Being proactive in the recruiting business
REQUIRES you to have and to look at your annual recruiting business plan You then need to chip away at the objectives one week and one day at a time.
But where do you find the time when your recruiters are asking questions, candidates are calling and you need to order staples to keep the office running?
Follow these SIX simple steps and you will add two to four hours of productivity EVERY Day:
1. First, track a week of your time in a notebook in 15 minute blocks to see where your major time leaks are. Begin to reduce these the following week.
2. Schedule two or three hours of strategic initiative time into your weekly calendar in one hour blocks. Don’t answer the phone or take questions from your recruiters during that time. Also, this is key, CLOSE YOUR EMAIL application during this time. Most calls, employee issues, emails or office supply orders can wait at least an hour to be handled.
3. If you run your own desk, have uninterrupted phone blocks in your day to make your calls. Again, no questions from employees during this time. For the truly proactive out there, close your email for at least ninety minutes during your call time.
4. Put office training and development on your calendar one to two weeks in advance. I like to do this first thing at 8 or 8:30 am for about 45 minutes three days a week.
5. Schedule “open time” in your calendar every day to handle the unanticipated. It could be 11:30 to 12 and 3:30 to 4:30. This does NOT mean you sit there and do nothing if there are no emails or employee questions. You can continue to make your calls, etc. but you allow interruptions from your employees, vendors, emails without feeling like you are falling behind.
6. To avoid the temptation to be taken off track with one of those random thoughts that crosses your mind while in one of your focused time blocks keep a simple small note pad on your desk. When one of these thoughts cross your mind and it is NOT part of the task you are executing on, write it down to do during lunch or one of your open time slots.
In sum, stay focused! If you are a billing recruiting manager I bet you make MORE phone calls, have MORE connect time and MORE openings than having traditionally scheduled days where every hour contains bits of every task.
I also bet by focusing on days and weeks as blocks of time as it relates to your business plan you will actually get to some of those strategic things that you have been “meaning to get to!” I challenge you to implement this in your day starting NOW!
Bonus Tip:To enroll for FREE in my 7 part audio series, “The 7 Deadly Sins recruiting firm owners make and HOW to avoid them”, visit www.TheRecruiterU.com. will give you more ideas on planning and running your recruiting firm especially in a tight economy.
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