I’ve written many times about effective recruiting processes and how to implement them in your business. I hear from clients and my insightful community that you understand the concepts; it’s putting them into practice where you run into difficulty. The key to implementation is to change your behavior. Unfortunately, many of us have developed habits that often hinder rather than help us achieve our goals.
Merriam-Webster defines a habit as “a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance; or an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.”
Everyone has habits. The trick is to recognize when a habit hinders our progress and to change that to a positive habit that helps us achieve our goals.
Here are five habits that have helped me succeed as a recruiter and enabled me to help my clients and my insightful community recruit and hire the right people.
- Continuous Self Improvement
The world changes much faster than we would like. If your recruiting is stuck in an ‘80s model because it is easier and feels familiar, it’s time to change that habit. Technology has changed how candidates search for jobs and has increased the speed at which you can attract and hire. As a small business owner, you probably lack the time and resources to become an expert at everything. However, recruiting the right people seems to be at the bottom of the priority list instead of at the top, where it ought to be. Schedule time each week to learn about new trends and methods for finding and hiring the best employees available.
- Focus
We are busy. I get it. We feel that we have to constantly multitask to stay ahead of the game. That’s the wrong way to solve our “too much to do, too little time” dilemma. Studies have shown that multitasking actually decreases productivity. Your brain is incapable of focusing on two high priority tasks at the same time. Instead, devote focused time to each and you will be amazed at how much more productive you can be.
- Listen
You’re not listening. How many times do we hear that phrase during the day? We think we’re listening when what we’re really doing is trying to solve the problem, fix the person, or move on to the next thing on our long list of things to do. Listening is a lost art in our noisy, tech-filled world. Your day is filled with text messages, voice mail, email, phone calls, and endless meetings. Then you go home and have more demands on your time.
Listening gets pushed aside in favor of solving the busyness of our lives. We just have to get through this (whatever it is) and then we’ll have time. Unfortunately, that time rarely comes. Because you see, when you truly listen, much of the busyness goes away. When you listen and hear what’s going on underneath the words and find the cause of the stress and anxiety, you become less busy. You become more focused and productive.
- Make Personal Investments
I treat each client and candidate as a personal investment. I take the time to get to know them, understand their needs, and listen to what they need from me. That personal investment pays off. When I need a referral for a hard to fill position or an introduction to someone in a company, I know that I have a committed network of people who are willing to help me because of the investment I’ve made in them. How you treat people matters, and people know I will treat their contacts with respect and honesty.
- Learn from Mistakes
Mistakes are the best teachers. I am far from perfect and some of my mistakes have been painful and expensive. One of the most common recruiting mistakes I see is to rush through the recruiting and hiring process only to end up with a nightmare employee who drains your time and energy. You’ve probably hired a Lazy Larry or a Debbie Diva once or twice. It’s easy to get caught up in your pain and want a quick fix. Hiring the wrong employee can be expensive. It’s better to be understaffed than to have a bad employee who will cost you time and money, and create problems with productivity, turnover, training costs, and retention of good performers.
Changing your habits can have a significant impact on your recruiting results. What habits are you holding on to that no longer serve you? If you or someone you know is ready to take action to change their recruiting habits, call me, send an email, or text MOMENTUM to 480-418-1411 to get more in-depth, step-by-step recruiting help by becoming an advance reader. And the best part is that it’s FREE!