6 Ways Recruiters Can Bring Purpose To Their Work

It turns out that purpose is more important to recruiters than it is to any other profession – even more than people working in education or healthcare. Staffing is the purpose profession.

In 2016, Imperative and LinkedIn Talent Solutions surveyed 26,151 professionals around the world and across every major profession. The study found that those working in recruiting are the most positively and significantly impacted by seeing their work as being about serving others and their own development.

That doesn’t mean it is easy to always bring purpose to your job every day or to help you colleagues do the same. Here are six job-hacking tips to help you show up as your purposeful best everyday (more, by the way, is to to come at in San Diego at the ERE Conference).

1. Connect to What Matters to You

Some recruiters gain the most fulfillment from knowing that they are helping individual people. For others the main source of meaning is from seeing the impact of their work on the teams they are hiring for and the broader organization. For others it is about the broader impact of their work on trends and progress in society. Be clear on why you believe recruiting matters most to you personally and frame all your goals and tasks to connect to the why.

2. Appreciate the Diversity of Purpose on Your Team

If you have a team or on a team, don’t assume everyone gets purpose from the same why. Help your colleagues define their why and celebrate their work based on it. For example, if you get the most meaning from helping individuals and someone else gets it from helping teams and the organization, help them celebrate the impact on the organization even if that matters less to you.

3. Follow Up to See Your Impact Longer Term

Much of your impact happens after a hire is made as that person thrives, impacts the success of their team and beyond. Stay in touch with your hires and their teams so you can share in their success — you are part of it. And it is also an important way to learn — especially when there are challenges so you can adjust your approach over time.

4. Hire for Purpose

Recruiters at innovative employers like West Elm are now working with hiring managers to draft job descriptions to highlight how each role can bring candidates amazing new relationships, make an impact and grow. When you do a search where purpose leads the conversation, it makes the whole process richer and more meaningful.

5. Lead With Your Values

Your work really matters to people and how you interact with candidates, especially those you don’t hire, has a big impact on their lives. Make sure, even when you are stressed, to always feel like you treated everyone you touch the way you would a friend or family member (because they are to someone).

6. Make Each Day Your Personal Best

Challenge yourself each day to do one thing to make you more effectively and fulfilled than you were the day before. To be fulfilled you constantly need to be challenged to learn new things and stretch yourself. How can you be a better recruiter tomorrow?

The Purpose Recruiting Platform

Imperative has developed the platform for recruiters to maximize purpose in their work and recruit for purpose. Learn how you could transform your recruiting team by leveraging the science of purpose.

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Aaron Hurst is an Ashoka Fellow, award-winning entrepreneur and globally recognized leader in fields of purpose at work and social innovation. He is the CEO of Imperative and founder of the Taproot Foundation which he led for a dozen years. Aaron is the author of the Purpose Economy and has written for or been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg TV and Fast Company.