There I was, 40 feet in the air, having just climbed the pirate’s net to the top of the high-ropes course. Sitting on the perch and looking at where to go next, it occurred to me that I was scared x&*%less. I called to “Big Dog,” the group leader, and asked what to do next. His response [...]
Artices Tagged ‘goals’
With Big Dog or Alone, Break Through Your Barriers
July 2nd, 2008
Our business may be easy to understand, but it is infinitely more challenging to execute in a consistent, effective and profitable manner. This challenge is based on the fact that we are continually dealing with people at every point in our processes. These people represent a “grey area” that many times can defy our best [...]
I’ve been waiting four years to write this article’s title.? Since I like to integrate music in my training, I thought I’d try it in my writing.? (For the past couple of years, I’ve been playing “We Are the Champions” for the industry survivors.)? Songs can grab attention, create a sensory reaction and generate good [...]
I sometimes feel as if we’ve reached the point where if we cannot source, find, identify, or research a company using some form of Internet based tool that we cannot possibly be doing something right. Week after week, I get calls about which software, what online service, Application Service Provider (ASP), what system tools, email this [...]
There’s one phenomenon pertaining to candidates which, although it occurs infrequently, happens consistently enough to earn it’s own label. I call it the “Evil Twin Syndrome.” If we were to perform an anatomy of the “Evil Twin” syndrome it usually unfolds as follows: 1. Recruiter pre-screens/interviews a candidate either [...]
Is your desk really ready for 2005? Take this assessment and find out. On a scale of 1 10, with 10 being the highest score, rank yourself on the following: 1. Have you discussed your upcoming year with a coach, mentor, friend, colleague, or consultant? In other [...]
To get people to do what we want them to do, we need to give a clear understanding about how we work and ensure that the client and candidate are willing to comply. Then we ask questions throughout the process to make sure that everything is on track. Such questions include “Has anything changed since [...]
Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to think about how you’re going to make 2005 your strongest year yet in terms of production and professional fulfillment. The Action Plan below is a part of a process that I use with recruiting firm owners in my coaching programs to assist them in gaining clarity [...]
When I started in this business, I thought that recruiting meant calling prospective candidates and reading them a job description. As you would imagine, this approach really only attracted the unemployed or active candidate. The real talent, the passive candidate, was never going to be dislodged by such an approach. I never [...]
Online Personality Tests: Are they really all they’re cracked up to be?
December 1st, 2004
They may be called different names but all accomplish the same thing: They often stop potentially rock-solid candidates dead in their interview tracks if the scores don’t add up to what the company has decided is a Passing Grade. If you’re a recruiter with any number of years in the business … you [...]
“Stockholm Syndrome describes the behavior of kidnap victims who, over time, becomes sympathetic to their captors. The name derives from a 1973 hostage incident in Stockholm, Sweden. At the end of six days of captivity in a bank, several kidnap victims actually resisted rescue attempts, and afterwards refused to testify against their captors. What causes [...]
Many staffing professionals who are engaged in the process of recruiting currently employed individuals miss the mark when it comes to clearly identifying their recruit’s motivations for changing positions. With an emphasis on filling searches/job orders and collecting their fees, they focus on selling the benefits of the position, primarily compensation and long-term potential. [...]
As salespeople by nature, recruiting professionals and owners are wired toward action and offense mindedness. Most of us think in terms of targets such as revenue, number of deals closed and the size of our team. In sports terms you could say that we think of touchdowns, homeruns, baskets and goals. This offensive mindset is [...]
I’ll never forget the most miserable hour of my day when I first started in the business. It was ‘plan time.’ This dreaded hour was spent hand-writing names and numbers of those people I was going to call, and if I didn’t call them, then I’d have to spend an entire hour the [...]
Stop kidding yourself. If you don’t know your numbers, you’re working blind and the likelihood of reaching your full potential, as a staffing professional, is very much in doubt. For over thirty years, I have documented the fact that achievement oriented people know their numbers in most, if not all, aspects of their daily activity. [...]
What’s the owner’s success formula? It’s very simple; Systems = Freedom. If you, as the owner of your firm, go on a 4-week vacation, what happens to your business? What happens to the quality and quantity of activity? Some authors have defined the strength of a small business as being directly proportionate to how much [...]
Chapter 18 The intended flow of this book is to move smoothly throughout the entire placement process from planning and organizing your desk through the completion of the search, and then into developing the initial client to a solid repeat account embodying exclusives. So far, I believe we have achieved this. Nevertheless, we don’t want [...]
As the economy continues to improve, many owners of search firms are now beginning to add to their staffs. The development of a new consultant is complex and time-consuming, with factors of training and management playing large parts. Yet the best training and management will serve no purpose if the right candidate has [...]
The topic of “burnout” comes up frequently in my consulting work with recruiting and staffing firms. This is particularly true when the economy is in recession and the overall business environment is less than robust, although “burnout” can happen to anyone at anytime. Actually, it is rare that I hear about a staffing professional [...]
How consistently do you market your services? Do you even have a marketing plan? Or are you like most search professionals who rely on a combination of word-of-mouth and occasional selling and networking when time permits? Great marketing doesn’t have to cost a fortune. The secret is to get the right message to the right [...]
2003, like 2002 before it, was a perfect example of the power of marketing. In this “slow” economy, demand for experienced employees and managers dropped. Most recruiters tell me their revenue was DOWN at least 20% or more for the past two years. However, those of my clients who continued [...]
Set your goals high! Go for the moon! Make huge resolutions this year! Hogwash. That theory is ineffective and leads to nothing but frustration and depression. Forget about pie-in-the-sky goal-setting myths that are based more on a rah-rah motivational speaker trying to sell more tapes than helping you to achieve. Instead, let’s focus on real achievement [...]
I. I will do more for my productive consultants and less for those who are just taking up space II. I pledge to set optimistic, but realistic, goals for my firm and my consultants. III. I promise to stop listening to economic doom and gloomers and other assorted naysayers. IV. I will [...]
Well, here we go! The news to coin a phrase is all over town. The combination of three straight years of tax cuts, intelligent Federal Reserve policy and the natural resilience of the American economy have yielded the inevitable result. Even the ultra-cautious Alan Greenspan has called the recovery “astonishing.” [...]
I. I will do whatever is necessary to make the Year 2004 the best year of my career. I will divest myself of those activities which will not promote this objective. II. I promise to appreciate that, while my efforts will primarily affect my personal income, I am a part of a bigger picture [...]
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