What my future recruiter self will thank me for in 6 months...

As a population, communities, organisations and individuals we are going through an unprecedented period of uncertainty that in some way will affect all of our futures. Whilst I appreciate that the most critically important aspect for the short term is supporting our health system to look after the people most affected and susceptible to COVID-19, I wanted to share any advice and tips I could on something that could help people, in recruitment, who may be struggling with how to navigate the next 6 months.

The things you do over the next 6 months will define the success you have in recruitment over the next 5 years. At times you will find it incredibly hard, it will test your resilience and you may find it hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, we do have many data points we can refer back to as to what makes people successful during challenging economic climates, the global financial crisis being the most recent one in recent times. 

I have outlined some key behaviours and activities you can implement now, to ensure you come through this difficult period in a stronger place with a tighter network than you did before. 

1. Daily planning

Whilst this will be obvious, I can’t stress enough the importance of religiously incorporating it into your day to day. Before you finish the day write down the top 5 things you need/want to achieve the next day. Sleep on it and review in the morning that these are still the 5 most important things you need to achieve. If they’re not, then amend them accordingly. 

2. Exercise 

This is critical to you having a clear mind, a healthy body and the energy you need to attack the day. Even if it is just 20 minutes, kick the day off with exercise and sweat, your future self at the end of that day will thank you for it.

3. Challenge yourself with daily goals

You’ve got your plan, you’ve exercised, now set yourself a minimum of one 1 daily goal and a larger weekly goal and review progress each day. This could be anything from the number of conversations you want to have that day, the number of meaningful interactions you have with your network, the number of interesting articles you want to source to share with your network, the number of client video meetings you want to book. Challenge yourself and measure success. 

4. Read to have an opinion

You are in a position of strength, you speak to such a cross section of businesses and people that can help you formulate a valuable opinion. If you couple this with reading daily about broader economic news and your discipline specific articles you will be someone who people want to speak to and whose opinion is greatly valued. 

5. Show empathy and understanding 

Come at every conversation from the perspective of what you can do for the other person. Don’t have the expectation that you will get something commercial out of every conversation. Be different, show you care about how the other person could be impacted by the current situation. Ask questions to understand what you can do to add value over and above meeting their recruitment needs as either a client or candidate. They will remember this approach and will look to you when they do need help. 

6. The world will not stop turning forever

Once organisations have worked out their roadmap for how they are going to deal with the situation, they will require people to help execute this. Take time to think about what their pain points will likely be and ensure you have the talent pools in place to solve their problems. 

7. You have to be consistently proactive 

For you to get through this period you are going to have to drive the agenda, the market is unlikely to come to you. You might have consecutive days where you feel you are banging your head against a brick wall. It will be easier to give up and say it’s too hard but stick with it. Consistency is the key to mastering anything and if you adopt these approaches to your work you will have success. 

If you do all of the above consistently over the next 6 months and beyond you will no doubt be successful. You will have a network rich with loyal people who remembered everything you did for them during one of the most difficult periods in a generation. 

Good luck!