Yes Sir… No Sir… Three Bags Full Sir…

What the Hell are we – as a collective group in recruitment – doing? (Come to think of it what would be the collective noun for a group of recruiters? Maybe a ‘clutch’ of recruiters… or a ‘rabble’ of recruiters… or a ‘deceit’ of recruiters… Maybe it’s a topic for another blog… and maybe, just maybe I should get back to this week’s post!)

Anyway, as I was saying ‘What the Hell are we doing?!’

My clients requirements – on the whole – run a very similar path. They want… and in no discernable order:

• 3-5 years local agency recruiting experience – in their specialisation
• Evidence of developing new business
• Billings in the $30-40k per month range as a minimum
• Transportable database of candidates and clients
• No job-hopping
• All for the princely salary of $60-70k… plus commission (maybe a bit more depending on urgency)

I know what you’re thinking… Even if you find a dusty old lamp, caress it a few times and a genie pops out… you only get 3 wishes right?

The simple facts are that candidates with all the above attributes are more rare than recent premierships at Tigerland… or silverware at Highbury… or Test victories for the Australian cricket team… I could go on… don’t believe me?…  or a recruiter without a compendium… or a phone call to your mobile provider and not having the pleasure of a 30 minute flute solo while on hold… Anyway, back to the blog…

I was at an Industry breakfast last week. The speaker John White – owner of Carmen White put it extremely eloquently.

Apologies, but I can’t quote verbatim… I was tucking into a full English at the time and not taking notes, but it was something along the lines of… ‘if you were a real estate agent and someone came to you with the following request for a new home in Toorak:

• Five bedrooms
• Two bathrooms
• Four car garage
• Back garden
• Fully renovated
• And my budget is $500k max…

Would you take them on as a client, or explain to them – as an expert – that such a property doesn’t exist?’

If it was me I would probably say something like…

‘Are you sure you mean Toorak mate? Sure you’re not talking about Tooradin? Or Toora?’

Point is… Don’t take a job order from a client, when the candidate they are looking for doesn’t exist. What you need to do is Consult. It’s your job to know the market better than your client does. It is your job to temper expectation with reality. It is your job to explain what the best talent looks like and what that talent is worth in the market.

If you can’t do that then unfortunately recruitment is not for you… and… you’re making it harder for those of us who can…

And just to sign off… The other day I couldn’t for the life of me remember Rihanna’s ex-boyfriend’s name… and then it hit me…

Craig Watson

 

 

 

Sometimes… it’s like a Death in the Family…

Bit morbid isn’t it? Sometimes… it’s like a Death in the Family… I mean it’s not really like a Death in the Family, unless there’s actually a Death in the Family… And… in this case… there’s been no actual Death in the Family…

You’ve probably all heard it – or even said it to your candidates – before.

‘It’s important to like the people you work with, because you spend more time with them than you do your own family or friends…’

Hell, I see the guys at the office more than I see my own kids. And, in the Melbourne office – where I spend most of my time – we have created a really nice culture. Everybody likes each other, everybody respects each other… but it was only recently that I realised just how much…

We had a girl working in our office for a little over a year. She was not just ‘a girl’, She was everything you could have wanted in a consultant. Bright, fun, hard working, intuitive, caring and – just to top it off – successful. She was like a doughnut with extra jam, a takeaway chinese order when they throw in the free bag of prawn crackers, or the resort holiday with the unexpected fruit platter and champagne waiting for you on arrival… I guess what I’m saying is we got what we paid for… and much… much… more.

Then, about 2 months ago at exactly 9.34pm we got the dreaded text…

‘I was hoping we could catch up in the morning. There’s something I want to discuss with you.’

You don’t have to be Dr Stephen Hawking (pre or post his cool robot voice) to work out that she was about to resign…

To cut a long story short – she did.

What? Too short? Ok… She wanted to travel to the UK and live abroad for a couple of years… there’s no real come back for that… is there? Can’t counter offer going overseas and fulfilling a lifelong dream…

What I did notice was that as soon as the decision was made public a little bit of spark, a little bit of fun and a little bit of culture disappeared from our office. She worked out her 2 week’s. We had a party. There were tears… and then… she was gone.

For a few weeks we kidded herself that she would arrive in London – hate the place and be back before I’d nicked her office chair – it’s the only one with both armrests still in tact. But that sadly, didn’t happen.  (On the positive though, I do have a new office chair).

And today, the weight of reality has forced me to accept the sad truth… she changed her Linked In profile to her new role… she ain’t coming back.

I may sound a little self-absorbed, but I don’t care… It’s not that I have invested in a resource that now someone else is benefitting from. It is not that I have lost a revenue producing machine, that’s left a big hole in my budget projections. And it’s not that now I am going to have to rely on Google™ to tell me what YOLO and LMAO and G1 means… It’s that we no longer have the pleasure of spending 8-10 hours a day with a really special person…

We have all lost someone from the work place that has made us sad, and it takes a bit of time to bounce back – as individuals and as a group.

If you are a business owner, take some time to empathise with your staff and take measures to protect the culture that has been created. If you are an employee, be aware that your boss has lost someone too…

My advice is that you remember what you admired about, learned from and enjoyed about that person. Reflect a little of that person in your own behaviour and your workplace culture will not only survive, but improve…

Oh, and Natalie if you do read this, please come home… I’ll give you your chair back, get you a new notebook and promise not to tell anyone that you secretly wish you were a member of S club 7… Whoops! Did I say that out loud?

Craig Watson

Recruitment Consultants & Recruitment Managers… Someone is fibbing…

Interesting isn’t it? You survey two different groups within the industry and get two very, very different sets of data…

I talk with recruiters all day long. Consultants, Managers and Business Owners. Some may say I’m a masochist… even I think I’m crazy sometimes.

You see, on one hand I have my clients. And their favourite line is…

‘Craig… I need you to find me someone with 3-5 years experience, billing $400k plus annually… oh, and no job-hoppers…’

My thoughts? Even if I sent Indiana Jones on a quest with camels, freshly cut sandwiches and a LinkedIn Premium account, he may take a number of years – and a hundred false starts – to uncover a treasure like that…

On the other hand I have my Consultant candidates. And they tell me that whilst activity is up, billings are flat – based on decreased hiring intentions and margin pressure. Sounds plausiblish… (Oh come on spellcheck – surely plausiblish is a real word?).

So, it got me thinking. What does a Recruitment Consultant really look like? Not in the brown eyes, dark hair 6’2” kind of a way… More in the billing vs experience vs tenure type of information…

It led me to set up a simple anonymous online survey targeted at Recruitment Consultants… The number of respondents was phenomenal  – 1,110. That’s right 1,110 Consultants completed the survey. The data was very interesting and raised more questions than answers.

I ruminated (I’ve been dying to use that word in a blog for months!), for awhile about how I should present this data to the industry, how I could sense check it against existing industry beliefs, what it all really means, and – most importantly – how I could package the data to launch my consulting career, when I had a ‘light bulb’ moment…

‘Why not,’ I thought, ‘create a similar online, anonymous survey for Recruitment Managers and Owners?’

Brilliant… right? Basically I would have 2 sets of data, which hopefully franked each other and we could use to pin point challenges in the industry and commit to solutions… So, I dutifully launched the Recruitment Manager/Owner survey, and I had 112 respondents.

Rubbing my hands with glee I analysed the results… and they basically couldn’t be more different if I’d staged them!!!

See (very brief) summary below

1.  Years of experience.

• 66.87% of Consultants said that they had 3 years or less industry experience.
• 73.21% of Managers/Owners said that their Consultants had 3 years or more industry experience.

 

2.  Years with Current Employer.

• 82.03% of Consultants said that they had been with their current employer for 2 years or less.
• 92.73% of Managers/Owners said that their Consultants had been with their business for 2 years or more.

 

3.  Billing.

• 58.11% of Consultants said that they were billing $20k or less per month.
• 77.77% of Managers/Owners said that their Consultants were billing $20k or more per month.

 

 

There seems to be a huge disconnect between expectation and reality – and… which group do we believe?

I will be presenting a more detailed analysis of the results and how they may help your strategic development at the RCSA International Conference in August.

If you want access to the filtered data relevant to your business – contact me. *WARNING – it will cost you… after all I’ve been in the industry almost 20 years, and in my current business for almost 4. If I were to believe the Managers and Business owners out there I need to bill $45-50k per month… better get on it…

Craig Watson

Recruitment X Factor… or Recruitment’s Got Talent… or…

My wife makes me watch some real crap on TV… ok, let me re-phrase that. On occasion I lose control of the television remote, and instead of choosing to do something else, like… exercising… mucking around with the kids… playing stalk the ex on twitter… etc… I stay on the couch and immerse myself in whatever is on – and usually, it’s crap!

Now please, don’t get me wrong – a healthy dose of crap TV is a great stress relief. A little bit of Beauty & The Geek, Come Dine With Me or even The Only Way is Essex helps make us all feel a little better about ourselves right?

But what about this over-saturation (is that even a real word?) of talent shows??? The Australia’s, or Britain’s or America’s, or Manu Province Papua New Guinea’s Got Talent… X-Factor… The Voice… Idol… I could go on…

These shows – and the fact that I have no real blog topic this week – got me thinking about talent in our (that’s recruitment) industry…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock (highly uncomfortable, and lets in a nasty draft during winter…), you would be aware that we  – as recruiters – are members of a much maligned and misunderstood industry.

We are forever the butt of abuse from candidates… ‘I never hear back from recruiters when I apply for jobs’ (as an aside – a long aside, but an aside nonetheless – I received an application from a candidate yesterday for a Management Role – where I was specific in required experience… a number of years in the niche, measurable commercial/agency recruitment success, existing professional network, tertiary qualified etc… This applicant? Had only one job since leaving high school in grade 10… three years as a freelance rap dancing instructor. Now, I am supposed to take time out to respond to this applicant as to why they are not a right fit for the role??? Seriously, they can moonwalk over and kiss my..).

Anyway, you get the picture… candidates who aren’t successful often have an axe to grind with the recruiter. Similarly, the client often sees us as a ‘necessary evil’ but conveniently ignores the value our industry can provide their business, as a ‘trusted advisor’, or ‘strategic partner’.

So, what if we could hi-jack a major TV network and put on a series such as Recruitment Voice… Recruitment X Factor… or Recruitment’s Got Talent? No, seriously… work with me here, it’s not as stupid as it sounds… (*Disclaimer – before I continue I realise there have been a few unsuccessful attempts at Recruitment TV shows…Top Recruiter, The Headhuntress, to name a couple, but I am talking about something much, much bigger.).

A captive audience, a panel of high profile recruiters as judges… and the contestants are candidates! Brilliant right? We could start with blind interviews – where the recruiters (judges) backs are turned, so contestants (candidates) are not judged initially on appearance or presentation. The judges could shortlist candidates into teams, then battle over behavioural interviews, personality assessments and business plan presentations… Over a series of weeks each judge (recruiter) whittles down their team and their shortlist interviews live in front of the Client. On the grand final, referees are invited on live to give their reference checks live to camera… the audience at home can sms, or vote online… then the winner is announced.

What absorbing, high rating, adrenalin pumping TV right?… no… what crap!

 

Point is, we as recruiters are never going to get the opportunity to let the wider television audience know the value we provide day in, day out. Our reputation is going to continue to be moulded by our interactions every day with clients and candidates. We do make mistakes, we do get lazy and sometimes we do get selfish… Make a promise to yourself that you will try to make a few less mistakes, be less lazy and above all to not be selfish. By doing so you will become a better recruiter, and you will help to rub off a little of the stigma that tarnishes the silver fabric of our great industry…

 

Craig Watson

Recruiters… Where do Nice Guys finish?

I feel ill when I find out that people don’t like me… come to think of it I’m probably lucky I’m in recruitment – a lot of the time in our game people pretend to like you even when they don’t… and that suits me fine.

Over the journey though, I have had to drink quite a few cups of concrete and harden the ‘you know what’ up.  Being too nice in recruitment – probably business in general – will inevitably come back to haunt you.  In our industry there are just too many people – recruiters, candidates and clients – who are ready to pounce on your every weakness, take liberties at your expense and contribute to making your life an emotional hell.

You’ve heard the saying ‘Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile’, well I say that in recruitment you need to guard your inches…with your life.

Don’t get me wrong, not everyone is in it for themselves, most of the people I know in recruitment are really good people.  I mean, I met my wife in recruitment… and she is one of the nicest people I know, (surely that qualifies for a free pass to the footy on the weekend?).  It is those few rotten apples that spoil it for others, and it is the rotten apples that you need to be wary of.

Let me give you two recent examples of recruitment colleagues who have suffered through being too nice.

I met an Office Support Recruiter recently who had given their employer 4 years of service.  During that time they had grown their cold desk from scratch to average billings in the vicinity of $40k per month.  In the 4 years they have received one base pay increase of $5k.  There is no commission structure in place, no other monetary (or non-monetary) incentives and they are constantly berated by the business owner and told she is being ‘overpaid for a mediocre performance’… WOW! What the Hell is she still doing there, right?…

I ran through all of the opportunities I had for her in the market.  I explained what a good culture looked like, told her that she was being underpaid and that she should have access to a commission structure.  Finally, I tried closing the deal by asking permission to represent her to market… her reply… ‘Let me think about it.  I feel really bad leaving them in the lurch.  They really rely on me, and they gave me my start in recruitment, so I feel I owe them…’ Familiar?

I patiently went through it all again and she asked me to give her the weekend to process it all… 4 hours later I received an email, that’s right an email, thanking me for my time and letting me know – after much consideration – that she was staying where she is… I tried calling and emailing, to no avail – oh, and she blocked me on Linked In…

The other example comes from an excellent client of mine.  He told me about an experienced recruiter that he put on to start a new location for him. Within 24 hours of starting the consultant began repeatedly asking for more money, an improved commission structure (they were already on a very low threshold, great commission rate and no deficit) and a Resourcer for support.  The Consultant was holding his boss to ransom, threatening to leave and join a competitor the next day if his demands were not met.  My client gave the consultant some of what they asked, but the demands kept coming.  Text messages at all times of the day and night (I know, I saw them)… The irony was that the candidate was not performing – he billed less than a third of what he had cost the business.  My client agreed that the consultant had to go, but was hesitant… Why?  It turns out that he had been in business for over 15 years but never had to sack anyone… and he didn’t feel good pulling the trigger. In the end he did let the consultant go… and his business and sanity is all the better for it…

It’s easy to judge – isn’t it?  It’s easy to tell people to toughen up and make the hard decisions.  It’s easy to say ‘C’mon champ – grow some balls…’ But in reality – when faced with making these decisions yourself, sometimes it’s just not that easy.

I have had to sack people in the past and every time I have had to do it I feel sick… I can’t sleep the night before, my stomach ties itself in knots and I almost chicken out… for me it is not easy at all…

I have also been an employee in bad companies, yet I’ve walked the company line, taken crap from bad bosses, asked to do things I didn’t agree with… and I did them.  Why?  Because I like to be liked.  I don’t like to cause trouble – and I certainly don’t want to be the bad guy.

But, there comes a time in your professional life when being liked by everyone is not the most important thing in life.  It really doesn’t matter how many facebook friends you have, or if people laugh at your jokes… what is important is making sure you enjoy job – with a sense of achievement and happiness!

Thankfully, I really like my job, and the people I work with – and if you don’t like yours call me… now!

And don’t forget you should never let yourself get pushed around… unless you are riding in a shopping trolley – that sh*t is fun!

Oh, and in case you were wondering I have 643 facebook friends… and I really hope this post gave you a good chuckle…

Craig Watson