By Jessica Stenzel | Women’s Leadership & Recruiting Specialist
It is important for recruiters to stay focused, energized, and committed to their organization’s mission. But there are daily disappointments that arise. Cancellations, no-shows and lack of referrals to name just a few. So how do you continue to motivate your recruiters when these things occur? We asked Sea Captain Coaching’s Women’s Leadership & Recruiting Specialist Jessica Stenzel to share some of her coaching best practices for recruiters and recruiting. Here are the insights Jessica provided:
The best strategy is to help recruiters shift their focus. Because what we emphasize impacts our mindset, it is vital to commit attention to all the things going right. It’s not turning a blind eye to what’s not going well. Of course, we want to work on those things, but mostly finding ways to celebrate the wins.
Top 5 Recruiter & Recruiting Best Practices
1. Help your recruiter identify what winning the day looks like. A win should be based on something a recruiter can control. Even if they experience candidates falling off, they can still feel like they have made progress toward winning the day, despite disappointment. The idea is to try to string together win after win. The compound effect of daily wins is huge in both activity results and in your recruiter’s overall level of fulfillment. People want to win. That is why it’s advantageous to help them identify what a “daily win” is for them and celebrate when it is achieved!
2. Set intentions for the day. You should help your recruiter set clear intentions for each day. What are their top three priorities for the day? Your recruiter should get in the habit of mapping these out at the end of the day so he or she comes in ready to dominate the next new day.
3. Find evidence the “Butterfly Effect” is working. The “Butterfly Effect” suggests that small changes can have big consequences. It was introduced when MIT Meteorology Professor Edward Lorenz theorized that the flap of a butterfly’s wings might ultimately cause a tornado. The Butterfly Effect is equivalent to our recruiting breakthroughs. Find signs that things are working, and a breakthrough is on the horizon. Big or small, it does not matter. A daily habit of writing down positive indicators will immediately boost energy levels.
4. Celebrate people on the rise. Identify ways to celebrate your recruiter, and everyone else, on the rise. Anyone helping or contributing to recruiting should also be celebrated. It is essential your recruiter participates in this dynamic as well. It’s not energizing to get hamstrung by those not contributing, even though it needs to be addressed. Shift your primary attention and energy to the behaviors you do want emulated so they are ingrained in your team members.
5. Let go of the outcome. Sounds counterproductive, but we ultimately cannot control the outcome. The outcome is primarily the result of our daily habits. Because habits and wins significantly impact outcomes, these should be our main focus. However, if wins are only defined by accepts or contracts, there are numerous factors we can’t control related to these results. Day-to-day attention should be on the process, habits, and controllables. Let go of the outcome and help your recruiter focus on the vision and what he or she can manage.
We encourage you to pass these tips on and employ them in your mentoring with your leadership team and recruiters. These principles will help recruiters shift their mindset to operating like the CEO of their own recruiting business.
