As the old adage goes, “It’s not how you start, but how you finish.” That pertains to a great many things, including your recruiting year in 2019.
Sure, you may have started off like “a ball of fire,” but how are you ending the year? Are you still “on fire,” or are you starting to fizzle? Sure, the holiday season is here, and there are a million and one reasons why your production may be slipping the closer we get to 2020. But is that the reality of the situation . . or simply a convenient excuse?
How to finish the recruiting year strong
To help answer that question, we’re going to draw upon the wisdom of recruiting industry trainer Jon Bartos. According to Bartos, below are three ways that search consultants can finish the recruiting year strong:
#1—Bring only impact players to the market.
There is NO doubt that the marketplace is all about talent. Specifically, it’s all about top talent. Your clients want top talent, and they will pay you to help them hire such talent. Since that’s the case, lead with talent. In other words, return to the talent agency mentality and start marketing Most Place-able Candidates (MPCs) to your client base.
According to Bartos, marketing MPCs on a regular basis is one of the best bets to finish the recruiting year strong and make more placements.
“Impact players are most important to a team and a recruiter when a defined marketplace requires a specific skill set,” said Bartos. “My preference is to go to the market with three impact players whom I present in distinct ways. One is the main focus, another is one level above, and the third is one level below. If the organization has a need for that type of talent, chances are good that I will get send-outs based on a quick conversation.”
#2—Develop your “paper route,” but on a larger scale.
Okay, you have your MPCs, but now what are you supposed to do? Market them, of course. According to Bartos, define a marketplace of 500 to 3,000 potential clients and take your impact players to them. The key, though, is to not just do it once. You should strive to share top talent with them over and over again.
“Think of a hometown newspaper route,” said Bartos. “The paperboy delivers papers to the same houses every day. His customers get to know him, and most become fond of him. You need to develop that same relationship with your potential clients.”
According to Bartos, you should touch every one of your clients every 60 to 90 days. Keep in mind that not all of your prospects will have a need the first time you call them. That’s exactly why you’ll be calling them more than once and also why there’s no reason for you to be discouraged. You should be expecting objections on the first round of calls.
“As you get to know [your client’s needs], you’ll have a better idea of what they want so you can bring value to the table the next time you talk,” said Bartos. “By the second, third, or fourth ‘delivery,’ you’ll be amazed at the send outs you get and the placements that follow.”
#3—Don’t forget your candidates!
If you have a “paper route” with your clients, then you need to have one for your candidates, too. After all, we’ve been in a candidate-driven market for quite a few years. You need to say in front of them on a consistent basis, so that when they’re ready to make a change, they’ll automatically think of you.
Once again, Bartos recommends touching candidates once every 60 to 90 days. You can do this in a variety of ways. You can send out mass emails and/or newsletters, make direct calls, or even send direct snail mail in this overwhelmingly digital age. Or you can implement all of these methods.
“Remember, it will always be the recruiter who can deliver the best talent who will win,” said Bartos. “Market to your candidate database, build your brand identity with them, and show them how you can help them achieve their career goals.”
The bottom line is that the best recruiters succeed through a combination of time-tested recruiting truths and innovate solutions that benefit both their clients and the candidates. As a search consultant, you must understand the market as much as possible and implement strategies for dealing with talent pool trends so that you can meet the hiring needs of your clients in a timely and effective manner.
Jon Bartos is a premier writer, speaker, and consultant on all aspects of personal performance, human capital, and the analytics behind them. Bartos has served as a keynote speaker at Top Echelon conferences and is also a regular contributor to the Top Echelon Expert Recruiter Coaching Series of webinars.
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