Recruitment Radar -Issue 17

The one when our actions said it all

You probably would never notice this, but as my confidence has grown putting together this newsletter, so too has the size of the photo in the cover image! Check out Issue 1 below and scroll back to the top ??

It made me think about, how often we must hold ourselves back, stand in the corner, or distract from people seeing us because we are lacking in confidence. What a shame it is to not put ourselves forward, have a go, and see what we're capable of! Our actions are not only a reflection of our character, they reflect how we think about ourselves. The Olympics and recent riots speak volumes on this.

Thank you

Thank you for being here and reading and thank you in particular Rachel Bradman Hung Lee Neil Cooper Emily B. Mick Mize Louis Eastwell Shweta Prabhakar Matt Baird who have recommended, shared, and been big supporters of the newsletter. I'm not here for the likes and shares, but positive feedback encourages me to keep sharing and creating more.

Reinforced, Responses Recur! If you like it, no need to put a ring on it, just share it with people you think will get something from it, talk to me in the comments, and subscribe.

Expect a billboard with my face on in Picadilly Circus or Times Square by December.

The top "saved for later" for last week

Posts are hyperlinked in the title

1. PERFORMANCE V’s TRUST.

Darren Isles shares an oldie but a goodie from Simon Sinek It's a great video that gets you thinking about who you want on your team. Do you want high performers who are assholes, or do you want people who are mid-level performers, but you can trust?

Simon jokes that it's really easy to find high performers. Go to any team and ask them who the biggest asshole is. Everyone will point to the same person! Rest assured, behaviours and actions never go unnoticed. People only get away with whatever is tolerated. You might say you won't tolerate toxic behaviours but how often do you live up to that?

Here's what else this video made me think about. As we continue to experiment and introduce more tech into our businesses to enhance performance, how are we thinking about trust?

• Do we have people we trust critically thinking about the tech?
• How much are we thinking about the trust we need to build with our customers as we add in the tech?
• What would be the impact of scaling high performance with low trust from our customers?
• If tech is enabling increased performance, what opportunities does this offer to only hire people we trust?

PERFORMANCE, TRUST, TEAM

2. A really good day to let everyone know who is in the hiring process with you and where they stand. Even if you can't give them a decision - let them know something.

If I am talking about behaviours and trust I must add this saved post from Hannah on Friday. Hannah Keep implored recruiters yesterday to give candidates updates.

The absence of these updates is not only the right thing to do as a human, it is the right thing to do for your performance.

What is one of the biggest communication challenges you are facing in recruitment? Ghosting?

People no longer feel obliged to give you more than you offer to them. There is no extra power on the table because you are the client, recruiter, or candidate. Choice is abundant (yes even if someone is not in a job). And you as a recruiter will reap what you sow in how you treat people.

I can't help (yet again) to think of the quote attributed to Maya Angelou

'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.'

Let's not forget also that if you have introduced a candidate, you expect to invoice/earn commission/gain kudos if the candidate is hired.

This being the case, why is this candidate communication seen by some as doing people a favour or an "only if you feel like it" action? These communication touch points are essential not just for the experience the other person has, but they are the measures of whether someone will want to do business with you again in the future.

When to contact your engaged candidates

• You have the next steps in the process for them to move forward
• You don't have the next steps yet, it's being worked out
• You can't get hold of the client contact
• No decision made yet - still interviewing or need to involve other people
• They're not 100% sure about the candidate but don't want to rule them out
• They have ruled out the candidate
• The opportunity to be hired at this point in time no longer exists

CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE, HUMAN

3. THE MOST POWERFUL MANAGEMENT ADVICE I WAS EVER GIVEN

You won't go wrong by following Christine Armstrong Over the summer, Christine is sharing some of the most valuable insights from her vlog archive. I'd missed this one from back in the day, and I'm glad it was re-shared. 3mins and 33 seconds which will give you a perspective, you didn't realise you needed.

It's a brilliant story that reminds us about our role and responsibility in engaging people to do their best work, achieve their best performance, and show up as their best selves. It's not about you being the hero in the story and how great you were and how sh*t they are. It's about you confronting your responsibility and actions. What did you do or not do?

If their targets weren't met, what did you do or not do? What was your role?

If they didn't turn up for an interview, what did you do or not do?

If they didn't give you feedback, what did you do or not do?

MANAGEMENT, ACCOUNTABILITY

4. If I was a recruiter being interviewed by an agency owner and it had come around to question time, I'd be tempted to ask them this...

A simple, yet provocative post from David Wolstenholme , he considers the question he would ask an agency owner in an interview.

The question is this:

"Could you tell me what personal development you've been working on in the last 12 - 18 months?"

What does this question reveal about a leader or business owner do you think? What insight does it give you about how you might be led or managed? What kind of priorities and goals in the business does it reveal?

Actions speak louder than words.

LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT

5. I call this the ’too good to be true’ problem.

This is the second time this week I'm talking about the brilliant Rory Sutherland If you've not come across Rory before you are in for a treat! Simple insights into behavioural science (why people do what they do). For recruiters and leaders, isn't this something we could all do with understanding a bit more?!

You might have watched the Ed Sheeran video where passers by were offered an Ed Sheeran peep show for $2. If they spent $2 they'd get a private show with Ed Sheeran for 60 seconds. It was genuine! For those that handed over $2, they had a 60-second concert with Ed where they were the only audience. Hardly anyone did it. They thought it was too good to be true. Rory explains why and how this can show up in what you offer your customers.

I know this newsletter and my business is a work in progress, I'm not the No1. It's why I add so much value and try so hard to deliver for you.

BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE, VALUE

5. A special moment ??

What does it look like to manage disappointment?

Fred (from First Dates) speaks with his daughter after her Olympic efforts. She had secured a bronze medal the week before and then a sixth-place finish in yesterday's final.

I can't help but think about this when I reflect on the posts about A-level results and how we view targets in our business.

Performance matters, results matters, trying your best matters, the effort that went into the performance matters, compassionate leadership matters, and mental health matters.

Thanks to Thomas Hal Robson-Kanu for the share.

PERFORMANCE, RESILIENCE, MENTAL HEALTH

6. How to sell me this pen in 2024

True story. Thanks Rick Kelly ??

AI, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

And that's a wrap!

Let's talk if you need to develop your sales teams, and develop your sales leaders (in sales or developing their sales teams). I have limited availability in the next 4 months and I would love to help you develop people, demonstrate trust, and deliver revenue.

Have a great week ahead,

Migsy

PS The L&D 3.0 meet-up I am hosting on the 4th of October 2024, London has nearly 70 L&D pros in recruitment expected to come. We have an exclusive L&D WhatsApp community for internal L&D and L&D suppliers and partners. If you or your business have an L&D team or someone focussed on L&D, feel free to introduce them to me.