I’ve been getting a lot of “What should I be doing?” questions lately. Now let me tell you that there are no easy answers to this question, but I can tell you one thing for certain.
About 95% of the recruiters I’ve talked to about this are still missing one of the most fundamental elements of correctly attacking their desks in this environment. They are not properly planning their work. So let’s talk about that for a minute.
Below are three things that recruiters MUST do for proper daily planning:
#1—You HAVE to force the number of OUTBOUND calls you make each day.
You have zero chance of talking to the right people and the right number of people if those people don’t know you want to talk with them. You absolutely can’t be waiting; you’ve got to be driving. So you have to set a goal for outbound dials each day and then hit that goal! I would tell you at MINIMUM that goal should be no less than 75 calls in this market environment.
#2—You HAVE to set aside a specific time each day where outbound calls is the only thing you do . . . NOTHING interrupts that time.
You need at minimum two one and one-half hour blocks (90 minutes) each day where all you do is dial out to people you’re trying to reach with either business development or recruiting as your mission. Also, this is not the time to follow up about submitted candidates and call it “business development.” These are “I’m trying to get new business” types of calls. You should be able to get AT LEAST 60 calls made during this time. Then you just need to squeeze in that extra 15 calls somewhere else during your day.
#3—You MUST have the names of people you’re trying to reach and their phone numbers on a list in front of you before you start calling.
There is no way you will get these calls made if you’re taking the approach of “Dial the phone, then think about who to call next, then dial the phone, then think about who to call next, etc.” You will never get the right number of calls made if you don’t pre-plan these calls.
Start will this simple idea, and you’ll start to notice results within the first couple of weeks. Don’t let things happen . . . make things happen!
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(Greg Doersching is managing partner and founder of The Griffin Search Group, a national search firm working in the direct hire placement industry. Recognized as one of the most cutting-edge voices in recruiting, Doersching has presented training sessions for the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS); the American Staffing Association (ASA); and the Association of Canadian Search, Employment, and Staffing Services.)
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