Ross Human Directions: How a Boutique Agency Became a Full-Scale People Business

Ross Human Directions (originally Julia Ross Personnel, then Julia Ross Recruitment) is one of the most significant stories in Australia’s recruitment and HR industry.

What began in 1988 as a small, city-fringe temp agency built around one founder’s client relationships grew into a listed multinational “people business” providing recruitment, outsourcing, payroll, and HR technology across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the UK.

This article focuses on the business itself: how it was built, how it evolved beyond traditional recruitment, and how it ultimately became part of Chandler Macleod and, indirectly, the global Recruit Holdings group.

Origins: Julia Ross Personnel to Julia Ross Recruitment

In 1988, after a senior role running Asia–Pacific operations for a major international recruiter, Julia Ross left her employer, sold her belongings to raise around A$100,000, and opened a tiny office in Sydney focused on secretarial and office support temps.

The early business traded as Julia Ross Personnel, then Julia Ross Recruitment as it grew in scope. Corporate records show the legal entity stepping through a series of names before finally becoming Ross Human Directions Limited:

• Julia Ross Personnel P/L (March 2000)

• Julia Ross Recruitment Pty Limited, then Julia Ross Recruitment Limited (from 2000)

• Rebranded as Ross Human Directions Limited in January 2004

From the start, the business differentiated itself less on price and more on intensity: highly motivated consultants, long hours, and a strong “we will solve it” attitude. Former staff consistently describe the environment as demanding, fast-paced, and commercially sharp, but also energising and career-defining.

Operationally, the early Julia Ross model was very hands-on:

• Deep specialisation in office support and secretarial temps

• A large, immediately deployable candidate pool (including early-morning “ready to go” temps waiting in the CBD office for client calls)

• A focus on big corporate accounts, winning national tenders and embedding the brand with blue-chip clients by the mid-1990sAustralian Financial Review+1

Listing on the ASX and Rapid Scale

By the late 1990s, Julia Ross Recruitment had become one of Australia’s top recruiters by revenue. In FY1999–2000 it turned over roughly A$125–160 million with solid profitability.In September 2000, Julia Ross Recruitment Limited listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The float was notable for two reasons:

• It was, at the time, the largest female-owned business ever to list on the ASX.

• The listing provided capital to expand nationally and offshore, while allowing employees and the public to become shareholders.

The company quickly grew into a nationwide network with offices across all Australian states and a presence in London and other international markets.

Being public, however, fundamentally changed how the business was run. Half-yearly reporting cycles and market expectations limited the ability to reinvest aggressively during downturns—something Julia Ross herself later noted as a constraint compared with remaining private.

From Agency to “Human Directions”: Rebranding and Diversification

In 2004, the company rebranded from Julia Ross Recruitment to Ross Human Directions Limited (RHD). Corporate filings and company profiles describe RHD as an HR solutions group providing:

• Temporary, contract and permanent recruitment

• Specialist and executive recruitment

• Technology consulting and management solutions

• Managed training solutions and assessment

• Business process and HR outsourcing

• Payroll and HR technology services

The rebrand was deliberate: “Recruitment” suggested a single service line, but by the early 2000s the group was already moving into outsourcing, consulting, and managed services for large employers. The new Ross Human Directions name signalled that shift from a pure agency to a broader people and workforce solutions business.

Key Strategic Moves

1. Spherion Asia-Pacific Acquisition (2004)

A defining move was the acquisition of Spherion’s Asia-Pacific recruitment operations in June 2004.

• Deal size: up to ~A$31 million

• Footprint: 11 locations across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore

• Strategic value: expanded heavily into IT recruitment, professional contracting and HR outsourcing, and significantly increased scale in Asia-Pacific.

This acquisition:

• Diversified revenue into higher-margin specialist segments (especially technology and banking/finance)

• Brought in Aurion, a well-established Australian HR and payroll platform that became part of the Ross Human Directions group and later a key specialist product inside Chandler Macleod.

2. Executive Search and Consulting

RHD also acquired the PricewaterhouseCoopers executive search business, rebranded as FirstWater, to push into senior and executive recruitment. This helped reposition the group as a provider “from call centre to C-suite”, not just office support and mid-level roles.

Alongside this, the group developed consulting and training lines—managed training services, HR consulting, talent management and succession planning—reflecting client demand for integrated workforce solutions rather than one-off placements.

Business Model and Service Architecture

By the mid- to late-2000s, Ross Human Directions was effectively an integrated HR services group with two main segments:

1. Recruitment

   • High-volume temp and contract staffing (office support, call centres, clerical, admin)

   • Specialist and IT recruitment

   • Executive and professional search via FirstWater and other specialist brands

2. Non-Recruitment / HR Solutions

   • HR and payroll outsourcing (including Aurion-based solutions)

   • Managed training and development

   • HR consulting, assessment and talent management

   • Payroll processing and “day-roll” services for large employers

Geographically, the group operated across:

• Australia and New Zealand

• Hong Kong and Singapore

• The United Kingdom and Ireland

This allowed RHD to service multinational clients and follow talent flows between London and Australia, particularly in office support, finance, and IT.

Culture, Brand and Internal Model

Although the business expanded and professionalised, it retained a very specific internal culture:

• Bold, high-energy positioning – internal surveys and industry commentary frequently describe the brand as “bold”, fast-moving and slightly irreverent compared with more conservative competitors.

• Strong internal promotion – a deliberate focus on promoting consultants into leadership roles, using new branches and service lines as stretch opportunities.

• Employee equity – staff share schemes and performance-linked incentives, aligning consultants and managers with the listed entity’s performance.

• Demanding but developmental – high expectations, long hours, and an intense focus on results; at the same time, alumni often credit the firm with giving them their strongest professional grounding in recruitment.

Externally, the group leaned into a “fun but serious” brand: bold marketing (for example, sending clients symbolic gifts like gum trees or Australian novels to stand out), strong event presence, and a reputation for being able to fill difficult roles quickly.

Navigating Industry Cycles and Regulation

From listing onwards, Ross Human Directions operated through several sharp cycles:

• The early-2000s tech downturn and post-dot-com slowdown

• The post–September 11 corporate pullback

• Subsequent skills shortages across banking, accounting, and mid-level specialist roles

During downturns, the group shifted focus to defensible sectors (e.g., banking and construction when IT slowed), tightly managed headcount, and concentrated on existing client relationships rather than aggressive expansion.

At the regulatory level, RHD was a prominent player in debates around:

• Casual vs permanent employment rules

• Flexible work and the role of temp agencies in labour market participation

• The impact of state-based industrial relations changes on labour hire models.

The company consistently argued that flexible work—especially temporary and part-time roles—was critical for groups such as returning parents and students, and that overly rigid regulation risked reducing participation and choice.

Takeover Battles and Sale to Chandler Macleod

By the late 2000s, the company’s path as an independent listed recruiter began to narrow. There were challenges retaining external CEOs and senior executives, leading Julia Ross to step back into top leadership roles.

Two key corporate events followed:

1. Attempted acquisition by Peoplebank (2010)

   • Peoplebank and RHD negotiated a scheme of arrangement in 2010.

   • The proposal was scrutinised by the Takeovers Panel, and ultimately the deal did not proceed on the original terms.

2. Acquisition by Chandler Macleod (2011)

   • In early 2011, Chandler Macleod Group agreed to acquire Ross Human Directions.

   • Consideration was around US$62 million, and RHD was delisted from the ASX on 6 May 2011.

   • The deal added RHD’s recruitment network and its Aurion HR/payroll business to Chandler Macleod’s portfolio. Aurion later became a major contributor within Chandler Macleod’s specialist products division.

Following completion of the takeover, Julia Ross resigned from the company she founded, consistent with the terms of the bid, and stepped away from the Australian recruitment industry.

Legacy and Ongoing Influence

Although the Ross Human Directions brand no longer trades independently, its influence is still visible in a few ways:

• Industry structure – RHD was part of a wave of consolidation that saw domestic firms bulk up to compete with global giants, and then themselves be absorbed into larger groups. Its sale to Chandler Macleod, and Chandler Macleod’s later sale to Recruit Holdings of Japan, helped shape today’s Australian recruitment landscape.

• HR tech and outsourcing – The integration of Aurion and broader HR outsourcing into the group foreshadowed today’s blended models where recruiters offer technology, payroll and managed services, not just placements.

• Talent pipeline – Many former Julia Ross/RHD staff went on to found or lead other agencies and HR functions, carrying forward its high-performance, client-centric ethos.

• Role-model effect – As one of the very few large, female-founded listed companies in Australia at the time, the business became a reference point in discussions about women in leadership, entrepreneurship, and capital markets.