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Straight Talk for the Recruiting Profession


Articles tagged 'motivation'

How-To, Motivation

Stand Up to Work For Your Good Health

by on Apr. 18, 2013


Mike Gionta

When it comes to success in the recruiting business, most of us KNOW what we need to do. We simply choose not to do it. We know the path to higher billings is using our working hours to connect with more prospects, clients and candidates. We KNOW checking email incessantly, updating our fantasy baseball team at 11 am, etc. detracts from our productivity significantly, and ultimately costs us money in lost commissions.

If we KNOW more client and candidate contact will increase billings, then why do we consciously choose to not do them in the quantity and at the time we know they need to be done? Because the rewards from our activity (placements and commissions) are off in the future, while the pain of planning, prospecting, and rejection are in the present.

As humans, it has been proven we are more likely to avoid pain than seek pleasure. We are all guilty of this behavior to one degree or another. One of the things I do is help my recruiting firm owner clients on strategies to get past this for both themselves and their recruiters. Once one implements some new tactics the results are sharp increases in productivity and revenue.

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How-To

Exercise Your Way To Bigger Billings

by on Mar. 1, 2013


2 minute coaching logo

Our work as recruiters requires us to be the proactive force in the selling process. This takes energy and focus; some days are easier than others in terms of gearing up to make calls. One way to set yourself (or your team) up for success is to focus on creating the physiology that leads to feelings of confidence and energy.

How you use your body makes a massive difference in your mood. Tony Robbins has said that, “Emotion is created by motion.” There are so many things about our environment that we can’t control but with our use of physiology, we have immediate control and can see immediate results.

Simple ways to influence your mood and energy physically are:

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Ask Barb, For Managers

These Two Metrics Made A Difference. Now What?

by on Feb. 13, 2013


Ask Barb

Dear Barb:

My business was inconsistent, sales were up and down and I never could achieve the goals I had set. You spent time with me at the Fordyce Forum during a break, and suggested that I put all my focus on two stats: sendout to placement, and job orders to fill.

We started to use your Sendout Hot Sheet (which has been a lifesaver with all these power outages we’ve been experiencing), and everyone who works for me is now focused on getting candidates in front of hiring authorities daily. The difference it has made in my business over the last 60 days is hard to believe. My question is: What would you advise me to revise next?

Don G., Houston, TX

 Dear Don:

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Ask Barb, Motivation

Implementation Is the Key To Success

by on Feb. 6, 2013


Ask Barb

Dear Barb:

I recently read one of your articles where you said “Implementation is the key to success, not new ideas or techniques.” Will you clarify what you meant by this? I attended the Fordyce Forum (in June 2012) and attend other conferences for the sole purpose of learning new ideas to help my business. As a trainer, I’m surprised you do not see the value of learning new techniques. I think the key to success is constant learning.

Dianne T., Dallas, TX

Dear Dianne:

You are 100% correct when you stress the importance of constant learning. My article was stressing the difference between a professional student and someone who actually implements what they learn.

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Business Development, How-To, Motivation

Too Many Goals Can Keep You From the Gold

by on Jan. 3, 2013


fordyce-default

2 minute coaching logoFor many people there is a disconnect between setting a goal in January and actually seeing it through to  December. Recruiters and entrepreneurs tend to have big appetites and want to push themselves to excel. Aiming high is a good thing but often these goals start to lose their luster as the year wears on. And, once they start to seem unrealistic, many people become discouraged, giving up on them altogether.

One of the reasons for this is we often set too many goals. Most of us only have the bandwidth to focus, really focus, on a small set of objectives. What would it be like if you only had one goal for the next twelve months?

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Motivation, Relationships

The Buddy System Can Keep You Going When “Life Happens”

by on Nov. 13, 2012


Tom Pagan

We all know that “life happens.” When you work as part of a larger organization, there is always someone around who can help pick up the slack. But when you are a “one-man-band,” it’s all you or nothing at all.

There can be several different reasons why you are not at your best.

One that comes to mind is when one is truly sick. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has on occasion come down with a stomach virus or the flu and been knocked out of commission for a couple of days or even a week.  And I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had to force myself out of a sick bed to attempt to close a deal or return calls from some of the bigger clients.  Thank goodness that technolo

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Ask Barb, Motivation

Ask Barb: The Secret to Staying Positive

by on Nov. 7, 2012


Ask Barb

Dear Barb:

I have seen you speak live several times and I own your tutor training program. I have to ask you three questions. Where do you get all your energy? How do you always manage to be so positive and motivated? How to you motivate your people to stay positive?

When I participate on your live weekly calls, I can’t get over how you present your ideas. I wish I could sound like you or present things the same way you do. I’m finding myself grumpy and almost waiting for the next shoe to fall. It obviously does affect the people who work for me because they are not that motivated either. There is just no energy in our office, and I’m stumped on how to turn this around. Ironically, sales are okay but I’m sure they could be better. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Simon G.

New York, NY

Dear Simon:

My energy I believe is God-given, and the result of juggling all the responsibility of being a single mom for 15 years while owning my business. My attitude is by choice. One of the greatest lessons I have learned in my life is that you can choose how you react to situations, people, disappointments, crisis, stress and anything that is thrown at you. I often chose not to react at all.

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Cold Calling

Overcoming Call Reluctance In 30 Minutes

by on Oct. 2, 2012


fordyce-default

Call reluctance is an emotional short circuit that diverts energy from the act of prospecting to the act of procrastinating. Instead of making calls, call reluctant salespeople are busy preparing to prepare, and avoiding the phone. They allow their fears to stand in the way of their goals — and it extracts a high emotional and financial cost.

I’d like to point out that Cold Call Reluctance is an internal roadblock. This is not something that exists in any place other than your mind. If I asked you to bring me a jar of call reluctance you would not be able to do it. So there is no “call reluctance” in the world, there are only recruiters thinking negative thoughts that make them reluctant to get on the phone.

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Motivation

Here’s How To Get Into The Iron-Recruiter Triathlon

by on Sep. 4, 2012


runner at start

OK. I confess. I don’t always do what I say I am going to do or follow through on my goals. For that matter, I don’t always write my goals, work from a prioritized task list, or work my plan either, despite the fact that I have proven time and again that these practices lead to and ensure my business success.

I know that’s shocking, because as an executive coach, I preach these things and am supposed to be above reproach. RIGHT? But the truth is that from time to time, I stop doing what has been working so well and fall into self-defeating behaviors like indecision, procrastination, and avoidance.

Why? Honestly, I’m not sure why, except to offer that perhaps it’s due to the cycles of life and business we all go through, or as a friend once put it, a tendency to gravitate back to the familiar. Notice I did not say the comfortable. Indecision, procrastination, and avoidance are not comfortable (and typically, the consequences are quite painful), but they are familiar, at least to this executive coach.

Just like you, I’m great at serving my clients, finding them great candidates or encouraging them to set and achieve their goals while holding them accountable for doing so. But, as I just disclosed, I am not always so great at doing that for myself. That’s why I have a coach (and yes, he has a coach) and that is why coaching works! My coach not only works with me to set and achieve my goals, determine my priorities, and make plans to achieve my objectives, but he holds me accountable for doing what I said I was going to do. And when I’m in a slump and struggling to get started, he provides the encouragement and guidance to get un-slumped.

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Motivation

Fear + Doubt + Worry = Your Personal Slave Drivers

by on Aug. 31, 2012


"If not now, when?" handwritten with white chalk on a blackboard

A while back I received an email with the same title from David Neagle, a wealth and mindset coach whose products and services I have invested in frequently. That title made me stop and read more.

David’s column was more on “manifesting” things in our lives. While I fully believe that when we focus on having things in our lives the way we want them we significantly increase the likelihood that we will get them, this is not what struck me about the article. What struck me big time was the title. Why?

Despite the incredibly strong recovery we have seen as an industry, many recruiting firm owners are still letting fear, doubt, and worry run their business. These slave drivers that we wake up with, take to our offices, and then take home again at night are three of the biggest reasons some owners haven’t yet “dove back into the pool” to grow their businesses. They think the pool is empty or still very shallow.

At some level this is understandable. Most recruiting firm owners never experienced business deterioration as deep and rapid as we did in 2008 and 2009. However, it is time to stop looking in the rear view mirror!

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