I’ll never forget the most miserable hour of my day when I first started in the business. It was ‘plan time.’ This dreaded hour was spent hand-writing names and numbers of those people who I was going to call, and if I didn’t call them, then I’d have to spend an entire hour the next day hand-writing the same numbers and names over and over again. This was before computer databases existed and it was a miserable experience, so I did what any fun-focused recruiter would do: I blew it off. And my production reflected my lack of planning.
But a few years later, when databases became main-stream, I found that I didn’t have to hand-write the names and numbers over and over again. All I had to do was print out the names and numbers of who I was going to call. I didn’t really have much focus of when I was going to call them and I was supposed to develop some sort of a plan, but I figured that I’d just randomly follow the call list and I did what any over-confident technology-savvy recruiter would do with planning: I blew it off. And my production reflected my lack of planning.
Finally, I made a decision to hit the next level in production. I was tired of almost achieving my goals and knew that I had to get just a little bit sharper on my desk. The only way I could get better with my placements was to get better with where I spent my time, which is the whole objective of planning.
Follow these seven secrets of planning and see how much more you can bill in the next 90 days:
1. First, start each day with a specific focus: “What are the two or three things I need to accomplish today to be considered successful?” Write those goals down everyday and think about them throughout the day.
2. Review your activity sheet. Identify those four or five searches that need to be ‘touched’ in the day. Do you have to extend an offer for search assignment A? Do you have to prep and debrief interviews for search assignment B? Do you have to qualify candidates who you recruited yesterday for search assignment C? Do you have to find candidates for search assignment D? Do you have to source names for search assignment E? Review your activity sheet and make notes each day on what action items need to happen to keep the rhythm of the searches moving forward. Ask yourself this question when you look at each search on your desk: “What is the most important thing that needs to happen with this search, right now?”
3. Carve out specific blocks of your time for each of those four or five action items. Thirty minutes of sourcing can give you thirty names if you do it right. (8 – 8:30) Three hours of recruiting can give you coverage of fifteen candidates if you hustle and stay on the phone and keep your initial recruit calls to six minutes or less. (8:30 – 11:30) Two or three hours of prepping, debriefing and qualifying can help you bring your candidates forward in the process and give you more information on those who you wish to present to your clients. (1 – 3) An hour blocked out for your client and candidate who are getting ready to bring closure to your deal is enough to close it, but be flexible on this because this type of call is the most significant of your day and takes priority over all other conversations. (3 – 4). And wrap up those calls at the end of the day that are still important (4 – 4:30) and leave at least thirty minutes to an hour at the end of the day to strategically plan where you are going to spend your time tomorrow ( 4:30 – 5 or 5:30). Each day is different, but this gives you an idea of how you can keep your desk balanced. You can also shake it up by scheduling business development calls with warm prospects and other business-generating activities a few times a week.
Seven Secrets of Good Planning Continued.....