2017 seems to have slipped by at a blistering speed for many of us. With only around 90 days left of the year, some recruiters might be looking back at their yearly goals…and realising that the chances of fulfilling those targets are diminishing with each passing day.  

Don’t worry. What you dreamed for yourself back in those wintry January days is still possible for 2017, whether you wanted to become top biller, get known as a subject matter expert, or get promoted to senior consultant. You just need to treat this last quarter as a time to intensify your efforts and sprint after your goals, rather than falling into the common trap of slowing down in the lead-up to Christmas. 

An astonishing amount can be achieved in 90 days. It is a quarter of a year, after all-not something to just dismiss by thinking, ”It’s too late now. I’ll just hit those goals next year instead’.  In fact, if you allow yourself to think this way, there’s every chance you’ll find yourself in exactly the same position next October! 

Many highly successful people actually plan their life out in 90 day segments, realising that this ‘magic number’ of days is both short enough to spur the motivation, but also long enough to achieve something of significance.   

The Benefits of a 90 Day Timescale for Revolutionising Your Career 

1. You have no time to procrastinate.

When you set yourself a big 90 day goal and map out clearly all the steps you’ll need to take to get there, you’ll very quickly realise that there’s abolutely no time to dilly-dally. 90 day goals put a rocket under you, unlike yearly goals which are often written down, followed dutifully for a week, less dutifully the second week, then filed in a desk drawer until October…

2. You are much more agile to changing circumstances. 

90 day goals are actually much more in your control than annual or 5 year plans.  Things are less likely to change in 90 days, such as your manager changing or your sector undergoing a downturn. And even if something does dramatically change in your 90 day window, you’re much better prepared to handle it, as this goal has only been in play for a matter of weeks, so you have not invested as much time and energy into it. 90 day plans allow you to be much more agile in going after what you want, and changing tack quickly where necessary.  

3. You can’t accidentally fall behind. 

It’s really easy to notice when you’re getting behind in a 90 day plan.  We’re often quite terrible at estimating how long things will actually take, and when you factor in all these incremental time-eaters into a long-term plan, the goal just drifts further out of sight. A 90 day plan, on the other hand, requires extensive planning and milestone-setting to make sure you’re on track. You will always  know if you’re slipping behind the timeline. 

4. Your goal is actually in sight. 

The goal deadline with 90 day plans is so close, which means what you dream of feels tantalisingly achievable. And as you start to power through the task list of your 90 day plan, you’ll be motivated by the incredible speed of your  progress. This sense of achievement just spurs you to work harder! 

How to Create a 90 Day Plan 

Here are some questions you’ll need to work through to come up with your own 90 day plan.  

1. Where am I now? 

2. Where do I want to be in 90 days?  (This is the big, wonderful goal) 

3. Why do I truly want to be there- what is my big driver? (Be honest) 

4. What am I doing well? (In regards to the goal) 

5. What is holding me back? (In regards to the goal) 

6. What can I sacrifice to find the time to reach this big, wonderful goal? (Be strong!) 

7. What do I need to do to get there? (Be specific, breaking the goal down into tasks) 

8. What is the biggest priority? (The key task that the goal hinges most on.) 

9. How will I know I’m succeeding? (Set clear, measurable KPI’s) 

10. How will I reward myself for reaching milestones? (Set regular rewards) 

11. How will I remind myself of these goals everyday and stay on track? (Keep goals visible) 

An example 90 day plan for a recruiter 

Here are some possible examples for a recruiter wishing to become top biller.  

1. Where: You’re currently a mid-performing biller with some good months showing potential. 

2. What: Your goal is to become top biller in 90 days. 

3.  Why: Your motivation might be because you want the extra income for a house deposit, or because you want to be considered for promotion to senior consultant. 

4. Strength: You are excellent at looking after your current clients and candidates. 

5. Weakness: Your time management is getting in the way of cultivating new leads and your talent pipeline is weak. 

6. Sacrifice: You’ll sacrifice your Saturday mornings to research new leads ready for Monday. 

7. Task breakdown: You’ll make X extra calls each day, volunteer to speak at seminars or write blog posts to become known as an expert, find a mentor, grow your social media network.

8. Biggest priority: Making X more calls a day. 

9. Measuring success: You’ll set each task a clear KPI and strict timescale. 

10. Rewards: You’ll treat yourself a massage/weekend away when you reach milestones. 

11. Staying on track: You’ll write down your goals somewhere visible, refer to them daily, and schedule UNBREAKABLE time to spend each day/week on your goal. 

Whatever your recruitment goal is for 2017, it is not too late to reach it! Aim high and chase that goal, and you’ll go into 2018 feeling flushed with a sense of achievement…and ready to attack your next 90 day plan.  

Until next time, 

Cheryl  

There’s nothing worse for a recruiter than working hard to create a strong stable of clients and a high quality talent pool…only for  them to turn to another recruiter when it comes time for placement.  All that effort wasted! 

If this is happening all too regularly, it’s eating away at your billing numbers and creating ineffective work habits that have you working longer, for less return. As a recruiter, this is genuinely bad for business- not to mention bad for your self esteem. 

Longstanding customers tend to spend more than new customers, who want to wait and see what you deliver before sending more placements your way. It’s also a huge outlay of time to find and pitch new leads, and trawl LinkedIn to build your candidate pool from scratch again. 

Time is money, and it is overwhelmingly best practice to do everything you can to retain your existing clients, and maintain excellent relationships with candidates so that they return to you throughout their career, or recommend your services to their network. 

It’s always better to keep your  old clients and keep adding more, than lose the ones you have and start again. You know this! But how? 

You must build loyalty. Loyalty is what stops a client moving to a cheaper recruiter who’s offering cut price payment fees. Loyalty is what makes the candidate call you first, trust your judgement and career advice, and refer their friends to you. 

How to develop loyal clients and candidates 

1. Bounce back from mistakes. 

When something goes wrong, such as a placement that ends terribly or a candidate feels you didn’t listen to their wishes when putting them forward, you need to respond with something that not only solves the problem, but also wipes away the bad feeling they  have about you. Whether that’s reducing the fee on finding a replacement, or offering a free coaching session with the candidate so you can really tailor the next job to them perfectly, you need to do something that makes the person walk away thinking feeling good things towards you.
 

2. Know where you’re losing business, and why.  

Ask candidates or clients for feedback on why they used another recruiter: was it because you weren’t offering a particular service, or something they were unhappy with? This gives you an opportunity to retain that client, but also gives you valuable data about where you can improve your offering.  Keep track of where you’re losing clients and candidates to rivals- track this data over time so you know what percentages you’re retaining. 

3. Communicate (and be brave). 

You may be stalling calling a client because you are struggling to find them the quality candidates they’ve requested, and you may have been too busy to let the candidate know they were unsuccessful at their interview. They’re both completely understandable, but both of these sins (and they are grave sins in the eyes of a client and candidate, even if you and I understand how easily it happens to a busy recruiter), are kryptonite to your reputation.  Communicate quickly and always be upfront about  what’s going on. By fronting up to any issues, you have more control over how the person perceives the news. For example, if you say to the  client:  

Hi, just calling to let you know I’ve spoken to 5 candidates, but given what you’ve told me about the role, they’re just not quite up to scratch. I’ve got some new leads, and will get back to you the minute I find some well-suited matches .‘ 

How much better is that that allowing the client to sit waiting for a phone call, worried or irritated that you’ve forgotten about  them?  People just want to know that they matter to you. Sometimes that means giving them ‘bad’ news- but be brave, positive, and honest, and you’ll retain their loyalty. 

4. Show Respect. 

Even if you don’t have much hope that the candidate is going to get the job they want, or your smallest client has a history of wasting your time, it is imperative that you show them respect. Always.  No matter how ‘difficult’ you think they might be being. Nothing will kill  client and candidate loyalty faster than feeling like you’re somehow looking down on them or dismissing their importance- and even if you don’t care about this particular individual leaving your pool, remember that they’ll almost certainly go off and tell others about your treatment of them too! 

5. Build Expertise.  

Your name needs to be everywhere in your field. You need to be writing blogs, attending/speaking at networking events, commenting on recruiter forums, and building your social media presence. Study up on your niche field to become a subject matter expert, read recruiter magazines, and keep a weather eye on political/economic/social events that might impact your industry. Before long, your clients and candidates will be viewing you as an expert. In this vein, when you see something in the news that might impact or benefit your client or candidate, give them a quick call to let them know, or include relevant info in a monthly newsletter. 

6. Advertise your successes. 

Where you get happy feedback or referrals from clients or candidates, you need to shout it from the rooftops- or at the very least, post it on social media and company website if possible. This kind of social proof is what we all seek as consumers. How many times have you gone with one company over another because of their reviews, client lists, or testimonials page?  

In the same vein, create some strong case studies about the results you’ve achieved for a client or candidate, and feature them on your LinkedIn page etc. You don’t need to boast, you just need to show what you’ve done for others so that your clients and candidates are reassured that you’re highly competent and the best person for them. 

7. Be personal 
Send personalised, handwritten notes, congratulating them on their success, or thanking for their business. (You may like to include sweets.) In this age of computer communication, little human touches go a long way.  

Building loyalty is about treating people well, while reassuring them that you are the best person for the job.  Which one of these steps will you start on today?  

Until next time 

Cheryl 

How many jobs have you left during your recruitment career? What reasons made you leave?  We know that poor management and lack of career development are strong contenders in making people switch employers, but there’s sometimes also a reason that few like to admit to. 

Your manager doesn’t respect you.  

It’s an awful feeling when you know that your manager has the wrong idea of you, or just doesn’t believe in your potential. Often this means that you aren’t given the opportunity to prove yourself, and are consequently saddled with a non-lucrative sector or a stable of small but time-consuming clients.  

This creates a self-fulfilling cycle, where it’s impossible to prove to the manager that you’re better than they think you are, because your billing numbers just don’t show anything that changes their mind. You then find that they’re always checking up on you, or giving you the tasks no-one else wants. 

And sometimes, their lack of belief in your abilities starts rubbing off you. Or it just makes you angry, because you feel you’re being disrespected and your talents underutilised.  

At this low point, you feel the only choice is to move roles and start again.   

But is it?  

And if this is not the first time you’ve had this kind of relationship with a manager, will it really help to move roles?  You may well find yourself in the same situation, with a CV that’s starting to read dangerously like War and Peace (but without the good reviews.) 

Instead, is there something you could be doing to improve your standing in the manager’s eyes? Can you turn this around? 

The answer is yes.  

You can definitely change your billing manager’s perception of you for the better, even if it’s currently at a low point. While you can’t force them to think differently of you, you can lead them towards thinking highly of you by generating good outcomes for them and fitting in with their working style.  

And if you feel that your relationship is simply too sour to heal, then follow these steps in your next role so that you can impress your new manager from day 1.  

1. Find out what they want from you!   

This one seems blindingly obvious, but is very often overlooked.  If you’re new to a role, ask the manager what you’ll need to do and learn to succeed quickly in the role. Then put an enormous amount of effort into getting up to speed in those elements.  If you’re already in a position, be upfront, and ask where they’d like you to improve, and request some suggestions on how you might learn or practice to meet their expectations. 

2. Adapt your communication style to match theirs.  

For example, if you’re softly spoken and take time to consider before responding, and they’re confident and fast-paced communicators, they may just dismiss your attempts at communication. Same goes if they write long emails and you answer with a one line response.  

Assess what style of communication that they use, and look at how others communicate with the manager successfully. Start mimicking that style so the manager takes in what you’re saying rather than ignoring you. It may help to ask your manager how they prefer to communicate, particularly if you are new in the role.

3. Put effort into getting along with the team.   

If your manager has a good relationship with their team, the quickest way into their good graces is to show that you fit in well with the other recruiters. Make an effort to help others out, ask people questions about themselves, and don’t talk about people behind their backs or be unnecessarily competitive.

Your manager will be watching, and if you get along with their key players, they will naturally more well-disposed towards you.  Even if the two of you have a personality clash (we know, it does happen!), they’ll still find it possible to respect you if you have the respect of people that they admire.

4. Make it clear that you welcome feedback and direction.  

You must actively signal to your boss that you want to know how to improve. This shows that you are keen, that you are brave and mature enough to take criticism, and that you respect their opinion and guidance.  

Not only that, but it often takes a weight off their mind, as many billing managers dread delivering constructive feedback as they think it may cause resentment. By you rolling out the welcome mat for feedback, you’ve just signalled to the manager that they don’t have to worry about that in your case, and you instantly gain some respect (and a little gratitude to boot.)

5. Disagree when it’s needed, but do so very carefully. 

You might not want to go rushing in disagreeing with your boss, particularly if you are new, but sometimes, disagreement truly is necessary to forge a respectful relationship.  

For instance, if your manager believes that you should be posting your senior roles on Instagram but you have research to prove that that’s not the right channel for that market, then you should certainly speak up.

It’s a good policy to always have an alternative ready if you’re planning to disagree, and above all, do not ever disagree with your manager in public, unless it is a meeting where they have thrown the floor open for objections. (Even then, if you have a shaky relationship with your manager, it may be better to broach the topic in private.)

5. Know the ‘lay of the land’. 

It’s essential to be observant. Notice who your manager gets along with. Notice what (and who) stresses them out. Try to empathise with their workload and problems. Be aware of their key productive times, pressure points, and when they’d prefer to be left alone.  

All of this information allows you to successfully navigate the common pitfalls that ‘less favoured’ employees often fall headlong into.

For example, an observant employee might notice that the boss is always in a foul mood on Monday mornings, and know not to bother them with anything non-urgent, or know just to bring them a coffee without saying a word.  

Or you might see nervous employees so caught up in trying to impress the boss that they’ll barrage them with questions or information to show that they’re working hard, when a more aware employee would know that the manager has an important meeting later in the day and will be irritated by distractions.  

The more you know about your manager, the more likely you’ll act in a way that they respect you for.  

We understand that it can sometimes be hard to want to make this kind of effort to fit in with your boss, particularly if you feel that they’re unfairly disrespecting you.  

However, these tips will stand you in good stead for your entire career, with every boss you ever have, so they’re well worth your learning. And when you do manage to turn your current manager’s perception of you around, you’ll understand how good it feels. Good luck! 

Until next time,  

Cheryl 

The end of the year is in sight, which leaves recruiters with a crucial choice to make. Do you:  

1. Accept that the high-flying goals you had for this year are no longer realistic, and push them over to next year; or 

2. Put your foot on the accelerator and chase your goals like crazy?  

This may seem a leading question: after all, the answer is supremely obvious as to which one you should do. But, many of us tend to slow down as the end of the year starts to loom, putting our big goals off until the New Year (and thereby starting the next year on a note of failure and self-doubt.) 

We’ve written before about how much can be accomplished in 90 days, and how this short-term goal setting can produce extraordinary results. You can read that article here.  

In this article, we’re going to talk about a radical change you can make that lasts much longer than 90 days, and which can transform your career beyond recognition, driving you towards that success you’ve always craved.  

We’re going to talk about building successful habits.  

And where better to look for inspiration on setting positive habits than to the world’s 1%? According to extensive research by Tom Corley, the top performers in business and entertainment have been shown to share an extraordinary number of habits which they put down to helping them reach success. 

1. Read every day. 

No-one has time to read these days, right? Wrong. Wildly successful people never stop learning, and are shown to spend an average 30 minutes a day reading in order to expand their knowledge and keep a sharp mind.  

For a recruiter, spending 30 minutes a day reading might be something specifically job-related, like poring over the latest recruitment industry magazine or scanning the business pages for new leads or economic news that might impact your sector. It might also be general, such as reading biographies about successful people, or buying bestselling business books to improve your sales pitch or productivity.  

2. Goal-set like your life depends on it.  

Because the quality of your life does depend on how well you set and chase goals. Successful people are habitual goal setters, and they regularly refer to and make decisions based on their short and long-term plans.  

They even plan for the next day the night before, which is a great habit to get into. When you set out clear goals, you’ll find that it’s easier to make yourself approach tricky calls or stay in the office late to finish off your pitch prep, only because you start filtering all your actions through your goals and know why this task matters within the bigger picture.  

When goal setting, be sure to aim high, write your goals down, break your goals down into their smallest possible parts, and celebrate the wins when you reach them! 

3. Stick to an exercise regimen. 

It can be hard as a busy recruiter to feel like you have the time for physical training. Yet regular exercise is a habit shared by the overwhelming amount of highly successful people, and the positive effects of exercise on motivation, stress relief, and clarity of thinking are enormous. 

So find a form of exercise that you enjoy, and schedule 30 minutes a day to get your blood and endorphins flowing. Stick to your exercise regimen just like you would always turn up for a meeting with a client, and you’ll soon see it’s a habit that not only pays tremendous dividends to health and drive, but that you’ll start feeling ‘off’ if you don’t do it! 

4. Cultivate the right kinds of relationships. 

When it comes to the relationships that they choose to foster time and energy on, successful people are very good at surrounding themselves with inspirational, brilliant people, and weeding out the influences that are detrimental or toxic. The more positive, admirable people you spend time with, the more you will get into the habit of being positive and acting in your own admirable ways. 

An excellent way to build strong, inspirational relationships in your career is to find yourself a mentor, or start attending business breakfast events. Also, this particular habit of shaping the company you keep doesn’t just finish the second you walk out the office door either: have a think about your personal relationships- do you spend time with people that make you want to be better, and who are great role models? 

5. Spend time thinking (and get up earlier to do it.) 

Again, you probably think you don’t have time for just sitting around thinking, but this is something that successful people do for 15-30 minutes a day. This is when their fresh ideas come to the fore, and they ask themselves questions about where they could improve. Is this something you could set aside time for on the commute to work, or perhaps get up 30 minutes earlier?  

If that thought fills you with dread, you might need to change your sleeping habits, as successful people tend to get up several hours before they need to start work, partly so they can fit in time to think and exercise. Find out when your most productive thinking time happens, and make room for the habit of scheduling ‘thinking time’ every day. 

These habits are all shared by the majority of successful people. How many do you already do, and which ones can you start today?  

Until next time, 

Cheryl 

What is your employer brand right now? Don’t know? Think you don’t really have one? On that, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. Every single recruitment company (and every company with staff, full stop) has an employer brand.  

An employer brand is what every past, current, and prospective employee think about your business as a place to work. What kind of employer you are or might be, what kind of salary and benefits you offer, what the workplace culture and training opportunities are. 

In a market with a shortage of high-performing recruiters, the employer brand has an exceptional power to attract or repel top candidates. And the telltale sign of a weak employer brand is struggling to recruit top billers. 

Many recruitment firms don’t have a good understanding of their company brand, often choosing to blame external factors for their ongoing recruitment woes- ‘the quality of candidates these days, a downturn in the sector, Brexit uncertainty’-, etc., etc., etc. 

There are certainly external factors at play, but consider this: are your biggest competitors struggling in the same way…or are they the ones scooping up those top billers that could make a huge difference to your company’s fortunes? 

The problem is that if you don’t know what your employer brand is, you have no control over it. And when you don’t have control over it, it could be anything- good or downright bad. You could be a manager or CEO of a company with a terrible employer brand, but you wouldn’t know how or why you have it—and more importantly—you wouldn’t have any idea how to fix it.  

So, if you’re unsure what your employer brand is, or know that it needs some improvement, here are some tips on how to assess it and create a ‘battle plan’ to make it better.  

Step One: Find out what your employer brand is now.  

Exit interviews are vital.  

A cursory ‘why are you leaving’ approach will not do. This is your opportunity to get honest feedback about why they’ve chosen to move on. (You may want to offer good employees a written reference before the interview takes place to let them know they will suffer no adverse consequences for their honesty.)  

Just as importantly, the exit interview is an opportunity to gauge how the employee might talk about your company after leaving the organisation, and therefore an opportunity to ‘manage’ their feelings about the company. A great exit interview can turn a very resentful employee into one who feels their opinion has been heard, and that their contribution as an employee will be missed.   

Find out what your current employees think.  

In an ideal world, this could be done through a series of one-on-one meetings. However, if you’re reading this, your employer brand probably needs some work, so it’s possible that your employees won’t be upfront and open about their resentments. As such, an anonymous survey will probably field much better results. You may also want to call ex-employees to find out what their reasons were for leaving to get a better picture.  

Find out what your non-employees think.

Another option is to ask candidates who have turned your offer down for feedback on why they did so- what made the other company’s offer more attractive than your own? Don’t forget to ask how they found the recruitment process, from the application right through to interview.  

Step 2: Create a strategy 

Collate everything you’ve heard and notice the trends.  

Was management-team conflict a repeated complaint? Do people feel they have opportunities for promotion? Did work-life balance drive people out the door? Are commissions and targets set fairly? Do other companies offer more? It can be hard to hear and knowing what isn’t working is important. change.  

Share the results of the employee surveys you’ve done.  

Yep, no matter how bad they seem.  In fact, the worse they are, the more dramatic the effect: your team will know that you’re committed to making changes rather than hiding damning evidence. In showing vulnerability, lies power.  

Create a strategy, together, for improving the employer brand. 

People are always more willing to invest in change if they came up with ideas towards it! The team is going to sit up and take notice if you say ‘I want to make this a better place for you to work, and I want your ideas to help do that. How could they not be pleased with this turn of events?

Make the plan abundantly clear.

Once you’re happy with your practical plan for improvement, break it down into small, actionable steps that have clear accountability and measurable goals. Share it with everyone, and make sure you and the other management team lead by example in making the changes.   

Step 3: Revolutionise your online presence.  

The first place a promising candidate will go to get an idea of your employer brand is online. Your website should have a great About Us page, engaging blogs, testimonials from clients and employees, and an attractive, user-friendly layout.  The excellent idea is to find success stories in the organisation and feature them on your website, for example, the senior consultant that started in the company as a reception temp, a recruiter that successfully managed a change in sectors or a recruiter who was supported to do further study and now presents at conferences.

The next step will be social media- recruitment candidates will naturally always check LinkedIn, but they’ll also visit your Facebook and Twitter pages to get a sense of what kind of company you are, and what you’ll be like to work for. Your job postings on social media should be very active, but make sure there are engaging, share-worthy articles about your sector on there too, as well as occasional staff pictures (for example, photos of staff days, the office, team meetings in a funky cafe, or a picture of a bunch of flowers from a happy client.) A quirky daily quote or similar can be a nice way to project the human side of your organisation. All of these things help the candidate imagine good things about what it’s like to work there. 

After you’re happy with how your employer brand is shaping up, it can be an excellent idea to enter your company in ‘best employer’ competitions. Even if you don’t place, the fact you are trying to be known as a top employer speaks volumes, and don’t forget that a little mention that ‘We participated in the Best Employers award’ is a nice little touch for your website and social media.

Assessing and improving your employer brand will pay high dividends, not only in attracting top billers but in motivating the team you already have.  

Until next time,  

Cheryl 

A great recruiter is a great goal setter. Actually, strike that. A great recruiter is a great goal setter and an even better goal chaser.  

Which is why it’s so important to learn how to set goals that have clear, measurable outcomes matched with defined deadlines. 

It also helps if they’re a bit exciting and stretch you a little (or a lot): goals are much easier to achieve when the prospect is exciting- and even a little bit scary! For recruiters, your goals might include reaching that big billing target you’ve set yourself, applying for a promotion as billing manager, or moving to a new sector.  

There are plenty of goal setting ‘formulas’ out there, some of which you may have heard or even tried, such as SMART, which works on the principle of setting goals which are: 

1. Specific,  

2. Measurable,  

3. Agreed Upon,  

4. Realistic, and  

5. Time Sensitive.  

While SMART is probably the best known of them all, it’s not the only goal setting framework out there—far from it. Because no magic formula works for everyone, it can be helpful for recruiters to keep abreast of some of the other goal-setting strategies out there.  

The one we’ll be talking about today is OKR’s, which originated at Intel, got taken up by Google, and is now used by companies like LinkedIn, Twitter, and lots of other heavy hitters. So it’s safe to say that there’s something in it! 

What are OKRs? 

OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. It may not be the most thrilling of titles, but just like the title, the simplicity of this strategy is what helps it to work.  

How does it work? 

Your objective should be big; it should be bold, it should scare you a little. It doesn’t even matter if it might not be achievable—it’s the dream that every effort goes towards. You might want to stick with one objective, but you could pick three to five. (Objectives might be things like ‘become top biller in my sector’, ‘become a subject matter expert in my industry’ , ‘triple my network’ etc.) 

Your key results, on the other hand, must be achievable, time specific, and intensely measurable. This is how you’ll know you’re making progress towards the big objective- that’s why they’re called ‘Key RESULTS’ and not ‘Key TASKS’. 

You should pick 3-5 key results, and review them at least every quarter.  

Let’s take an example of a big, bold OKR that might be relevant to you. 

Your Objective 

To become the top biller in your company within 12 months. 

Your Key Results: (how you’ll know you’re making progress!) 

1. Make 200 more calls each month 

2. Add 10 passive, high-quality candidates to talent pipeline each month 

3. Post 100% of roles on social media 

4. Post 3 pieces of relevant, engaging content on social media per week to grow followers 

5. Attend two networking events per month and gather 20 relevant business cards. 

a. Sit down to score your progress. Because you’ve chosen such easily measurable key results, it’s straightforward to see how you’re meeting your goals. If you wanted to make 200 calls but only made 150, your score is 75%. Don’t worry if you don’t get a perfect score: 70% is considered pretty excellent in the world of big bold OKRs! In fact, if you’re hitting 75% or more across the board it’s probably a sign you need to aim higher.

Some tips for setting and ticking off OKRs
 

a. Make sure the goals have a specific deadline attached, woolly goals are rarely reached. 

b. Make sure they’re written down. 

c. Make sure they’re broken down into the smallest possible tasks. (Don’t just write ‘build network’- write how many followers/contacts/networking events you’ll reach.  

d. Always review what you’re doing today in light of your OKR’s. Does it move you forward? If not, why are you doing it?  

e. Celebrate the wins! Reward yourself, with a massage, a night out- whatever makes you feel good. 

f. Share your OKRs with others in the team to keep you accountable. 

When you finish your quarterly OKR’s and have scored them, it’s time to start a new cycle, amending your key results to suit the changing circumstances. With time, you should reach your Objectives and have to change them too! You’ll be top biller before you know it.  

Until next time,  

Cheryl

Introverts can sometimes find it tough in recruitment, at times being left behind the more talkative and gregarious recruiters when it comes to promotion to senior consultant. Because introverts often shy away from the limelight and like to have time to process things, they are often thought to lack the confidence to succeed as a recruiter—particularly in a senior role.  

But in truth, introverts have many great positive qualities that make them solid, trusted, and successful recruiters who will excel in a senior consultant’s role. Introverted recruiters are excellent listeners, are extremely focused and organised, have good job longevity, and tend to create strong working relationships with a solid foundation in trust.  

There’s no question that introverts make excellent recruiters, but a hurdle can arise when they want to apply for promotion to a more senior role, as many introverts feel they’re not at their best in an interview situation.  

It’s all too easy for more introverted candidates to think they’ll be overshadowed by more showy, vivacious recruiters in the interview process, and this does sometimes happen, particularly to overly nervous or unprepared candidates. This is why it’s so important to come up with an interview strategy that is high on preparation and showcases the many attributes of an introverted recruiter.  

In the lead-up to the interview 

1. Find out as much about the interview process as possible ahead of time.  

As an introvert, you like knowing what you’re going to face so you can prepare, so mine your recruiter for information about the structure of the interview, as well the practical details like time and place.  

2. Put faces to the names.  

If you can find out the names of the interviewer/s, you’ll be able to do a bit of research beforehand on LinkedIn etc. Having seen people’s faces before and knowing a bit about them can really take the edge off the fear when you walk in.  

3. Plan your outfit.  

As a recruiter, you know how much interview appearance matters, so just a gentle reminder to plan your outfit and get it all laid out ahead of time.  

4. Prepare and practice. 

You probably don’t need to be told how important it is to do background research on the company and develop some follow-up questions! It’s also an excellent idea to practice with a friend or record your answers. As an introvert and a recruiter, you’ll probably have this superbly covered already!  

The day of the interview 

1. Physically and mentally prepare before the interview.  

Create the best conditions for your success, by starting the day with some yoga, a long walk—or whatever gets you feeling calm. When it’s nearing time for you to go into the interview, head to the bathroom and do a final check of your hair etc, before doing a few ‘power poses’, such as standing with your hands on your hips. Bizarrely, these body language tricks have been proven to flood the body with confidence-boosting hormones. Watch this Ted Talk by Amy Cuddy to find out how it works.  

In the interview:  

1. Don’t get put off by a group situation. 

Ideally you’ll be conducting a one-on-one interview, but there’s every chance you’ll be facing a panel. If there are several people in the room, make eye contact with each person individually as you arrive.  

2. Make the most of your introversion. 

As an introvert, your natural tendency is to listen to a question, be perceptive to any subtext, and take a moment to deliver a considered and smart response. Go with this, don’t rush things! 

Many more extroverted candidates jump at questions and rattle off an answer quickly, without stopping to think carefully about what they’re saying. An introvert has a different approach: you’ll never accidentally let slip that you left your last job on bad terms, or miss the point of the question in your haste to make yourself look good! Be confident in this aspect of your slower style, as a good interviewer will appreciate your thoughtful answers and rate them much more favourably than the off-the-cuff style solutions. If you need time, don’t hesitate to say something like ‘that’s an excellent question. I need a minute to think about that one.’ 

3. Give yourself a break. 

You may need a reprieve from the questions if they’re coming at you thick and fast, so it can be a good tactic to ask a related question of your own to give you a breather. When you’re answering questions to a panel, try not to get focussed on one ‘friendly’ face in particular and just look at that person through the whole interview. Try to direct your gaze to whoever has asked the question.  

4. Talk about your achievements in a way that works for you. 

For an introvert, boasting about past achievements in an interview is akin to enduring Chinese water torture. So don’t boast, just chat about what you’ve loved doing in the past, what you learned from previous roles and how you’d like to keep advancing these skills in the new role . Remember, they were impressed enough about what you put in your CV that they gave you an interview, so you’re not here to brag, just to fill out the details. If you have particularly good billing numbers etc, it can be a good tactic to have your results and achievements printed out in an eye-catching graph or format— you can refer to this, it keeps your hands busy to hold something, and you can even give them a copy to look at too.  

5. Remember to smile.  

You can answer questions perfectly and go through all the motions, but the hiring panel also want to see your human side in order to connect. All you really need to do is smile and thank them for their time. You don’t need to be a comic genius, and you shouldn’t force yourself to be bubbly and talkative if you’re not— it will just come off awkwardly. Just be pleasant and polite. If the interview starts off with small talk and you suffer from nerves, it can be a good idea to have a topic or two in mind.  

With the right preparation, your introversion can be an advantage in showing you off as a thoughtful, dedicated, and highly experienced candidate.  

Until next time, 

Cheryl 

We write a lot about mistakes for new recruiters to avoid, but what about those of you who have been doing this for a while now? You know you’re not making the novice mistakes, but what other common traps might more established recruiters as yourself fall into?

If you’ve been a recruiter for some time, yet your billing numbers aren’t great, or your candidate database is stagnating, the first step is to ensure that you’re not making any of the following mistakes.

1. You think that you’re a great interviewer and a splendid judge of character.

There’s some fascinating Yale research about how terrible humans are at conducting job interviews.

According to the research, we make hiring decisions based on how much we like people, we make false assumptions based on our prejudices and initial impressions (and then manipulate the candidate’s responses to fit with those assumptions), and we don’t put nearly enough emphasis on the person’s skills or experience.

As a recruiter, you must learn to disengage from your gut instinct when deciding which candidates to put forward. Rely heavily on that CV, check references with a fine-tooth comb, and meet with the candidate to make the obvious checks on presentation and attitude.

When running candidate interviews, ask structured questions—ask the same questions, in the same order, for everyone, and score them immediately after each response. This is the way you’ll come up with the best candidate for the job, not your favourite one.

2. Your job specs/adverts are still not up to scratch. 

This one applies to experienced recruiters as well as new ones – in fact, novice recruiters probably try a lot harder at writing job specs/adverts than their peers. If you’re only rewriting old job specs from the client, then you’re almost certainly confusing matters.

Wipe the screen clean, and start again. Aim for clarity. Be determined to engage the reader. Make the role blindingly obvious, and concisely explain what a day looks like.

Do NOT fall into the trap of writing the job description or advert solely based on your working knowledge of similar roles- you need to be getting good input about the precise role from the client, hiring manager, and ideally, the outgoing team member. Generic vanilla writing does not win the day.

3. You too easily accept that there are ‘no good candidates’.

This is a common trap for recruiters, particularly at the moment when everyone is talking about skill shortages. Sure, there might not be the ‘perfect’ candidate who has every single skill requirement on the client’s hit list, but there are still plenty of great candidates out there, as long as you’re willing to think creatively about their skills and aptitudes.

Use social media to find candidates outside your inner circle of contacts, and consider the super-keen but not as highly qualified candidates and ‘sell’ them to the client instead.

Your job is to find good candidates, so don’t even think about trotting out excuses or you’ll never truly succeed as a recruiter.

You’ll encounter challenges in finding great candidates sometimes; there’s no disputing that. But if you give up before you’ve really tried, failure is your only destination.

4. You’ve taken your eye off the ball. 

It happens. We get complacent. You’re busy, so you slow down on building your talent pipeline, and your pitching has dropped off. One of your big clients stops giving you the vacancies on an exclusive basis- but you think you’re fine, as you have a lot of clients, and are still billing well.

But then one of your other clients folds or goes to another recruiter, and things start to look a great deal less secure. It doesn’t take long for things to change in recruitment- you can go from the top biller to below target with a few blows.

And if you’ve taken your eye off the ball with pitching and candidate databases, you’ll find you have no easy ladder back up to the top.

5. You do pretty much everything else before you get on the phone.

You can bury yourself in a pile of database and admin work and convince yourself that it’s strictly necessary…only to find that you’re spending less than 2 hours a day on the phone actually chasing work. You’re never going to bill highly until you get that number up. Stop thinking about rejection, and stop procrastinating with (too much) LinkedIn, or unnecessary emails.

Plan your calls the night before, so you hit the ground running the minute you arrive at your desk. ‘Begin with the end in mind’ is one of Stephen Covey’s ‘7 Habits of Highly Successful People’, and this pro-activeness is a great one to put into your daily practice.

The key to success is looking at your performance through every stage of your career, and modifying your approach when you notice mistakes that are holding you back. Be brave enough to change your recruitment style if it’s not delivering the results you want. After all, as the saying goes, ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result’.

Until next time,

Cheryl and he GSR2R team

There’s a lot of potential to make money at this time of year. Mid-year performance reviews are taking place across the country, and many recruiters are thinking hard about their career progress and wondering if it’s time to make their next move.

As for you; it’s time to strike. You need to make the most of this time of transience, as candidates consider their work options. You need to turn their concerns with their current workplace, or their ambition …into placements.

Excuse the pun and It’s summer, so it’s time to make hay while the sun shines.

In order to succeed in this time of opportunity, you’ll be reaching out to candidates that previously turned down a job offer, or passive candidates who decided to stay where they were or took a different role. You especially need to remember those candidates who had some concerns about their job last time you spoke to them: whether a difficult boss, a lack of promotion, or a problematic colleague, but who decided to stay and see how things panned out. There’s every chance that things didn’t go the way they hoped, and that they’re ripe for a new opportunity.

In short, you need to reach out to everyone who might be seeking greener, newer pastures. Which at this hopeful, sunny time of year, could be quite a large proportion of your candidate database.

When you contact past candidates, there are certain trigger points that may cause them to consider using your services to find them a new role. Given that it’s mid-year review time and also often a time of reflection for many, the first step is to find out how their year has gone.

1. Are they on track for their goals this year? 

Remind them that mid-year is the perfect time to take stock and make a change if they still want to hit their yearly goals.

2. How did their mid-year performance review go? 

Do they feel they are valued by the organisation? Do they feel like their skills are being properly utilised? Or was it another situation where they were told to be patient.

3. What are their big picture plans? 

Do they want to get a promotion within their current team, or perhaps move companies? Is their current job providing a clear path towards that goal? If not, what job will be a better stepping-stone?

4. Are they being developed by their current employer?

What are the training and development schemes like? Do they feel they’ve grown in the past year?

5. Do they feel that their current company values work/life balance and wellness in the workplace?

Many employers are now focussing on ‘soft benefits’ like flexible working hours and health and wellness programs, so pointing this out might make them consider a change.

6. Would they prefer a job closer to home, or an exciting new start in different city? 

Quality of life is dragged down by commuting, and many people desire an exciting change in life. Find out what would make their work (and home) life better.

7. What is the workplace dynamic like?

Do they enjoy their team and work well with their manager? How is the culture and does it fit with their values and personality?

8. Are they making enough money to hit their personal goals? 

Salary, benefits and bonus aren’t just a number: they translate to how we live our lives and fulfil our dreams. Don’t forget to ask about their personal goals, not just the career ones- the two are inextricably linked.
Remember, your job in this conversation is not to barrage them with questions or make them feel like their year is going terribly: It’s to fire them up to find something better. You then position yourself as the person who understands where they’re at and can help.

These questions should provide lots of room for reflection.  There are a lot of people out there who want something better, but if you don’t reach out and present them with a choice, they’ll find themselves returning from summer holidays and thinking ‘the year’s almost over, I’ll wait it out and look again in January.’ You need to be proactive and make sure that doesn’t happen. Seize the day! Summer won’t last forever.

Until next time,

Cheryl

Moving up to billing manager is often challenging- in the best and worst ways. You’re happy to be recognised, excited to be promoted to a position of higher responsibility, and pleased that you’re making your way up the career ladder.

On the other hand, you now hold management responsibility for other recruiters’ success while still chasing your own billing numbers. And you often haven’t received much management training—if any at all!

It’s an interesting transition, isn’t it. You’ve moved into management, with all the team nurturing and training that entails…but you’re also still judged on your own individual billing success. Some say that this juggling makes the billing manager role the toughest in recruitment.

Becoming a new manager in any industry is a learning curve, and new billing managers often fall into a few classic ‘new manager’ mistakes.

Luckily, if you know what these common pitfalls are, you can either avoid them altogether, or acknowledge and change your behaviour so that you and your team can thrive.

1. They try and shape everyone’s recruitment style to mirror their own.

Recruiters who get promoted to billing manager are generally high performers— this is why you were promoted! However, inexperienced billing managers often fall into an authoritarian management style where they tell everyone what to do and try to get everyone to follow their own tactics for success. What works for one recruiter doesn’t necessarily work for another, and forcing people to change their style often ruffles feathers and reflects in poor billing numbers.

If your recruiters are not performing, then coach them. Help them become aware of what isn’t working and to explore their own solutions. On the other hand, if your recruiters are performing, let them get on with it— even if some of their methods aren’t the ones you use personally. It’s wonderful of you to want to share your experience with your team, but don’t insist that your way is always best. You might even learn a better way from them!

2. They fall behind on their own billing, or they fail to nurture the team.

This juggle is not an easy one, so your time management skills will need to be superb.

1. Use the best time hacks and software available.

2. Schedule your naturally productive times of day to attack high cognitive tasks.

3. Schedule time to meet up with your team members to see what assistance they need.

4. Map out your standard weekly schedule to see where there are efficiencies to be gained.

5. Learn to delegate some tasks or you will crumble under the pressure.

6. Avoid the trap of drilling down into your recruiters’ tasks the way you do your own. Always remember: your role is ‘big picture’ when it comes to your team, don’t get bogged down in the details!

3. They’re too competitive with their team.

In ‘normal’ management roles, the manager has to step out of the limelight and encourage others to shine. However, as a billing manager, you have to encourage others to excel—as well as excel individually with your own billing! Finding the balance between team success and individual success can be tough as a manager, sometimes resulting in team members feeling their manager is trying to outshine them or is just trying to do everything themselves.

Great billing managers don’t perceive others as threats, but understand that their team’s success reflects well on them as a manager!

4. They try to prove they know everything already.

You’re justifiably proud to have been promoted, but this doesn’t mean you’re the font of all wisdom- particularly in the management sphere! Your journey as a manager is just beginning, so don’t cave in to the temptation (or insecurity) of pretending you know it all. When you make a mistake, freely admit it, and when you don’t know, say so and don’t apologise for it. ‘I’m not sure, let me find out for you’ is much better than giving the wrong answer or second guessing yourself.

No one expects a brand new billing manager to know everything. The senior managers are there to support you, and your team is there to help too. Don’t get isolated and feel like you have to show you’re totally fine. Billing Manager is a tough role (and your higher-ups will know this better than anyone!) Keep everyone informed, and ask for help when you need it.

5. They don’t behave like one of the team.

Nothing is worse than a manager who avoids accepting blame, or ‘throws people under the bus.’ Celebrate the wins as one, and accept your share of responsibility for the failures. They’re all part of being a manager!

All of these are very common, very understandable mistakes when you’re new at management. Becoming a successful billing manager requires that you maintain the drive to succeed individually, while learning how to take your whole team along for the ride. It’s a juggle, but it’s an exciting, challenging, and fulfilling one.