I get that the phone is heavy right now...so what.

Okay, maybe I'm a little "wee the world is great" but as a seasoned recruiter, who loves this work - I've been through the rough stuff and "get" that this particular economic climate is temporary; painful, but temporary.

I'm not skipping into work all "wow this is super fun" - but no whining either. It is what it is, stay true to the basics, keep your conversations whole and productive, don't skip the important stuff, and use the time to market yourself as an expert and take peeps to lunch.

Activity Activity Activity. Right? Am I losing my mind here?

So why is my team busy chatting on Gmail, and talking about the weekend well into Tuesday?

Why isn't role modeling motivating them...

I refuse to start yelling, and the let's kick (beep) stuff is apparently falling on depressed ears.

Any thoughts on motivating a young team - one that has taken it on the chin quite a bit recently, but needs to shake that off and get to it? There is work to be done here and I need them fired up...and quite frankly, its making me tired....like I'm cheering on a losing team.

AND we just landed a couple of HUGE clients and have plenty of work...like the rest of us, they are the tougher roles and the placements are down, but we're carving our space and doing a fair amount of business. We'll be here when the market returns, a little beat up, but we'll be there...I'd like them to understand that....and my way isn't producing results - so I'd love your ideas.

Thanks! JT

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Skiba on May 4, 2009 at 10:52am

Thanks Pam!! I was a little discouraged with my first time posting to a discussion. Thanks for the agreement and that I am not totally off my rocker (probably just a little bit).

Happy Monday!!!

pam claughton said:

Dawn,

I totally agree with you! The agency I used to work with did half day on Friday for those who were billing. They measured money on the board instead of sendouts, but I could see the 5 sendouts as a similar measurement. It was very motivating! It also helped push us to get the money on the board asap, so we could lock in those Friday half-days.

My ratio is a placement for every 4 in-person sendouts, so I'd be making 5 placements a month if I had 5 sendouts a week. That's a pretty good month! :)

Agree as well that work/life is a huge consideration and it's how some of my clients differentiate themselves. I have to say, it's much easier to sell a candidate on a company that values work/life balance and things like flex-time/hours. I just made a placement this week that was a lower salary than what the candidate was ideally seeking, but he'd also be working far fewer hours at this company that at a big firm in the city. His commute will be shorter, and other benefits are great, like profit-sharing, etc. One of my banking clients was big with flex time and I would always emphasize that with candidates as they had the option of self-selecting where they wanted to work, up to 100% from home. That is very attractive to a lot of candidates.

~Pam

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Permalink Reply by Todd Kmiec on May 4, 2009 at 12:13pm

Great discussion & I think the right answers are there. One thought to add that you hit on but should be emphasized....."It is what it is, stay true to the basics." You have to stay true to the basics in regard to how you motivate. The basics are time tested and they work. It is what it is, this is a tough market. Some of the team are good enough to make it in this business and some aren't. In times like this, more will fail to make it. It's just tougher to do so. All you have to do is stick to the basics, know that it will take more diligence and more patience on your part to get the results you want and that fewer will survive and thrive and you'll just have to replace them. That's okay. Same formula as always, just more of it.