Recruitment Strategies
By Frank Furness CSP, Sat Dec 10th
RECRUITMENT Strategies By Frank Furness
I have been working as a trainer and recruitment consultant fora number of years, specialising in the offshore financialservices industry. During this time, I have had the pleasure ofworking with some excellent recruiters as well as some with noclue at all. Guess who attracts the best recruits? Professionalrecruitment is the lifeblood of any successful financialservices company. Here are some tips that will help you attractthe winners.
*Know what you're looking for. Have a profile of the type ofperson you want in your organisation, e.g. age, marital status,financial stability, experience. *Have a track to follow.Develop a questionnaire that will accurately evaluate theprospective recruit and reasons why they should join yourorganisation. I use a 4-page questionnaire that paints anaccurate picture of the recruit and helps to evaluate whether heis the right person for the organisation. *Use an impartial,proven recruitment tool. I use the Sales Success Profile. Therecruit completes a questionnaire. The answers to 50 questionsare fed into a computer, which produces a 7-page report. Thishighlights the strengths and weaknesses in 13 selling skills.Important areas highlighted are whether the person is ethical,call enthusiasm, trainable or not, burned out, etc. This is alsoan excellent tool that highlights weaknesses and areas to beconcentrated on when the person joins. *Gut instinct. Listen toyour gut instinct. If the person looks fantastic on paper andsells them well, but your gut instinct leaves you feelinguncomfortable, don't hire - 9 times out of 10 you will be right.*Professional venue. Most offshore recruiters fly in to the UKto recruit. Choose the best hotel or venue available - firstimpressions count. One of the most professional organisationsthat I work with uses the Dorchester and they attract qualityrecruits. *Expectations. Let the recruit know exactly what theycan expect from you in terms of airfares, accommodation,commission, etc. Let them also know exactly what you expect fromthem. *Detail the specifics of the job. This may seem trivial,but is often overlooked. Let them know that they will beexpected to cold call, detail the working hours and what timeyou expect them to be in the office each day. Tell them aboutthe dress code, activity levels and any other pertinent details.Get them to agree to all the points. *Passion. Sell withpassion. If the person is good, they buy you. I have worked withsome people who are extremely boring, waffle endlessly and anystrong recruit will immediately dismiss this company and lookfor a leader with enthusiasm. Remember, in their minds they'resaying 'Would I like to work with this person'. *Contracts. Ifyou like the person and offer them the position, couriercontracts immediately. Recruits are impressed and once they havesigned the contracts, they commit themselves. *Follow up. Mostrecruiters are excellent at what they do. The problems occurafter the interview. After they have sold the position, theythen hand the process over to an admin person. Many times thisperson has not been trained properly, doesn't know how to dealwith new recruits and doesn't realise the urgency of the followup. In my experience, this is the stage where the completeprocess most often becomes unstuck. It's just like selling, ifwe leave the client for too long, they lose their passion tobuy, or they buy from someone else. *Keep your promises. Followup everything that you have promised with a letter. Meet them atthe airport, welcome them, help them by joint calling and doeverything in your power to help them to succeed. If you don't,all the time and money you've invested in recruiting the personis in vain. High staff turnover and low morale follows.
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Frank Furness CSP CFP is a professional speaker and trainerspecialising in sales and sales management. He has educated,entertained and inspired audiences in 42 countries. Hispublications and sales resources have been sold globally. Formore information or to sign up for the free 'Sales Tips & Ideas'newsletter, email frank@frankfurness.com or telephone+ 44 (0)870 240 6505. www.frankfurness.com
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About the author:Frank Furness CSP CFP is a professional speaker and trainerspecialising in sales and sales management. He has educated,entertained and inspired audiences in 42 countries. Hispublications and sales resources have been sold globally. Formore information or to sign up for the free 'Sales Tips & Ideas'newsletter, email frank@frankfurness.com or telephone+ 44 (0)870 240 6505. www.frankfurness.com
