, learn, and lead in our rapidly changing industry.

Let’s dive in and turn today’s insights into tomorrow’s results. Enjoy!

LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW

The Award-Winning Formula in Healthcare Staffing

Express Medical isn't your typical healthcare staffing company. They've won the Talent Business of 2024 Award whilst managing something most firms struggle with: keeping their staff happy.

So what's their secret? They've found a way to not losing the human touch that healthcare recruitment desperately needs.

• Smart Contracts: Created a special agreement, giving temporary workers permanent contract security whilst keeping the flexibility everyone wants.

• Staff Who Stay: Built around GROW values that actually mean something and their retention rates prove it.

• Smart Matching: Their AI "matchmaker" removes bias from candidate matching, allowing their team to focus on building proper relationships with clients and candidates

• Proven Experience: 37+ years in the market, recognised as Best Workplace for three consecutive years, and they've continued growing whilst others faced challenges.

In this interview, Leen Verwimp and An Aelbrecht explain how they run this business. You'll learn about their practical approach to staff retention, how their matching system works, and why putting people first isn't just good intentions - it drives their results.

They discuss the real challenges facing healthcare recruitment and share their approach to handling the talent shortage affecting the industry.

TALENT BUSINESS AWARDS

Shortlist 2025 Announced!

This year’s nominees represent the most innovative, impactful, and inspiring companies and individuals in Belgium’s recruitment and staffing sector, across categories like Project Sourcing Agency, Recruitment Agency, Temp Staffing, DEI Initiative, Innovation, and more. Curious to see who made the cut and who’s shaping the future of talent?

RECRUITMENT TOOLS

You don't need AI, you need better data

If you think your agency’s database is a goldmine waiting to be unlocked, this interview is for you. I sat down with Fabian Heyse, co-founder of daidalo, to dig into why so much valuable candidate data goes unused, the hidden risks of automating on shaky foundations, and how agencies can finally make their ATS the engine of faster, smarter placements. Fabian shares hard-won lessons, practical strategies, and a vision for future-proofing recruitment—where technology amplifies, not replaces, the human touch. Curious how data quality could be your next competitive edge?

Company Spotlight: daidalo
Founded: 2024
Headquarters: Ghent, Belgium
Active in BeNeLux, soon UK
Focus: daidalo updates and completes candidate data, so recruitment agencies can make placements faster using their existing network.
Key Benefits: always clean and up-to-date data, faster placements, less dependency on external sourcing platforms, no manual data updates

“STAFFING AGENCY SELECTION” SURVEY

Research on how companies find, evaluate, and partner with staffing agencies

We're conducting a very comprehensive research on how companies actually find, evaluate, and partner with staffing agencies - and we need your voice. In exchange for 5 minutes of your honest experience, you'll receive exclusive early access to the "2025 Staffing Agency Selection Benchmark Report" - packed with data from your peers to help you make smarter, faster hiring decisions.

Upcoming events

Executive Dinner for Staffing Agency managers

Date: September 18th Location: Antwerp (Belgium)

Join us for an exclusive evening where 10 industry leaders will share their insights on the rapidly evolving recruitment technology landscape of 2025, and the integration strategies that are delivering measurable efficiency gains in talent acquisition.

Winning New Clients in a Tough Market: Strategies for Staffing & Recruitment Agencies

Date: September 23th Webinar

In today’s market, winning new business is harder than ever. Clients are overwhelmed, competition is fierce, and traditional outreach often falls flat. This 45-minute interactive webinar is designed for owners and sales leaders of staffing & recruitment agencies in Belgium and The Netherlands. Our panel - an HR manager, a seasoned sales consultant, and a successful agency leader - will share honest, practical advice on how to overcome the daily obstacles of business development and cold outreach.

Talent Business Awards

Date: November 6, 2025

Come and join the exclusive Talent Business Awards ceremony and gala dinner, and enjoy a company of fellow peers celebrating the outstanding achievements in the industry.

The gala dinner provides an exceptional opportunity to network with all the professionals in the Belgian staffing & recruitment industry, fostering collaboration and celebrate successes together.

Thanks for reading Talent Business Insights!

This newsletter is created for you to inspire, inform, and spark conversation. We'd absolutely love to hear your thoughts! What topics would you like to see covered? What challenges are you facing in attracting, selecting and retaining top talent? Your feedback will shape future editions, so please hit reply and share your thoughts.

With enthusiasm for what's ahead,
Jeroen