I have been talking a lot lately about cause and effect in my coaching sessions. It is basically an NLP (neuro linguistic programming) tool that challenges your thinking.
Have you ever been in a situation where things "just happen"? Times when circumstances cause you to react? If you are controlled by circumstance then you are at the "effect" end of the pendulum. If, however you create situations and circumstance then you are at the "cause" end of the pendulum.
Let me give you an example. I coach a recruiter who is struggling to maintain his billings whilst leading a team. He has always been a big Biller. Always making things happen for himself . As a Biller he was at cause - he made things happen, always ensuring he had a pipeline, consistently billing. As a newish leader, he is very much at effect. He complains he can't motivate his team, can't maintain his billings and is now under pressure from his directors. The flag for me as his coach was his constant use of the word "can't". I knew I had to challenge his thinking to move him back to cause. I asked him "in perfect world, what would the current situation look like for you". He responded that billings would be consistent between him and his team and realistically that may mean that his billings will not be at quite the same level they were before but his team would more than make up for that. The next step was to establish some actions that he could take to empower his team to do what needed to be done. Within 2 weeks of moving him from effect to cause, his team were noticeably more motivated and therefore more productive and on target for the first time in weeks.
Here's how to apply this to your life. When something happens (an event occurs) ask yourself whether you are at cause or effect. If you recognize you are at effect, then take action to move back to cause. It might be as simple as asking yourself how can you take control of this situation rather than handing control to someone else (like a client or candidate). Those of us at cause make things happen. We chose not to be victims or blame others for where our life is right now. We take responsibility. If you are not happy with your life right now, ask yourself "am I at cause or effect"?
Monday, March 28, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
5 biggest mistakes new recruiters make
We lost some 60% of the industry during the GFC and many experienced recruiters either left the industry or were made redundant. As a result, the industry is now extremely talent short. This is further evidenced by the rec to rec agencies refusing to take on any more jobs and the unbelievable amount of headhunting currently going on in the industry.
Many of my clients are telling me that they are struggling to find promising talent for their businesses which prompted me to reflect on my recruitment journey over the last 22 or so years and the mistakes I made and saw made by others. So if you want to not only survive but do really well in this business, then learn from the following mistakes.
1. Not Learning the basics first
My youngest son is 17 and plays ice hockey at an elite level. Amazing, considering that he put on his first pair of ice skates when he was 14. How did he do it? He perfected the basics first. He learned to skate forward first, then when he had perfected that skill, he added skating forward and stopping. Once that was perfected he learnt to sprint on the ice. Every week he added another basic skill to his tool kit and practiced until it was perfected.
Same with recruitment. Break down each task and practice it until you can do it without thinking. For example, consider the cold call. Start with perfecting a script, then practice it until you don't need to read it, then add objection handling, then closing and so on. Practice until it becomes second nature. Then work on another skill until it is perfected and so on.
I remember clearly the frustration that I felt when I made mistakes or lost placements because I wanted to run before I could walk.
2. Not getting proper training
One of the main reasons that new recruiters fail, is that they don't get proper training. Some agencies have a robust induction process and in my view they are giving their new recruits the best chance of success. Others however, have a policy of no training until probation is over. Educate yourself as to what is available in the marketplace and ensure that you train with industry accredited trainers (like me!) At the very least, ensure that you are reading all the material that is readily available on blogs like this. Find a mentor within your new organization, watch, listen and learn from the experienced and successful. It's how I and many industry veterans learned.
I was lucky enough to work for Geoff Morgan and Andrew Banks setting up the Alectus Personnel brand some years ago. My biggest learning whilst there was to move from a contingent recruiter to a retained recruiter, selling client paid advertising and working less jobs for a greater result. Much of my training workshops are based on what I learned whilst in that environment.
3. Forget that candidates are as important as clients
Our industry is renowned for it's poor treatment of candidates. Don't fall into the trap of believing that your clients are more important. Treat every person you meet as you would like to be treated and never, never become complacent as far as candidate care is concerned. Take your candidate's calls, return messages and e-mails from your candidates and work hard to meet their needs. Remember that your candidates are your best and cheapest advertisement.
I remember when I worked for Recruitment Solutions under Greg Savage during the mid 1990's this lesson was learned as we were KPI'd on candidate care and we had a rule that all candidate messages must be returned before we left for the day. Great habit to get into early in my recruitment career.
4. Offer discounts
My view is and always has been that I am worth every cent I charge. Very rarely did I have to resort to discounting during my career and on reflection, that's because I honestly believe that I provided a great service. When I first started in the business in the late 1980's, discounting was unheard of. That's because recruiters of my day didn't hide behind technology. We had "relationships" with our clients. My clients expected to see me during the recruitment process and as a result, most of my work was exclusive and at full fee. It's really hard once you have set a precedent to go back to charging full fee so start the way you mean to carry on. It's too easily to allow your clients to take control by dictating what they will pay. Look at it is way, you wouldn't go into a restaurant and start negotiating the prices of the meals would you? So why discount your service?
5. Become negative
Geoff and Andrew went to a lot of trouble finding glass half full recruiters. In fact, from memory, I did a full day of personality profiling and psych testing to even be considered as an M&B recruiter. If your profile was 10% higher or lower than the template they had created, regardless of how good you were, you didn't get an offer of employment. This created a culture of winners and many recruiters during that time aspired to work for M&B. Since then, I have studied much on the brain and how it affects our behavior and therefore our success. It is now scientifically proven that you create what you think about. That being the case, you will find that the most successful among us are also the most positive and optimistic. Look for the positive in every situation, and remember that mistakes are just things you haven't learned properly yet.
Being positive has ensured my success in recruitment as well as training and coaching. Negative thoughts cause call reluctance, which can be a killer for recruiters. As Monty Python says "always look on the bright side of life".
Finally, be the best you can be. Hold your head high and be proud of being a recruitment professional.
I am running my Recruitment Essentials workshops in April around Australia, so if you are new to the industry, give yourself the best chance of success by spending a couple of days with me learning how to be the best you can be. Visit www.trtc.com.au for dates and to book.
Many of my clients are telling me that they are struggling to find promising talent for their businesses which prompted me to reflect on my recruitment journey over the last 22 or so years and the mistakes I made and saw made by others. So if you want to not only survive but do really well in this business, then learn from the following mistakes.
1. Not Learning the basics first
My youngest son is 17 and plays ice hockey at an elite level. Amazing, considering that he put on his first pair of ice skates when he was 14. How did he do it? He perfected the basics first. He learned to skate forward first, then when he had perfected that skill, he added skating forward and stopping. Once that was perfected he learnt to sprint on the ice. Every week he added another basic skill to his tool kit and practiced until it was perfected.
Same with recruitment. Break down each task and practice it until you can do it without thinking. For example, consider the cold call. Start with perfecting a script, then practice it until you don't need to read it, then add objection handling, then closing and so on. Practice until it becomes second nature. Then work on another skill until it is perfected and so on.
I remember clearly the frustration that I felt when I made mistakes or lost placements because I wanted to run before I could walk.
2. Not getting proper training
One of the main reasons that new recruiters fail, is that they don't get proper training. Some agencies have a robust induction process and in my view they are giving their new recruits the best chance of success. Others however, have a policy of no training until probation is over. Educate yourself as to what is available in the marketplace and ensure that you train with industry accredited trainers (like me!) At the very least, ensure that you are reading all the material that is readily available on blogs like this. Find a mentor within your new organization, watch, listen and learn from the experienced and successful. It's how I and many industry veterans learned.
I was lucky enough to work for Geoff Morgan and Andrew Banks setting up the Alectus Personnel brand some years ago. My biggest learning whilst there was to move from a contingent recruiter to a retained recruiter, selling client paid advertising and working less jobs for a greater result. Much of my training workshops are based on what I learned whilst in that environment.
3. Forget that candidates are as important as clients
Our industry is renowned for it's poor treatment of candidates. Don't fall into the trap of believing that your clients are more important. Treat every person you meet as you would like to be treated and never, never become complacent as far as candidate care is concerned. Take your candidate's calls, return messages and e-mails from your candidates and work hard to meet their needs. Remember that your candidates are your best and cheapest advertisement.
I remember when I worked for Recruitment Solutions under Greg Savage during the mid 1990's this lesson was learned as we were KPI'd on candidate care and we had a rule that all candidate messages must be returned before we left for the day. Great habit to get into early in my recruitment career.
4. Offer discounts
My view is and always has been that I am worth every cent I charge. Very rarely did I have to resort to discounting during my career and on reflection, that's because I honestly believe that I provided a great service. When I first started in the business in the late 1980's, discounting was unheard of. That's because recruiters of my day didn't hide behind technology. We had "relationships" with our clients. My clients expected to see me during the recruitment process and as a result, most of my work was exclusive and at full fee. It's really hard once you have set a precedent to go back to charging full fee so start the way you mean to carry on. It's too easily to allow your clients to take control by dictating what they will pay. Look at it is way, you wouldn't go into a restaurant and start negotiating the prices of the meals would you? So why discount your service?
5. Become negative
Geoff and Andrew went to a lot of trouble finding glass half full recruiters. In fact, from memory, I did a full day of personality profiling and psych testing to even be considered as an M&B recruiter. If your profile was 10% higher or lower than the template they had created, regardless of how good you were, you didn't get an offer of employment. This created a culture of winners and many recruiters during that time aspired to work for M&B. Since then, I have studied much on the brain and how it affects our behavior and therefore our success. It is now scientifically proven that you create what you think about. That being the case, you will find that the most successful among us are also the most positive and optimistic. Look for the positive in every situation, and remember that mistakes are just things you haven't learned properly yet.
Being positive has ensured my success in recruitment as well as training and coaching. Negative thoughts cause call reluctance, which can be a killer for recruiters. As Monty Python says "always look on the bright side of life".
Finally, be the best you can be. Hold your head high and be proud of being a recruitment professional.
I am running my Recruitment Essentials workshops in April around Australia, so if you are new to the industry, give yourself the best chance of success by spending a couple of days with me learning how to be the best you can be. Visit www.trtc.com.au for dates and to book.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Building a great temporary desk.
Here are the top 8 tips for building a great temp desk.
1. Successful temp consultants measure their statistics. The old adage of you can’t fix what you can’t measure stands true. My belief is and always has been that key performance indicators are in place to help me be successful. If you don’t complete KPI reports for your manager, then create your own. You should be tracking the following:
Dials: Connects if this one blows out, you probably need to address getting past the gatekeeper or revisit your prospect list to ascertain if the account is really worth your time chasing.
Connects: Visits if you are getting through to the decision maker but not getting a visit, then you need to review your call structure, how you overcome objections and how you close.
Visits: jobs on if you are getting quality visits but not converting them to opportunities then you need to look at your visit structure and also review how you close – do you ask for the business?
Jobs on: jobs filled if you are not filling every temp role you get, then you need to look at how you are taking in the temp job. Do you know whether or not you are competing? Are you missing out because you are not quick enough? If this is the case then you need to look at your temp availables list. How up to date is it?
2. Great temp consultants fill the job over the phone. Your client has a problem, that’s why he or she has called you. If you immediately solve that problem then your client has no reason to call anyone else. There is no reason to send resumes (it’s just an objection). You are the expert and your client should trust you to provide the “right” person. Don’t assume that the client wants or needs to see resumes for a temp role. If it’s an immediate need then there is the opportunity to fill it immediately.
3. Great temp consultants know who is available. To be able to fill a role over the phone, you must know who is available. Train your candidates to keep you updated via text or e-mail regarding their availability and then update your availables list daily. That way you will be in a position to fill the role over the phone.
4. Great temp consultants are expert time managers. Running a temp desk is mainly reactionary – that is you are reacting to what is coming your way (temp jobs to fill). Having said that, it is essential that you block out time for important activities such as business development and candidate generation. 50% of your time should be spent in business development activities and 50% on candidate generation.
5. Great temp consultants understand the importance of covering their finishers every week. One of the most effective ways to build a high revenue temp desk is to cover your finishers each week and then add two new starters. To do this you need to be in control of what is happening on your desk. You will also need to be in contact with your clients and worker temps each and every week, regardless of how long their assignment is for. I used to devote every Wednesday to calling. In the morning I would call my worker temps to see how they were doing and in the afternoon I would call my clients for ongoing references. By the end of Wednesday I knew how many finishers I have this week. On Thursday I would get to work reverse marketing those finishers until I had jobs for them starting on Monday. I would be pretty confident that I would get at least two jobs phoned in per week so once my finishers were covered, anything else was a bonus.
6. Great temp consultants believe their own story! Having a strong self belief is essential to being successful. If you don’t believe your own story with all your heart, then it will be pretty difficult to convince your clients and candidates to believe it. You must believe that you are worth every cent that you charge and that you are an expert at providing quality temporaries.
7. Great temp consultants know their competition. Knowledge is power in our industry. Ask clients and candidates about your competition. Know who is good and not so good. Learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Stay ahead of the competition!
8. Great temp consultants understand the importance of self development. One of the traits that successful people share is their thirst for self development and to be the best that they can be. Watch those in your office, learn from experienced consultants, attend training, listen to CD’s and read books.
If you have attend any of my training sessions you will know that my belief is that it doesn’t take much to be outstanding in the recruitment industry. Focus on becoming the best that you can be and success will follow. Implement some of the points mentioned in this article and you will be well on the way. Good luck!
Here are the top 8 tips for building a great temp desk.
1. Successful temp consultants measure their statistics. The old adage of you can’t fix what you can’t measure stands true. My belief is and always has been that key performance indicators are in place to help me be successful. If you don’t complete KPI reports for your manager, then create your own. You should be tracking the following:
Dials: Connects if this one blows out, you probably need to address getting past the gatekeeper or revisit your prospect list to ascertain if the account is really worth your time chasing.
Connects: Visits if you are getting through to the decision maker but not getting a visit, then you need to review your call structure, how you overcome objections and how you close.
Visits: jobs on if you are getting quality visits but not converting them to opportunities then you need to look at your visit structure and also review how you close – do you ask for the business?
Jobs on: jobs filled if you are not filling every temp role you get, then you need to look at how you are taking in the temp job. Do you know whether or not you are competing? Are you missing out because you are not quick enough? If this is the case then you need to look at your temp availables list. How up to date is it?
2. Great temp consultants fill the job over the phone. Your client has a problem, that’s why he or she has called you. If you immediately solve that problem then your client has no reason to call anyone else. There is no reason to send resumes (it’s just an objection). You are the expert and your client should trust you to provide the “right” person. Don’t assume that the client wants or needs to see resumes for a temp role. If it’s an immediate need then there is the opportunity to fill it immediately.
3. Great temp consultants know who is available. To be able to fill a role over the phone, you must know who is available. Train your candidates to keep you updated via text or e-mail regarding their availability and then update your availables list daily. That way you will be in a position to fill the role over the phone.
4. Great temp consultants are expert time managers. Running a temp desk is mainly reactionary – that is you are reacting to what is coming your way (temp jobs to fill). Having said that, it is essential that you block out time for important activities such as business development and candidate generation. 50% of your time should be spent in business development activities and 50% on candidate generation.
5. Great temp consultants understand the importance of covering their finishers every week. One of the most effective ways to build a high revenue temp desk is to cover your finishers each week and then add two new starters. To do this you need to be in control of what is happening on your desk. You will also need to be in contact with your clients and worker temps each and every week, regardless of how long their assignment is for. I used to devote every Wednesday to calling. In the morning I would call my worker temps to see how they were doing and in the afternoon I would call my clients for ongoing references. By the end of Wednesday I knew how many finishers I have this week. On Thursday I would get to work reverse marketing those finishers until I had jobs for them starting on Monday. I would be pretty confident that I would get at least two jobs phoned in per week so once my finishers were covered, anything else was a bonus.
6. Great temp consultants believe their own story! Having a strong self belief is essential to being successful. If you don’t believe your own story with all your heart, then it will be pretty difficult to convince your clients and candidates to believe it. You must believe that you are worth every cent that you charge and that you are an expert at providing quality temporaries.
7. Great temp consultants know their competition. Knowledge is power in our industry. Ask clients and candidates about your competition. Know who is good and not so good. Learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Stay ahead of the competition!
8. Great temp consultants understand the importance of self development. One of the traits that successful people share is their thirst for self development and to be the best that they can be. Watch those in your office, learn from experienced consultants, attend training, listen to CD’s and read books.
If you have attend any of my training sessions you will know that my belief is that it doesn’t take much to be outstanding in the recruitment industry. Focus on becoming the best that you can be and success will follow. Implement some of the points mentioned in this article and you will be well on the way. Good luck!
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