The Millennial Recruiter Is Going To Kick Your Ass

Over and over again, and everywhere I look… I am hearing and reading that the 21^st Century Workforce is going to be demanding, “flexible hours and flexible work arrangements.” If you think Corporate America is not ready for it, I’ll let you in on a little secret…Staffing and Recruiting Agencies who have access to the latest trends and the best technology have been hanging out with The Ostrich Family at the Annual Head Bearing Party.

90% of Agencies still demand that their internal Recruiters to show up in an office from 8 am to 5pm, Monday thru Friday. This mentality is old fashion and out of date! The shift in Staffing and Recruiting Industry from a “brick and mortar” environment to virtual environments is long overdue. With the Millennial generation nipping at our heels to enter the workforce, Agencies will be forced to shift their thinking.

As a Business Owner or a Manager, what are you to do?

The only way to get anything done and ensure profit in an environment where we offer our internal Recruiters “flexible hours and flexible work arrangements” is to manage them by productivity. Currently, agencies using quantifiable productivity levels to measure their internal Recruitment Professionals are:

Eliminating the day to day “drama distractions”
Attracting and retaining a better quality Recruitment Professional
Proving having Recruiters working virtually is more effective and profitable for the agency.
Empowering Recruiters to work outside “traditional” work hours, enabling the Recruiter to provide better service to client and candidates.

When a business owner is comfortable with holding people accountable to the numbers, the freedom to work flexible hours and flexible work arrangements will no long be a stumbling block to a virtual environment. The real question is, are you willing to change, or is the next generation going to beat you into it?

Rebecca B. Sargeant
Recruiter’s Coach
RBS Staffing Consultants
Telephone: USA 617-396-4450 / CDN 905-627-5060

E-Mail: rsargeant@rbs-staffing.com
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rebeccasargeant
Blog: http://rebeccabsargeant.wordpress.com/

Comment by Daniel A Healy IV on January 17, 2013 at 8:40am: Great Piece Rebecca- they should be posting this to LinkedIn instead of a few of the out of touch articles/blogs that were posted recently.

Comment by Josue Chavez on January 17, 2013 at 8:59am: Excellent points and I completely agree with your thinking. I must say that this article hits very close to home as I recently had a similar conversation with my boss about my work schedule. Living in Houston and traffic being so bad, I think flexibility should come with the job because I am wasting two hours of my day (or more) commuting to and from the office.

Comment by Theresa Hunter on January 17, 2013 at 9:26am: I understand but I also know and I am speaking for myself here you have to be very disciplined to work from home. There is no boss sitting in the corner office keeping tabs on you. It is very easy to get distracted at home and I know this because I am a sole recruiter and I work from home. I don't have anyone subtle though it may be telling me I need to get to work or my job could be in jeopardy.

What I see from the younger generation does not excite me when it comes to a good strong work ethic. The dealings I have had they seem to be more easily distracted. I know, I know I am an old fogey but I have been an independent even when I worked for a company and unless you have a strong work ethic and able to motivate yourself to get up and get in your chair each and every morning to make those calls it does not always work well

We all know it can get boring when you are making call after call and either having a brief conversation or leaving another voice message and when there is no one to sort of compete with in regards to keeping the calls going that is where being at home can be a distraction...again I am just speaking for myself here.

.It seems the same people that say they feel stifled by an office environment also want to make big money but when at the office they are not as "distracted" as they would be when at home. If people want to do the virtual office with no one to really answer to but the numbers would these same people be willing to work the way I do and that is no money comes in unless a placement is made.

Comment by Shirley Ray on January 17, 2013 at 10:14am: I was forced to work from home for three months a couple of years ago when I broke my ankle in a motorcycling accident. Fortunately I work for a company that allows for that type of flexibility as long as you are hitting your numbers. And I agree with Theresa that there are pros and cons to virtual work places.

After breakfast and a quick shower, I was "at work" and because there was no long commute I was spending more hours actually working which led to increased productivity. I'm pretty focused whether at home or in the office so distractions weren't a big problem for me. But I also appreciated the flexibility to put a load of laundry in the washing machine between calls. (Although the close proximity to the kitchen wasn't necessarily a good thing!) And, I too am paid based 100% on commission which is a great motivator.

But when the doctor finally gave the go ahead to put weight on my ankle, I was thrilled to get back into the office. I missed the day-to-day interaction with my colleagues and I missed having someone to brain storm with when I needed to be a creative problem solver. That said, the renewed commute got old very quickly and I don't welcome the wear on my car or the added expense.

It seems to me the ideal situation would be to work from home a couple or three days a week and be in the office the rest of the time. But I think that's true only for an experienced recruiter.

With all the moving parts and variables, there are just too many challenges that come up with both candidates and clients that a new recruiter would need guidance with. Even though metrics provide the ability to diagnose where a recruiter needs to improve, I don't see how a virtual office would be an arrangement that leads to success for most newbies whether they're Millennials or not.

Comment by Marcia Tiemeyer on January 17, 2013 at 11:44am: I have the ability to work from home but rarely use it. It comes in so handy when I need to be at home for deliveries, work being done, or if I feel poorly, but I would rather be at the office. There are so many times when I need to set up an interview with one of my recruiters on a short time frame. I run down to his office to discuss. Or when I have a client on the phone with a question that needs a fast answer. I know there are phones and e-mails but how many times do you call someone and they are away from the desk to get a cup of coffee etc. They may not notice the phone message right away and your hanging there for an answer. I also agree with Shirley about the brain storming. This happens several times a week in our office. Sharing information and getting additional opions and in put is extremely helpful. And I agree with Theresa (What I see from the younger generation does not excite me when it comes to a good strong work ethic. The dealings I have had they seem to be more easily distracted.) They are texting, downloading, e-mailing, facebooking and twittering friends when you talk to them in person, imagine how much more time would be taken up by these distractions if they didn't have to watch for the office manager as they are connecting with friends. I know a lot of recruiting is done through social media, I use it a lot too, but that can really get out of hand if not watched or allowed. It sounds like a good business practice to use the numbers as a tool to productivity, but things are not always black and white. You could be working your tail off and still have dismal numbers for a quarter or two. We do deal with people, who we all know are very unpredictable. The virtual office can be a great asset, but I would prefer the option or a couple a week at best.

Comment by Kathleen Salinas on January 17, 2013 at 1:40pm: My company has 24 Recruiters we are all remote. In fact ALL of our associates, about 300 people, are remote. The company is thriving but it does, indeed, take a certain type of person to do it. Requires dedication and self-discipline.

Comment by Satish Chandra on January 17, 2013 at 7:01pm: I agree Kathleen,

We tried this model but could not work out due to several reason , Mostly they worked for multiple clients like us & did not have a dedication to one or lacked self discipline

Comment by pam claughton on January 18, 2013 at 7:57am: It really does depend on the person. I've found that working from home one day a week is flexible enough that people get a break from the commute, and the more junior people especially benefit from being in the office Monday through Thursday. You learn a lot by listening to other recruiters and all the different scenarios that crop up.