Interview with RCSA 2025 Recruitment Leader of the Year (Aus): Danielle Johnson of Sirius

This article was originally published on rossclennett.com and is shared with their permission.

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This year’s winner of the RCSA Recruitment Leader award (Australia), Danielle Johnson, learned about hard work from a very early age.

Raised in the southwestern suburbs of Sydney, Danielle joined the workforce shortly after turning 15. While balancing work at a training and apprenticeship company with study for her business administration traineeship, Danielle also worked at a butcher’s shop, a clothing store, and a pub! She quickly learned that she both loved and thrived in a fast-paced environment.

After completing her traineeship, Danielle joined a large American law firm in the Sydney CBD as a junior PA before being promoted into a paralegal role. Worn down by four years of commuting two-plus hours per day, Danielle, started looking for local jobs through local recruitment agencies.

One agency owner offered the 20-year-old Danielle the opportunity to start a legal recruitment desk. On her first day, she was sat at a desk with a phone, given the Sydney Yellow Pages and told to start booking meetings with law firms to sell temps. Danielle recalls thinking, “Cold calling? Is this really for me?”

A month in, Danielle’s boss said to her,“I’m not sure recruitment is for you,” which lit a fire in her. After making her first placement shortly after, she transitioned into a generalist recruiter role, and never looked back. It turns out, recruitment was exactly where Danielle was meant to be.

After 15 years with her first recruitment employer, Danielle moved to IT, blue collar, and professional services recruiter Sirius in mid-2021.

Founded in 20023, Sirius employs 36 staff and has offices in Sydney, Parramatta, and Melbourne.

Danielle is currently Sirius’s National Director, reporting to founder and Managing Director Steve Smith (not the Australian cricketer, also based in Sydney).

Ross: How long did it take working as a recruiter before you were offered your first leadership role?  Tell me a little about that role.

Danielle: I was promoted into my first leadership role just six months after starting in recruitment. I was leading the temp and perm business support division, and I wasn’t even 21 at the time. It was definitely a steep learning curve, but I loved it.

Not long after, I was promoted again to recruitment manager, and within a year, I was overseeing both the white-collar and blue-collar divisions. From there, I continued to grow with the business, eventually stepping into the general manager role, where I stayed for over 15 years.

That experience taught me so much about people leadership, commercial operations, and the power of consistency. It was the foundation that shaped how I lead today.

Ross: What did you find to be the biggest challenges in moving from a consulting role into a leadership role?

Danielle: At the time, I thought the biggest challenge would be leading people who were older than me or had more experience in recruitment. I was young, still in my early 20s and suddenly responsible for guiding others with years in the game.

What I quickly learned is that while leadership came quite naturally to me, the real work was in understanding the individual nuances of each person, what motivated them, how they responded to feedback, what they needed to succeed. Learning to adapt my style to bring out the best in each person was where the real growth happened.

Ross: What sort of formal and informal leadership development have you experienced in your time at Sirius?

Danielle: When I joined Sirius, I came in as a divisional manager overseeing both our professional services and industrial (blue-collar) divisions. From the start, Sirius had a strong internal leadership program, which really helped me step into the business with structure and support. I was also offered formal, external leadership training, which added another layer to my development.

As I moved into the National Director role – leading all four divisions, I began developing my own leaders using those same programs. More recently, I’ve been fortunate to work one-on-one with an Executive Coach, which has been a game-changer for my growth. Having that external perspective and support has been absolutely invaluable and has helped me continue evolving as a leader.

Ross: What books, blogs, podcasts, websites or other resources have you gained the most from in terms of developing your leadership skills?

Danielle:  There have been a few standout resources that have really shaped the way I lead.

• Good to Great

  by Jim Collins was a game-changer, it helped me understand what separates truly great companies and leaders from the rest.

• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

  by Marshall Goldsmith really challenged me to evolve my mindset as I stepped into more senior leadership roles.

• The One Minute Manager

  by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson has been a great reminder of how powerful simple, clear communication can be.

• I’ve also found

  30 Management Essentials

  and

  The Question Code

  by Andrew Laurie incredibly practical, both are packed with tools I still use today when coaching and managing teams.

I try to mix strategic thinking with day-to-day leadership tools, and these resources have given me both.

Ross: What sort of statistics or KPIs do you rely on, and how do you use them, to effectively manage the people who report to you? 

Danielle: When you’re leading a leadership team, your role shifts from managing individuals to managing business units and that means your KPIs need to tell a story across performance, people, and pipeline.

At a divisional level, I focus on revenue, margin, contractor GP growth, perm fill ratios, and client retention. But I also expect my leaders to drill down into activity-to-outcome metrics across their teams, things like qualified jobs, CVs sent, interviews booked, and job fill ratios.

I don’t stop at sales numbers. I track leadership behaviours, staff engagement, tenure, succession planning, team profitability per head, and consultant development. Every leader in my business has a tailored dashboard, and our monthly reviews go deep, what’s working, what’s stuck, and how their leadership is impacting performance overall.

For me, KPIs aren’t just commercial, they’re diagnostic. They help pinpoint whether underperformance is a volume issue, a capability gap, or something structural. When you use data to lead, you coach with purpose, not your opinion.

Ross: What do you attribute your win in RCSA 2025 Recruitment Leader of the Year to?

Danielle: Honestly, it’s a reflection of the team I lead and the culture we’ve built. I’ve never led for a title, I lead for outcomes, for growth, and for the impact we make on our clients, candidates, and each other.

But more than anything, I think the award recognises authenticity in leadership. I don’t hide the hard stuff, I share it, own it, and lead through it. I believe in being transparent, real, and consistent, and I think the RCSA saw the balance of strategy, results, and grounded leadership in everything we delivered this year.

Ross: What are the most important things that a recruitment agency leader should focus on to build a team with strong morale, excellent skills and outstanding results?

Danielle: Culture is king.  You can train skills, but you can’t train someone to care. The best leaders create environments where people feel seen, challenged, and safe. That means celebrating the wins, coaching through the losses, and setting clear, commercial expectations.

We drive this through tailored development plans, transparent goals, real-time feedback, and consistent recognition. We also run national competitions tied to performance metrics, because people want to be part of something fun, fast-paced, and rewarding. These are the moments that inject energy and connection across states and divisions.

We’ve also invested in initiatives like our internal Woman of Sirius group, which creates space for honest conversations, mentorship, and growth. For me, it’s not just about results, it’s about building an environment where people believe in what they’re doing and who they’re doing it with.

And above all, consistency matters. Don’t just show up strong on the first Monday of the quarter. Show up every day. That’s what builds belief, momentum, and high-performing teams.

Ross: What do you predict to be the largest impact of GenAI on agency recruitment in the next three years?  

Danielle: GenAI will redefine recruiter productivity. The recruiters who win will be the ones who know how to leverage AI to scale themselves, automating low-value tasks like sourcing, screening, and scheduling, so they can focus on relationship-building and strategic selling.

But the biggest shift won’t be tools, it’ll be mindset. Agencies will need to train for AI literacy just as much as BD or job qualification. Those who resist will be left behind; those who embrace it will build better, faster, smarter teams.

Ross: What personal philosophies drive you each day in your job?

Danielle: Lead by example. Own your stuff. Find the fun. I show up every day knowing that people are watching, so I try to be consistent, transparent, and human. Leadership to me isn’t about being the smartest person in the room, it’s about creating the conditions for others to shine, stretch, and succeed.

I also believe business should be fun. We spend too much of our lives at work for it to be boring or beige. That’s why culture and energy matter to me just as much as strategy.

A huge part of why I’m at Sirius is because our values aren’t just words on a wall, they’re lived. Integrity, Empowerment, Simplicity, Mastery, Persistence, Leadership, Fun, and Collaboration, those are things I genuinely align with. They guide how I lead, how I make decisions, and how I show up for my team every day.

The more a business and a leader are values-aligned, the stronger the culture, the faster the growth and the more people want to follow you into the next chapter.

Ross: What’s something about yourself that very few people, who know you professionally would know about you?

Danielle: Don’t let the polished exterior fool you, I actually have 31 tattoos, most of them done in different countries I’ve travelled to. Each one tells a story, and they’re a bit of a visual passport of my adventures.

I’m also completely sports mad – NRL, UFC, you name it and usually the loudest in the room when a game’s on. Cooking is my therapy, and surprisingly, after a spontaneous paint & sip night, I discovered I have a bit of an artistic streak. Now painting has become one of my favourite creative outlets outside of work.

Ross: What advice would you give to a recruiter who has leadership ambitions?

Danielle: Don’t wait for permission to lead, start now. Lead your desk. Lead your clients. Lead yourself.

The best leaders are never appointed, they act like leaders long before the title arrives. Start doing the job you want, not just the one you have. Show you can think commercially, coach others, and take ownership beyond your billings.

And to the women especially: don’t wait to be tapped on the shoulder. So often I see female consultants hold back until someone “offers” them leadership. My advice? Step up, speak up, and start showing what you’re capable of.

Leadership isn’t always glamorous. It’s owning the bad days, having the tough conversations, and doing the prep and putting the hours in that others skip. But the reward… seeing someone grow becauseyoubelieved in them first, is unmatched. It’s the best part of the job.

Ross: Thanks for answering my questions, Danielle, and all the best for the future.

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Ross Clennett, FRCSA, worked for 14 years as an agency recruiter and leader of recruiters. Over the last 23 years, Ross’s coaching, speaking, training, and blogging have established him as one of the most respected voices in the Australian recruitment industry. Ross’s blog, specialising in recruitment skills, the recruitment industry, the labour market and leadership, has been published weekly since September 2007.