The reason why successful people like schedules is because they work. An efficient schedule is how the world operates efficiently. In recruiting it’s no different. An unplanned and unscheduled day is an unproductive day. An efficient, scheduled day yields gold.
My office is run by the following basic schedule:
8:00 a.m.—Arrive and check email and plan for the day
8:15 a.m.—Morning meeting – entire office
8:45 a.m.—Team meeting – individual markets
9:00 a.m.—Hot calls – closes, interview debriefs, candidate presentations, search assignments, etc.
9:30 a.m.—Uninterrupted A-Player marketing calls
11:30 a.m.—Return voice mails, read, send emails, get fee agreements sent to office support
Noon—Lunch
1:00 p.m.—Hot calls that have developed from morning
1:30 p.m.—Uninterrupted recruiting calls on job #1
3:00 p.m.—Uninterrupted recruiting calls on job #2
4:00 p.m.—Return phone calls, check email, afternoon debriefs and preps
4:30 p.m.—Plan for next day
Based upon the above schedule, below are four keys to an effective schedule for recruiters:
#1—Uninterrupted call periods.
These are your ticket to efficiency. They are essential to getting more done in less time. Safeguard them by putting your phone on “do not disturb” or having the office manager hold your calls during these periods.
#2—Experiment.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with your schedule, customizing it for maximum results. Whether you use our office’s plan or develop your own, when you stick to a daily schedule, you’ll be amazed at the increase in your productivity.
#3—Hold yourself accountable for every minute.
There are only so many hours in the day, and if you don’t want to live at the office, you need to make the most of every minute. That means you need to make some tough decisions. To get more accomplished in less time, prioritize. Identify that which is worth your time each day and that which is not. Throughout the day, evaluate whether or not you’re staying true to your high-value activities. Hold yourself accountable by asking, “Is this the best use of my time right now?” You may be surprised by how much time you waste on low-value activities and how easy it is to turn that around quickly.
#4—Realize what your time is worth.
Time is money. When you waste an hour of selling time during the day, you are literally cheating yourself out of cash. Would you drive down the street throwing $20 bills out the car window? A recruiter with a yearly income of $50,000 who loses an hour a day to low-value activities might as well climb into his car and start throwing. At $50K a year, your time is worth $24 per hour, at $100K it’s $48 per hour, and at $150K it’s $72 per hour. The next time you find yourself tempted to call a buddy during selling time, picture yourself throwing away your hard-earned cash. It can keep you focused.
An effective schedule for recruiters involves all of these things. Does yours? If you’re a firm owner, how about the schedules of the recruiters in your office?
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Jon Bartos, a guest writer for the Top Echelon Recruiter Training Blog, is a premier writer, speaker, and consultant on all aspects of personal performance, human capital, and the analytics behind them. In 2010, Bartos founded Revenue Performance Management, LLC. The RPM Dashboard System is a business intelligence tool used worldwide for metrics management for individual and team performance improvement. In 2012, Bartos achieved national certification in Hypnotherapy, furthering his interest in learning the dynamics behind what motivates others to achieve higher levels of success. Click here to visit Bartos’s website.
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