Recruiters, this is our time to step up!

Now is the time for recruiters to support their clients, their candidates, and importantly, each other.

My last three weeks has been taken up with emergency client meetings, planning a response to COVID-19.

Working remotely is front and centre of most plans. However, there is a sense of “what can we really do from home if things get very quiet”.

Well, let’s crowdsource some ideas.

Firstly, continue to work jobs and candidates that are ‘in play’ just as you normally would, but using phone and digital comms. Obvious, right?

But what if it deteriorates fast? Clients pull job orders. Temps are sent home? It is happening already and most definitely more to come…

This post is a call to stay positive, keep active, be productive – and to focus on others, with empathy and support.

How about we make it all about outgoing activity? Proactive. I will start. But then let’s have your ideas, please.

  • Call clients to see if you can assist with ideas about how to manage the crisis. Not as a health expert. But how other clients are managing the workforce
  • Call candidates, whose options have dried up overnight, to reassure them they will not be forgotten when things recover.
  • Offer candidates a free, no-obligation, resume review, career planning or salary benchmarking chat. You are at home; they are at home. Why not?
  • Check-in with a colleague, working from home. Encourage. Boost morale. Share ideas. Have a laugh where you can find one.
  • Call every person on your ATS, that you have met or spoken with, and reconnect. Maybe start with the simple question, “Are you OK?”
  • Offer your candidates and clients help to use any downtime to improve and work on their online brand. Writing content, tidying up profiles.
  • Whenever you talk or email, whoever you talk to – spread calm. Be the voice of hope. “This too shall pass”.
  • Invite someone to a ‘virtual lunch‘. You and your sandwich, them with theirs. Skype or similar. Add wine if appropriate 🙂
  • Not “external’, but maybe time to invest in client and candidate research, ATS data cleansing, online learning

What ideas are you using? Please share. Now is the time for that.

Keep safe all.

Remember, this too will pass.

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  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On March 17, 2020
  • 12 Comments
Tags: Coaching recruiters, Leadership, recruitment

12 Comments

Alan Allebone
Where possible send registration forms via email and conduct telephone / skype interviews with candidates and advise the client of what you are doing or what you have done. Ensure sufficient information is published at your offices about what is happening. Ensure EVERYBODY who visits your offices uses the sanitilsers or attends the bathroom to wash their hands. Wipe down all parts that the candidate touches and each day clean the office equipment (sanitilse) pens, clipboards, door handles etc etc etc. BE DILIGENT! Kind regards Alan If conducting face to face interviews try and have at least one metre between you and the candidate
Nigel Harse
Many people will be working remotely from home for the first time, so it's important to use virtual and online meetings to keep the team together and informed. Please turn your camera on and let those attending the meeting see your face, it will make a huge difference to engagement and inclusion. Small things make a big difference! Great initiative Greg
Neil Bolton
Thanks Greg. I echo your sentiments about supporting each other. On our own we can spiral dive into oblivion, depression and excessive wine consumption. With lots of contacts on Skype or Teams or whatever (use a camera, it makes a huge difference in empathy!) - we can support each other through this. This will take a while - I'm thinking quite a while. Supporting each other is key - and that means candidates (obviously), clients, some of whom are scared of being out of work too, colleagues, and most important: family. We're all in this together - being a community is the best thing we can do. And thanks again, Greg.
Megan
Hi Team, In addition to contacting our CRM, we're using the time to work on our systems and processes. Ensuring there are good plans and processes in place make for an effective business. We're reviewing compliance, writing training and processes and cleaning up our CRM so that when it inevitably gets busy again- we're all set ready to go! Great post Greg :)
Joe Peters
Sending a letter (email) to all clients assuring them we are here, offering help where we can give it, and letting them know they are not forgotten during this crisis. Consultants have the option of working from home and we have the technology to enable it. Flexibility on arrival in the office time so consultants can avoid the rush hours on the trains (although the Tokyo trains are much emptier these days). Providing masks for our employees if they want them and hand sanitizer stations in the office. Greg, you've made some good recommendations to & I want to make sure our consultants make good use of those suggestions. Thanks for the ideas! Joe Peters Managing Director iSearch Worldwide K.K. Tokyo, Japan San Francisco, California
Cheryl McCormack
This is all sooo great to read, well done everyone for taking such a proactive and positive approach! I have been involved in establishing best practice remote recruitment for a number of years now and when I had a team they thrived! So it is very do able & in fact I would challenge recruitment owners and managers to use this as an opportunity to see just how effective, not to mention liberating and so much more productive remote working can be! So work at it, use this unusual occurrence to develop strategies - rejigger your BP with your team, engage their thoughts, think outside that old recruitment model and experiment with ideas, try out competitions to enhance teamwork at arms length, use Zoom like it is your best friend and watch the productivity increase and the bottom line fatten! Above all stay well & look with confidence to the turnaround because it will be here before you know it. And hopefully from adversity new discoveries will have been born.
Kathryn
Love these and certainly did lots of this in London in 2008 whilst working for an established business that hit tough times. Client appreciated us keeping in touch, offering support, empathising and did use us first when things improved. Things are a little different this time though - I am only 2 months into a new role in which I am establishing a branch in a new region so meetings / relationships / contacts are still building. Any tips on how I can maintain client contact softly and still build a business without established relationships in place? Trying to remain positive as I know it's key!
    Keeley Robinson
    Hi Kathryn I am in the same situation as you, established recruiter who also worked through tough times during the recession but recently moved on to a new market just a couple of months ago. New clients, new relationships to build so all tips are greatly appreciated. It goes without saying that the coming weeks will indeed be challenging and will affect everyone but regardless of how tough we are finding things we must all think of those less fortunate than ourselves and look after each other the best we can. Stay well, we will get through this !
Adam Graves
Great advice here Greg. I witnessed the last major recession as a junior recruiter back in 2008 and since then the crash in Gold and then Oil prices had a similar affect on parts of our business. In times of uncertainty, austerity and unprecedented home working I would add that never before have our 'eyes and ears' in the market been so valuable. Trusted Clients, candidates and new business contacts should seek tremendous value in what we are seeing and hearing from our candidates and Clients. I believe that the next 3-6 months are going to be extremely challenging for most businesses (except MSTeams, Skype, Zoom, hand sanitizers etc...) however it also represents great opportunity to build meaningful relationships and expand our portfolio of fee paying customers (and candidates) to enable us to trade out way out of this mess like never before.
Susie Ankrett
We’re going to stay positive and be prepared - to do all the added value we can! Offering on line learning to help people up skill, webinars and podcasts to help clients hone their interviewing skills and approaches, asking clients for their own 3 hot tips to share with other clients in dealing with the crises, listen to what people would like us to do to support and use the time wisely to housekeep our systems .. and more. We want to have a to do list that will keep us occupied, busy, focused and alert - to focus on our goal of being stronger and be the best we can. We’re talking to other recruiters to pool and share ideas. Finally we will use this time to harness the skills, goodwill and talent of our fabulous team.
Jennifer Hobbs
Thank you Greg once again for your capacity for giving.
Ola Obilana
Wow Greg, what a brilliant read! I must confess I could feel myself on the brink of total despair, just not knowing how we are ever going to recover from this global disaster so reading your article couldn't have come at a better time. I have been talking and reassuring both candidates and clients whilst masking that I am worried sick about myself and my job security! I guess the main point is that we are all in this together. It definitely makes sense to work in a collaborative manner and the most important point is that we need to be kind to each other. Thanks again Greg, you may of just saved me from this madness!!!

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