Put a process in place for when hiring a new team member or trying to put new energy into a current employee experiencing a slump in production. The quicker your new hire experiences success, the greater chance you have of developing them into one of your top producers. They will become a profit center for your business.
The fastest way to help your new hire achieve success is to teach them only one half of the placement process (i.e. the recruiting side). Many recruiting firms have a Recruiting Specialist position which describes a recruiter who only works the recruiting side of the business. Often individuals are naturally better with either the candidate or the client. On the other hand, some individuals do become proficient working both sides of the placement process.
When you start someone in our profession on the recruiting side of the business, they experience quicker success than if they work both sides. Train everyone on both sides of the placement process, even if they will only work one – either the candidate or client side.
They will understand the challenges faced by both sides. They will generate more referrals for your business and will end up gravitating to where they experience the most success, which is great for your bottom line!
The experienced recruiter in your office who wrote the job order, contract or assignment has established rapport and a relationship with their client. When a new recruiter writes their first business, they want to work it whether it is hot or not. There is no rapport or relationship. Their excitement will take them in a direction where they may not experience success.
The following is a list of reasons why this is the fastest way for your new recruiter to make placements or fills and experience success. These reasons are also effective to revive the production of an employee who may be experiencing a slump in production.
- Interviewing times are set, so send-outs are guaran¬teed! Established clients understand the importance of giving interviewing times when they contact your firm with a new position. They have seen the results you can provide.
- A target date to fill is established with the client. Many new recruiters will put ASAP, Immediate or Yesterday. They do not understand that obtaining an exact target date to fill helps determine the hottest order in your office.
- Your senior recruiter has emailed a copy of the job order, contract or assignment to everyone involved in the hiring process to have them sign off on the skills identified. If they are dealing with an HR Professional, they know to ask this person to email a copy to everyone involved in the process, if they do not want this done directly by your recruiter. The objections to doing this can be difficult for a recruiter to overcome because they are not well versed in the benefits for the client.
- The interviewing process has been tested through prior recruits and placements. Your senior recruiter knows what to expect from each client and has a great idea of the exact time frame for hiring. With no prior experience with a client, your new recruiter could experience delays in the process, lose candidates (time kills deals), and become frustrated in the process. Again, your goal is to have them experience success early in their career.
- This hot job order, contract or assignment is within the specialty area of your firm and similar positions will be written in the future. When a candidate is recruited, they could be sent on interviews for more than one position or will qualify for future job orders, contracts or assignments written. This is a very effective way to start building a placeable candidate base.
- The senior recruiters in your office start to respect the efforts of your new hire because they are helping them fill positions with qualified candidates. As a result, the senior recruiters begin to mentor this person as opposed to viewing them as a liability due to their lack of experience.
People do things for their own reasons, not yours. If they think this new hire can help them make more money, they will do all they can to help this person succeed. This helps integrate your senior and junior recruiters which is always a challenge. - As your new hire submits candidates to a senior recruiter, the trainee will learn the art of matching from their interaction with this senior recruiter. This is extremely valuable training, since matching is one of the most difficult skills to master in our profession.
- The recruiter handling the client side of the process has experience and knows how to close the placement. In the process of working with a new hire, they will help teach them how to close throughout the entire process. Most new hires think a close is something that happens at the end of the process and don’t realize how many times they must pre-close throughout the entire placement process.
Senior recruiters also have no problem telling a new hire when they have made a wrong match, which again helps the learning process. New hires have not mastered matching, and without the input of an experienced co-worker or manager, they could submit candidates that are not matches, therefore jeopardizing the ability to provide results for this new client.
WHERE TO PLACE YOUR FOCUS
- Determine the structure of your teamwork one side | work both sides
- Determine which segment they will work (direct, contract, temp or blended)
- Start a new hire on the recruiting side of the business to gain leverage. You can set performance standards that earn them the right to work the marketing side of the placement process if your intention is to have them work a full desk
- Help them identify the hottest job orders, contracts or assignments in the office
- Have your team focused on writing job orders, contracts or assignments that represent your best business – so your new recruiter can multi-use the candidates they surface
- Cut your losses early
GAME PLAN TO ENSURE SUCCESS
- Share expectations and minimum standards in writing
- Track numbers and stats so you can share ratios after 90 days
- Outline minimum result standards and review at the end of each day
- Teach, monitor, refine and improve upon skills until competence is attained
- Obtain feedback from co-workers who have been interacting with this person. They can provide valuable insight on skill levels attained
If you plan for this employee to work both sides of the placement process, tell them that each day they must identify companies who utilize staffing or recruiting firms for their hiring needs.
This can be accomplished very easily by adding one sentence to their recruiting presentation, “How did you get your current job with your company?” They will identify at least two individuals each day if they are actively recruiting, who will say, “I learned about this opportunity through a search firm.” Instruct your new hire to put this information into your ATS.
This will give them a tremendous head start when they earn the ability to work the marketing side of the placement process.