Pump Up Your Recruiters, Pump Up Your Results

If you talk to employees across a variety of industries and fields you’ll probably hear a common theme.  Employees today are feeling overworked, underpaid, unrecognized, and unsure how long they can keep doing what they’re doing.  Everyone is doing more with less, being expected to produce unprecedented results, and often workers know that if they left their job today they would have a hard time finding a good job to replace it.

All of this turmoil can lead to workplace morale issues and ultimately affect the quality of the work your department produces.  For the recruiting staff this just can’t happen!  The recruiters are really where the beginning of the future is for a company.  Every recruit they bring in could be the innovative leader that gives your company an edge in your industry so you have to have happy, motivated, and fulfilled recruiters.

Here are some quick tips and reminders on how to motivate your recruiters :

1. Keep the workload in check:  Just because you can pile up work on one recruiter doesn’t mean you should.  Some people will always say yes even though secretly they feel like they are working too much in comparison to others.
2. Create an atmosphere of camaraderie:  Bring back Beer Fridays, or Coffee Mondays.  Keep it during work hours and make it a “loose requirement.”  During this social hour keep it positive and a time when your recruiters can get to know each other and keep up with what’s going on in each other’s lives.  People who like to work together, work well together, and work hard for each other.
3. Start the week with a team meeting:  Use this meeting to set goals for the team and set the priorities for the week.  Make sure each staff member gets to publicly declare their goal for the week.   End the meeting by publicly recognizing at least one or two recruiters for their individual work as well as their contribution to a team project.  This encourages individual contributions as well as teamwork.
4. Set up a system of peer recognition:   Something formal or informal will work just fine, and your company may already have a system for this.  If so, then use it to its fullest capacity.  Peer recognition encourages one to look outside of themselves and really appreciate the work that others do.  The incentives should be something of value for those recognized.  These are tight times for everyone so having a spa certificate or gift card can go a long way.
5. Make time for 1:1’s:   This is so important for a manager to do!  Your recruiters will really appreciate your time and one full hour just dedicated to their development.  Make sure you remove distractions from this meeting!  Turn your phone off and don’t sit across from each other with your laptops!  Make sure you have a pre-established format and one that allows for the recruiter to have some time to just talk about whatever they want to cover.
6. Set a career path:  As a manager you need to provide opportunity for your staff.  Make sure that you enable your employees to pursue their goals and give them your support even if it means that ultimately they leave your department.  Create opportunity within your department and ensure that you’re providing opportunities for cross training for employees who want to try new things in your organization.

If you keep your recruiters happy they will deliver far more than you expect.  As a manager, you can’t go wrong if you have a team of recruiters who look forward to coming in to work each day! Happy recruiting!