What skills make a great recruiter? Drive. Passion. Ambition. Organisation. At some point, productivity is sure to make the list, because you really can’t be a great recruiter unless you’re hyper productive. There are never enough hours in the recruitment day, so being able to make the most out of your time makes the difference between success and failure.
Without further ado, then, here are 5 things that kill your recruitment productivity – and how to fix them. A great way to increase your productivity is by using our free recruiting systems. Keep reading to see how Recruiteze can help your company recruit better.
5 Productivity Killers…
…and how to stop them in their tracks.
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Employee Management
A 2014 study found that employee management is the single biggest threat to recruitment and HR professionals’ productivity. The study discovered that HR professionals spend more than 70% of their time dedicated to tasks relating to employee management. That leaves only 30% of time for everything else – including all the other non-revenue generating tasks. That’s pretty simple math; if you spend 70% of your day managing your team, you don’t have much time left for actual recruitment.
The solution
If you find you’re spending way too long on employee management, it might be that you’re not empowering your team to be independent. If your team constantly need to ask you questions and seek your approval before trying new things, you might not have given them the tools they need to excel.
To fix this, start by analyzing what sort of employee management tasks you’re spending time on. For instance, you might spend all day answering questions, or disciplining errant employees. Maybe your time is spent on administrative tasks, like updating employee data.
Once you’ve analysed the root of the problem (or problems), you’ll have a better idea how to resolve the issue. Try creating a library of resources with access to employee FAQs, for instance, or investing in employee management software. It could also be that your problem is more deep rooted – a cultural issue. There’s not enough space in this post to explore this in depth, but if you can create a culture of self-sufficient problem solving then you’ll free up your own time.
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Meetings
Meetings can be a huge productivity killer for HR and recruitment professionals. Sales updates, team updates, group sales discussions, client meetings, candidate meetings – the list goes on. Depending on your seniority, you probably spend between 35% and 50% of your time in meetings at work – that’s a stunning figure. Add into that stat that people spend an average of 4 hours a week just preparing for status update meetings, and it’s clear that the time spent in meetings can quickly add up.
I’m not suggesting that meetings aren’t important – they undoubtedly are. What I am suggesting is that they can all too easily become a time-sap, where we never really achieve what we set out to. Meetings are a productive use of time if they actually achieve something; not so much if they don’t. How many of the candidates you meet actually go onto become placements? I suspect if you add it up, the figures don’t look favorable.
The solution
The solution here isn’t to stop having meetings, but you do need to take steps to ensure those meetings are a productive use of your time. You might even be able to cut that meeting out altogether, depending on what it is. For instance, you could introduce a personal ranking system for your candidates. If they’re an A or a B, sure, they’re probably worth meeting, but a call might suffice for C candidates. If you’re filling a role outside your specialty as a favor, there’s no long-term potential there so a meeting might well be a waste.
In the meetings you do have to have, you can make them more efficient by sending notes in advance, to ensure everyone is quickly on the same page. Make sure you prepare your key points in advance, to ensure you stay focused. Set a strict time limit too – and stick to it. That way, attendees know that your meetings are going to be sharp, short and to the point. Set clear action points at the end of your meeting, to ensure you actively achieve your objectives – and if you don’t have clear objectives? Well, in that case you probably don’t need a meeting.
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Email
I’ve never met a recruiter or HR professional who’s not completely snowed under by email, all the time. The average worker receives over 120 emails per day, and for recruiters that can be much, much higher. Candidate CVs, client or internal manager demands, meeting requests – you’re actively soliciting applications, so it’s little surprise your inbox gets overwhelmed.
The solution
As a recruiter or HR professional, you certainly shouldn’t discourage email. After all, you want people to apply to your jobs. However, you can handle your inbox more productively, so it doesn’t become too much of a drain on your time. This is about process. One of the most productive things you can do is set aside a fixed time to sift through your inbox.
Personally, I like to skim through first thing in the morning for half an hour, and use flags to highlight which things need attention. Everything else can wait. I do the same thing mid-morning, mid-afternoon and at the end of the day, flagging for tomorrow.
Also, if you don’t already use it, followupthen is your friend. It’s a free email reminder software – you just forward your email to any time format @followupthen.com and it’ll send it back to you at the specified time. For instance, if you get an email that needs action tomorrow afternoon, you might forward it to tomorrow3pm@followupthen.com. Then you can delete the original, clear your inbox, and you’ll only be reminded about it when it matters. Did you know that our free recruiting systems can also help you organize your email. Click here to read how Recruiteze can help with your online hiring.
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Social Media