In my last article we discussed how important is your self-confidence, your self-drive and trust in the team to be successful in bringing the best in you.

If you go forward and start every day with the attitude of every req assigned to me is a possible offer then we can give our best shot to make it happen. To be successful, to remain self-motivated/driven and productive, there are some external challenges that you come across on a daily basis at work place. Let me categorize them into three major areas and elaborate a bit:

A. Process:

Every staffing firm has a unique way of delivering solutions. What is that process in place - is it the same and limited to – sourcing, calling and submissions with targets attached to each part? Answer in most cases – YES! In fact there are business scenarios/situations where following processes actually doesn’t make sense. How about making a very straight forward process, an interesting one for everyone by adding the human value in it. Let’ go by this line as carved on stone –

Every req. is a possible offer.

If you go by the above statement, then ask yourself are we performing enough actions? Is that one action among many are of the right quality? How quick are you in doing the right thing? Easy way out is drive a sense of responsibility, sense of having self-drive among team members. The process should be transparent that it should be directly linked to company’s goal. Make every individual be aware of how his or her daily productivity makes or breaks the value creation chain, how company’s revenue numbers can grow or can get hit and how all of it is directly proportional to his or her personal professional/financial growth. Transparency in processes and consistently communicating the same to all levels creates the ideal atmosphere for team-work.

B. Support:

Everyone needs support and guidance at rough times.

All of the above might sound like a great gyan! What if the requirement is for a niche skill in a location where it is not only extremely difficult to find the talent but to add to it you have huge competition. Imagine what happens to your self-drive when during this rough time your lead/manager decides to sit right on your head. This is when we all need a little advice, support and guidance from our superiors. This is the time we need something called Teamwork, Co-ordination and out-of-the-box thinking and not the pressure/stress to meet the numbers.

Best can never be delivered in pressure. In pressure even if you get to the number there will definitely be a compromise at some end – either quality or compliance, there are 100% chances that professionalism takes a hit. Suddenly the work that you love and do it with interest and creativity, simply becomes a very target oriented job. Then it is nothing but a rat race of reaching daily targets, which brings desperation in the job, which will make you sound desperate on call instead of sounding professional, which in turn makes one compromise on quality. How can one expect an interview request for candidate when there is no quality match? And why there is no match, may be coz we did not vet the candidate better. Why we did not vet, may be coz the pressure of meeting targets took the priority. Basically the motto - every req. is a possible offer – lost its meaning.

This is when our leaders and managers come in to play their real role - supporting and guiding a recruiter, making it a self-driven stress-free environment – by working together for the greater cause. This also makes a recruiter feel motivated and inspired looking at the leader and managers. Imagine a manager who carries an aura – someone who enjoys his or her work (self-driven), is smart and knowledgeable (carries experience), ready to help by going that extra mile (people-driven) - won’t a recruiter aspire to be someone like them, won’t a recruiter automatically love his/her job, won’t a recruiter automatically get self-driven to deliver?

C. Work culture – Freedom with Responsibility

This is nothing but a summary of the above two – Process and Support.

Transparent processes keep everyone on the same page, keep them involved and committed. Everyone being committed to a common goal and self-driven to achieve it takes care of the bottom lines, keeps clients happy and ensures growth for everyone.
Professional support from the leaders, empathetic and committed involvement, creating the stress free culture makes a brand that no one can compete against. Things that should drive this and be part of the culture:
Dignity of individual
Driving seriousness/excellence
Shared values and personal security

All of these go hand in hand creates the culture where a recruiter enjoys his work and be productive giving the line Every Requisition Is a Possible Offer the perfect justification.

In my next article will share my opinions on how Work Culture is related to Recruiters productivity and morale. Please feel free to leave your feedback, your views on the above pointers.