Her desire to be part of social change and make a difference in the human sector as a whole inspired her to establish Recours Four Kenya Consultants Limited
Gloria Michelle Muka is a highly motivated, all round and proven leader with a meticulous quality who can drive forward a business development and human resource consultancy function within any organization to realize its full human capital capability. She is also an “inspirer” seeking to get the best out of people and helping them succeed with their careers. Gloria is the chief executive officer of Recours Four Kenya Consultants Limited – an award winning professional services firm based in Nairobi, Kenya that assists Organizations in Recruitment, Training and HR Consultancy functions. Gloria was recently listed on Forbes Africa Top 30 ‘Most Promising Entrepreneurs in Africa 2017’. She is also Winner of a Business Excellence Award Certificate, issued by World Confederation of Businesses, USA 2017. Besides, she is the chairlady of an investment firm called Prosperity Investments Group in Kenya which has ventured solely into real estate investment.
How did you get started as an entreprenuer?
I basically felt like I needed to be a part of the human resources industry because in Kenya, our unemployment rates were alarming. I wanted to be part of a social change and make a difference in the human sector as a whole. Initially, I started the business by doing CVs for people. I started with doing CVs for friends, family and workmates. I realized that many people were clueless on how to construct a professional CV and as I got to do many CVs, I realised that interview skills were also a big problem. This was my motivation. I wanted people to be able to acquire jobs easily by enabling them to construct a professional CV because let’s be honest, a CV is the point of first impression. A good first impression can get you through the door to a first interview. Later, I expanded the business to include other services and engaged industry specialists to push the services along thus, making us a fully expert driven company.
Tells us more about Recours Four Kenya?
Recours Four Kenya Consultants Limited is an award winning, youth focussed, fully registered limited liability company in Kenya. It is a full spectrum consulting services firm that has been assisting public-sector organizations, private, government, non-profit and for-profit organizations. We have an organized team of consultants who have extensive experience in recruitment, training, psychometric testing, salary survey and HR Consultancy services with a combined professional staff experience of 30 years in Human Resource Management. We recently won an award as Best Corporate partner 2016 and are nominees for the Star Quality in Leadership award – gold category that was held in France in May 2017 by the Bid Group.
What inspired you to start the company?
I was motivated by passion for socio-economic impact in the country. The need to do more in order to build Africa, improve our economy and get more people employed and to get employed people to excel in their roles was another driving force.
What sets your company apart from other players in the market?
We have excellent customer service on all our platforms. Besides, we have a fast and efficient recruitment portal, a functioning payroll system and a large database of candidates.
What can you say you have achieved so far?
We are a professional services firm backed by professional accreditations in Kenya. We offer training which is accredited by the National industrial Authority in Kenya and our Consultants are members of the IHRM which makes us different from most of the Organizations in the same industry. We have a great customer referral system, high retention rate from our recruitment services and amazing reviews from our client base, which has grown tremendously over the years. Our clients include: The World Bank, International Federation of The Red Cross, Imperial Group of Hotels, The Foschini Group – South Arica among others.
Could you tell us some of the fundamentals of starting a
business?
It is important to create great channels of communication between you and your team. Furthermore, have an open door policy and allow your team to be innovative with ideas, avoid micromanaging. Also, be patient, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes some time to build a thriving business.
Have you faced any challenges, and how did you overcome them?
Well as the business grows, different problems and opportunities demand different solutions. You find yourself constantly in need of the right systems, right skills, market research and basically new innovative ways of reaching your market. All this needs constant cash flow, planning ahead and great financial management. Most of the time, funding can be a major problem for most businesses.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
Solving a social problem – youth unemployment
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
We have opened a subsidiary in South Africa – Recours Four South Africa Consultants (Pty) Ltd which is currently operational in West tower, 2nd Floor Maude Street at Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa.
What’s the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women
looking to start-up?
Never let someone tell you that you cannot do something. If something isn’t out there, go create it.
