Archive | July, 2012

What is your reputation…sure about that ?

25 Jul

We all know the importance of reputation.  But how many of us actually really know what our reputation is?

It is easy to fall into the trap of mistaking reputation with what is actually our own, probably more favourable, perception of ourselves –  easy to do when you spend time in the business looking  in. We are sometimes complacent about our reputation, believing that just because our reputation was good yesterday, it is still good. Unfortunately, reputations don’t stand still and it might be that we are out of touch with what people are saying. Whatever the reason, what we think our reputation is, might be very different to the reality..

When a business lives and dies by its reputation it seems like a hell of a thing to not be certain about. And when you are talking about attracting talent to work for you, reputation is probably the single most important factor.  When I speak to recruiters who are considering a move, they will have already filed some companies under the ‘I would never work there’ category. Funnily enough it is the same companies that come up time and again.

“ Yep, fair point Luke– but I know what our reputation is in the market place”. ….sure about that ?

The MD, that I spoke to this week thought he was sure. He gushed superlatives about the agency he had built up over 10 years. According to him his business was profitable, had good clients and a smart CBD office. He paid his staff well, had casual Friday and even gave them their birthday as an extra holiday. He had even won an industry award 2 years ago. Sure they had lost some staff in the last year and struggled to find new staff –  but, as he told me,  that is typical of the recruitment industry.

The truth was that his agency carried a bad reputation. Why he had a bad reputation isn’t important. What is important is that I knew about it.  I knew about it simply because I had talked to his employees, ex-employees and their friends. And if I knew about it then you can be sure lots of other recruiters did too. And they did. Word had got around, and the word on the street was that they were no good.

He is not alone. I know agencies whose actual reputation in the market is different to what they think it is. Sometimes not dramatically different, but different enough to be important. The dangerous thing is that often they are not aware, probably because many used to have a better reputation. But at some stage it started to change, in some cases very quickly. And a bad reputation can be a silent killer, creeping up slowly and  causing significant damage to your business often before you realise there is a problem.

So how do you know what your reputation is. Internal employee surveys, industry awards, no problem attracting staff, low turnover, a seemingly happy workforce, social media ‘likings’ ….all fair enough but there is a better way.  A recruiter who really knows your market, is well networked and talking to people all day long is a key asset for your business. You might not be recruiting now but these are the people who can be your eyes and ears. Engage them, ask them and be prepared for whatever they say. They probably know better than you.

Luke Collard

Recruiters… Are you using the ‘c’ word enough?

18 Jul

I’ve been in recruitment long enough to know that the ‘c’ word is a much maligned – often under-utilised – turn of phrase… At some places I’ve worked use of the ‘c’ word is actively encouraged, some recruitment businesses base their entire recruitment strategy around it, whilst at others it is denounced – much like a dirty word that should never be uttered – much less embraced as a corporate value…

But, recently I have had an epiphany.  Luke Collardand I have recently taken ownership of two additional Rec2Rec businesses in other locations.  It is a chance for us to radically revolutionise the industry, refine our strategy, improve candidate sourcing techniques, embrace social media & new technologies, squeeze our competition and provide the only true national mobile candidate database in our market… (Enough of the unsolicited advertising spiel… sorry…).

Part of the initial process is to find fantastic staff for our Brisbane and Sydney operations.  Now great recruiters are a rare beast, but if anyone can find them we can… Right? After all, isn’t our core business is to find amazing recruiters for our clients? (If you answered yes to the previous 2 questions your elephant stamp will be reaching you via pdf attachment in an email before close of business today…).

It is here that the epiphany (yes I had to use spellcheck… twice… to get that one right…), occurred.  I realised that in my… sorry Luke… in our… business the ‘c’ word is an integral part of our strategy.  No, I take that back.  The ‘c’ word is the most important aspect of our business…

Of course by now you will have worked out that by the ‘c’ word I mean culture…

In recruitment, I’m sorry but the skill aspect of the role is easy.  Yes, different businesses have different recruitment processes, but the same basic skills are employed – much the same as most competing businesses, in most industries.  But when you are sourcing candidates for your clients, skills & competencies make up only a small part of the puzzle… the other two really important must haves are motivation and culture fit.

Think about it.  When a candidate falls off within the first 12 weeks what is the most common reason? If you answered culture fit there’s another elephant stamp – or would you prefer star sticker – coming your way!

So I guess the message behind this post (albeit a long one…), is spend that extra time really understanding your clients and candidates.  When you pick up a job order ask to speak to some of the existing team.  Ask them what the work environment is like, ask them what type of person would be most successful in their team, ask them what is the best part – and worst part – of their job and company… With candidates spend a big ‘chunk’ of the interview understanding their drivers and what’s important to them – what they liked about previous roles and what they didn’t like… and most importantly, why…

Yes, it’s Recruitment ‘101’, but it is an important part of our role that we often forget.  The ‘c’ word is alive and well in recruitment… and using it more often will make you a better recruiter…

Craig Watson

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Why Recruitment is like 50 Shades of Grey

11 Jul

C’mon cut me some slack… you knew it and I knew it… it was only a matter of time before the comparisons were made – and if I didn’t write it, someone else would have…

So why is Recruitment like 50 Shades of Grey?  What is it about our industry that can so easily be aligned with the literary genius of E. L. James? Well – without further ado, here are 5 solid reasons why Recruitment is inexplicitly linked to the story of our generation…

1.       Christian Grey, you know, the broody millionaire with the S&M and B&D addiction is a great solutions seller.  That’s right, he probed Ana until he found a solution to take her pain away… the fact that he caused the lion’s share of her pain…physically anyway… is beside the point.  OK people, look past the weak double entendres and thinly veiled connotations…  Seriously, how well do you know your clients – and candidates – for that matter?  I’m not suggesting for a moment that you get that close to them, but do you know what keeps your hiring managers awake at night? Do you know what motivates your candidates?  If not, find out… As recruiters we need to raise the bar if we want our clients, and candidates to value the service we provide.

2.       Speaking of service… according to buzzfeed.com the reason women love 50 Shades of Grey is because ‘…it’s about being served…’ So, I pose the question – How well do you serve your clients and candidates? Again… not in that way… but think about it.  We are in a service industry.  Some clients may hire you on price, but they will keep you on service.  Candidates will come back to you based on service.  Your network and referral flow will be driven by your level of service…

3.       Here’s a nice clean one… Recruitment is an industry that is simply not Black & White… We have to be on our game 24/7.  It’s a roller coaster of different people, pulling you in different directions, with different perceptions.  There is no secret formula that explains all, and there are definitely 50 Shades of Grey on the journey from sourcing to placement.  On a side note… I wonder if archaeologists dig up copies of 50 Shades of Grey in 400 years time, will we be forced to read them in school like Dickens, and Shakespeare?… Probably not…

4.       50 Shades of Grey is about learning new things, and looking for better ways to do things… for Ana anyway… And if we know anything about recruitment it’s that it is forever evolving.  Just in the last couple of years we have gone from newspapers to job boards, to social media, to mobile.  We have evolved form phones to skype.  We are able to better track work history, assess candidates more thoroughly, and gather more public domain information about our clients and competitors – in short we are also learning about new things… Sure they may not involve floggers or blind folds, but hey… at the rate our industry is evolving don’t count anything out…

5.       Finally, 50 Shades of Grey will come as a bolt of recognition and understanding for all PSL or PSA Recruiters… just like Ana your arrangement with your client involves signing a contract and spending most of your relationship tied down by it…

*Public Disclaimer – I have never read 50 Shades of Grey, or the subsequent sequels… (Not saying that I won’t in the future).  All of my research into this post has been provided by my good friends at Google…. oh….and… my darling wife… who thoroughly enjoyed all 3 books in the series…

Craig Watson

Tags: , , , , ,

Recruiters… Where do Nice Guys finish?

4 Jul

I feel ill when I find out that people don’t like me… come to think of it I’m probably lucky I’m in recruitment – a lot of the time in our game people pretend to like you even when they don’t… and that suits me fine.

Over the journey though, I have had to drink quite a few cups of concrete and harden the ‘you know what’ up.  Being too nice in recruitment – probably business in general – will inevitably come back to haunt you.  In our industry there are just too many people – recruiters, candidates and clients – who are ready to pounce on your every weakness, take liberties at your expense and contribute to making your life an emotional hell.

You’ve heard the saying ‘Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile’, well I say that in recruitment you need to guard your inches…with your life.

Don’t get me wrong, not everyone is in it for themselves, most of the people I know in recruitment are really good people.  I mean, I met my wife in recruitment… and she is one of the nicest people I know, (surely that qualifies for a free pass to the footy on the weekend?).  It is those few rotten apples that spoil it for others, and it is the rotten apples that you need to be wary of.

Let me give you two recent examples of recruitment colleagues who have suffered through being too nice.

I met an Office Support Recruiter recently who had given their employer 4 years of service.  During that time they had grown their cold desk from scratch to average billings in the vicinity of $40k per month.  In the 4 years they have received one base pay increase of $5k.  There is no commission structure in place, no other monetary (or non-monetary) incentives and they are constantly berated by the business owner and told she is being ‘overpaid for a mediocre performance’… WOW! What the Hell is she still doing there, right?…

I ran through all of the opportunities I had for her in the market.  I explained what a good culture looked like, told her that she was being underpaid and that she should have access to a commission structure.  Finally, I tried closing the deal by asking permission to represent her to market… her reply… ‘Let me think about it.  I feel really bad leaving them in the lurch.  They really rely on me, and they gave me my start in recruitment, so I feel I owe them…’ Familiar?

I patiently went through it all again and she asked me to give her the weekend to process it all… 4 hours later I received an email, that’s right an email, thanking me for my time and letting me know – after much consideration – that she was staying where she is… I tried calling and emailing, to no avail – oh, and she blocked me on Linked In…

The other example comes from an excellent client of mine.  He told me about an experienced recruiter that he put on to start a new location for him. Within 24 hours of starting the consultant began repeatedly asking for more money, an improved commission structure (they were already on a very low threshold, great commission rate and no deficit) and a Resourcer for support.  The Consultant was holding his boss to ransom, threatening to leave and join a competitor the next day if his demands were not met.  My client gave the consultant some of what they asked, but the demands kept coming.  Text messages at all times of the day and night (I know, I saw them)… The irony was that the candidate was not performing – he billed less than a third of what he had cost the business.  My client agreed that the consultant had to go, but was hesitant… Why?  It turns out that he had been in business for over 15 years but never had to sack anyone… and he didn’t feel good pulling the trigger. In the end he did let the consultant go… and his business and sanity is all the better for it…

It’s easy to judge – isn’t it?  It’s easy to tell people to toughen up and make the hard decisions.  It’s easy to say ‘C’mon champ – grow some balls…’ But in reality – when faced with making these decisions yourself, sometimes it’s just not that easy.

I have had to sack people in the past and every time I have had to do it I feel sick… I can’t sleep the night before, my stomach ties itself in knots and I almost chicken out… for me it is not easy at all…

I have also been an employee in bad companies, yet I’ve walked the company line, taken crap from bad bosses, asked to do things I didn’t agree with… and I did them.  Why?  Because I like to be liked.  I don’t like to cause trouble – and I certainly don’t want to be the bad guy.

But, there comes a time in your professional life when being liked by everyone is not the most important thing in life.  It really doesn’t matter how many facebook friends you have, or if people laugh at your jokes… what is important is making sure you enjoy job – with a sense of achievement and happiness!

Thankfully, I really like my job, and the people I work with – and if you don’t like yours call me… now!

And don’t forget you should never let yourself get pushed around… unless you are riding in a shopping trolley – that sh*t is fun!

Oh, and in case you were wondering I have 643 facebook friends… and I really hope this post gave you a good chuckle…

Craig Watson

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 440 other followers

%d bloggers like this: