Coach Mike, what are monthly recruiter desk reviews? Scott in Tempe, AZ

Coach Mike: One, if you are a solo operator, I know Scott is not, but if you are a solo operator, it could be just a review of your recruiting metrics. One could ask themselves “What have I done? What was my goal? What was my financial goal for the month?” And with placements it is hard as a solo operator to know if you are on target month to month, because placements come in bunches. You will know, however, absolutely if you are on target based on the number of first time interviews you arrange. So, if you are a solo operator, what I am going to talk about is how to do a desk review with a recruiter. But, if you are a solo operator please keep reading. Coach yourself through the process below.

In a monthly desk review I would sit down with my recruiters and have a formal 30 minute coaching session with them once a month and I would go through what their goals are and their execution.  I always knew what my recruiters goals were well in advance and to prep for that meeting I would keep a manila folder with my notes from my previous meeting.  The monthly desk review is really a sum total of reviewing where they are at with their metrics.  Are there any gaps in recruiting activity? Meaning they needed 12 first time interviews in a month and they only arranged 10.   I would ask “what held you back from getting the other two interviews?” And a lot of times, it’s right in the activity.  Meaning, if they were about 80- 82% of their first interview goal they were probably somewhere between 78-84% of their recruit presentation goal.  I don’t have to sit there with a whip and say “Make more calls!”  But I can say to them, “What can we implement on your desk weekly to allow you to plan for one more recruitment presentation a day?”  And just these little two, three, four percent improvements make a huge difference cumulatively on a recruiters’ desk.

The other thing a monthly desk review included recruiters who wanted to expand their desk specialties.  Additionally, some wanted to get more engagement fees, get more exclusives, and enhance their technique in a specific area.  What they wanted to get done was usually mutually negotiated as part of their annual business plan that we would chunk down into 90 days projects and then back into 30 day action items.  We could then agree “Now what are the things you want to get done within the next month, so that you’ll be really happy with your progress?”  Part of that is with the metrics review but it’s also is any of the areas they want to develop their personal recruiting practice.  At the end we would kind of agree, “Here is your plan for the month!  And let me know if you need any help.”

After you complete the review you obviously see them every day so I am not going to hound them every day with “Hi. How are you doing? Did you listen to the counteroffer DVD?”  All the stuff we came up with.  “Did you add anybody on the list for marketing?”  A week or two might go by and I will go, “Hey Joe!  How is it going?  How is it coming with your marketing list?  How is the research coming?  How is this coming?  Do you need any help from me?”  The way you wrap up that kind of desk review is “What do you need from me to help you move this forward?”  That’s the value I always had.  Most of the time they say, “Oh, I just need to do it” Or sometimes it could be “I am going to need some tools for the research.”  And if it made sense we did it, we invested in it.

The last thing you want to talk about in monthly desk reviews is deals they have in progress because deals is what they will bring up when they don’t want to talk about their lack of progress in the areas they are committed to.  Let’s not talk about the fact that I did not add anyone into my marketing list.  Let’s talk about the fact that I did not watch the counteroffer DVD yet.  So, I have this huge placement Mike and I need your help.”  And I would always say “Happy to help you with the deal after, right now between 9:30 and 10:00 in the morning this morning we are going to work on the progression of your recruiting desk.  “I don’t have a call. At 10:00, I will transition into the deal, so let’s put that aside for now and let’s go back to your desk”.  In sum, the desk review is a way of moving them forward in small executable chunks without overwhelming them.