It's nearing the end of a very interesting week.  There were offers, an offer rescind, a few twists and turns, and moments where I look back to say I still love my job, and yet the rewards far outweigh the challenges.

What is it about staffing that keeps us up at night?  What is it that propels us to come to work each day, slog out a few more screens, try to keep offers coming, and keep all links and cogs in the moving pattern of our staffing momentum up?  What is it about our partners that we know will keep our goals and fire strong?  What is it that motivates a staffing professional to get to the proverbial goal.  What is it - when you have in excess of 25-35 openings, and you are starting to feel overwhelmed that keeps you coming back for more?  A glutton for punishment?

There is only one thing - and that is the staffing fill, finding "the one", overcoming solid obstacles in feedback, candidate control, manager control, scheduling, fighting clawing and pushing ahead until nothing stops that outcome.  It is that one thing, "the fill", "the placement", "the offer", finding the "one" candidate that will make a difference to that manager, that team, that will alleviate the pain, and bring about a change in momentum.  There are a few moments along the way, seeking back-up candidates, striving to find anyone that might be a fit, really honing in on outcomes, recalibrating, and restocking your talent pipeline.  Engaging, striving and motivating all around you to the talent wizardry.

It may take that perfect Boolean string - a science in and of itself, it may require that total and unbiased commitment to greatness, it may require an inward fire so vast that you won't stop until "the one" is found.

Remember the Matrix, a spunky movie where one individual made a difference, Neo, whom overcame his challenges.  What is it about becoming "the one" in recruiting that motivates us and brings us back churning even more amazing talent through the pipeline, and making offers, fighting and replacing the candidate whom took the other offer, keeping a virtuous pipeline so sweet that the existential victory of a placement is as sweet, and as fulfilling as any a thing.

It may cause us to stay late, it may cause us to look the manager in the eye and say "look - you are vital to this partnership" - WHAT DO YOU WANT?  DO YOU HAVE FLEXIBILITY?  It's to the heart of great questions, and solid answers, it's as much of an art as anything, the amazing hire, the vital outcome.  And moments where no matter what tough work may be ahead, that when the offer is accepted, and the candidate starts that first day, whether you are rewarded via a fee, or a grateful client, or whether such outcomes are brought to pass, it's tenacity, motivation, heart, grit, and perseverence that set the tone to great staffing outcomes.  Of course, one part is the match and key words on the resume, the other hand is the negotiation, the offer push, and the outcomes that come to pass, when you have done EVERYTHING, to make it to your goals.

Staffing is as much a fight, and a focused hope than anything.  How many times have you received the desperate email, where your bandwidth is at it's edge, and you just try and make it happen with one more ounce of urgency, somehow making and changing lives along the way.

Finding "The One" in staffing is so much more than just filling a job folks.  It's all about the long term outcome, that goes forward long after the fill - where that candidate advances, grows, and adds so much value to the organization above and beyond a balance sheet, a few numbers on a paper or a widget can even provide.  What one must understand good folks in our staffing community, our hiring manager community and the business realm in general is just this.  Making the most of our staffing day, is about powerful outcomes, and synergy. 

I just don't know how to say it any other way.  If you have come and found success in a staffing focal point you may one day look back some 2,000 hires later, only to say - I made a difference, I changed some lives, I found my niche ahead.  Incredible it is, one must find what it takes to become "THE ONE" in their staffing endeavors, only then can we continually find "THE ONE" in every staffing process, Staffing Karma is as much about effort as it is about one's commitment.  Don't let anything stop you along the way.  Let every good outcome be found, and keep driving to that goal.  Staffing isn't just about the fill, it is also about the outcomes for career trajectory we help ourselves and other's achieve.  If that is the driving motivator, then count me in.  I think that is the soul of what I do and it is why I think I have truly found my niche and my place, every staffing challenge is only as good as the effort to get to the outcome, and to repeat that again, and again, and again.  What else could be as satisfying.  Along the way we WILL make mistakes, but if you stand firm in KAIZEN, continuous improvement to your staffing process, and a sheer commitment to your own internal heart and effort, you will rise to the occasion when need requires, and your staffing outcomes will be forever a monument to your efforts. 

This post is of my own creation, and does not reflect the views of ADP and it's subsidiaries in any way.  I am a proud ADP recruiting associate, and am solely responsible for this content.