Recruiters and leaders of recruitment businesses are “actually dumbing down our human spirit” by staying in the office and conducting business by computer and phone, a London audience was warned on Tuesday.

Speaking at the ‘Every Agency’s Dream’ half-day conference, recruitment business consultancy LoveWorkLife co-founder and managing director Paul Jacobs urged leaders and consultants alike to spend more time out of the office meeting and talking with potential clients and candidates to build and boost revenues.

Using all of one’s five senses – sight, sound, smell, touch and taste – in dealing with potential clients and candidates will help recruiters secure the exclusivity that is needed to build revenues, the former Office Angels leader said. A previous aim in his own career had been to build 30 new business contacts in two years of business, he said.

“We dumb down our senses and stare at screens at day, and then complain about RSI [repetitive stress syndrome], eye strain and headaches. We have become robots,” Jacobs railed. “What the **** is going on? We have become sedentary recruiters.”

Jacobs closed his talk by urging recruiters to broaden their view and experience of the worlds in which they operate. He suggested: “Open yourself up to the universe, and the universe will open to you.”

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