Recruitment leaders wanting to improve the performance of their recruiters has never been a more valid goal.
Don’t miss the chance to improve recruiter performance by ignoring what’s “between the chair and the keyboard”. You need an agile, cost-effective, inclusive recruitment training solution, to improve / scale / protect your recruitment business.
Perhaps you’re looking to scale your recruitment business this year?
Or stay the same size, but do more with what you already have (people, data, systems)?
What could you consider when needing to improve performance, increase productivity in the coming months?
(If you have an online recruitment training platform already, try our online learning engagement tips to ensure you generate ROI! And read below for a pep talk on how you can get buy-in for your recruitment LMS.)
Improving Recruiter Performance Has Never Been Easier
I’ve written about Kaizen, 1% marginal gains, and improving recruiter performance. I've presented at the Recruitment Agency Expo about improving recruiter performance with automation.
Kaizen is about standards, reduced waste, high-performance - which is a passion for my clients.
Now is the perfect opportunity for recruitment leaders to "Kaizen".
Scale at Speed – Improve Performance
Before the pandemic, 70% of recruiters admitted that they didn’t have enough training. Even if that's not true of your recruitment business, it’s likely since 2020 you’ve been “a little” distracted to focus on totally fixing recruiter performance.
Recruitment training is obviously key…
But your goals for training are often not achieved by traditional training and recruitment coaching. (And often the only people who get full ROI from training are those who deliver it and charge you for it.)
Now with systems evolution, data volumes, and hybrid working, a new approach is needed.
… This is where online training steals the march.
6 Reasons Why Online Recruitment Training is a Must
1. It's Cheaper and Agile🤑
You can either spend £€$1,000s getting recruiters in the same place at the same time, turn off the phones, worry about missed opportunities, and run a “let’s hope this works” recruitment training session.
Or
You can give your recruiters access to an online recruiter training platform (LMS) where they can learn and relearn when they want, where they want, stress-free.
Online training platforms can be accessed throughout the year, 24/7, and they are normally cheaper than other training/trainers.
You're likely looking for stronger screening and job qualification, improving CRM adoption, and reduced reliance on job boards. Use cost-effective online learning to create best-practice agility.
2. Less Reliance on You – Less Stress😱
This is definitely a year to be working on your business, so the time-consuming task of you and your managers training new starters needs a rethink. I spoke with a recruitment manager recently who admitted 2 things:
She didn’t know Bullhorn well enough to train her new starter (a common case study).
When she hired a new recruiter, her fees dropped significantly for 3 months.
Online recruitment training helped her rapidly re-skill, and took away the pressure of onboarding new recruiters. Online learning provided the training for her rookies, and she did the coaching and bingo! The rookies started billing quicker too!
It's gold dust for me when I get a new starter. I save huge amounts of time when onboarding them. I can still run my desk. (And, Recruitment HIIT has opened my eyes to how I can use Bullhorn, too.)
3. More Effective💪
Online learning boasts retention rates at a massive 60% (compared to 10% traditional training) and you learn 5 x more with online learning.
Plus, learning at your desk – in the environment where you are delivering your job – is more effective.
Online learning is often minutes not hours. I know in recruitment speed is just as important as pipeline.
Yes, we’ve all had horrific, disengaging, online learning experiences. Don’t let past experiences prevent future gains. Plus new recruiters prefer online.
Whether it’s increased sourcing speed, or improving CV to Interview ratios, you need quick, self-serve effective recruitment training. You can’t afford to not improve.
I am building trust quickly and becoming more efficient. HIIT has created flexibility for me to train myself at my desk whilst I am doing my job. And I can quickly re-fresh the training whenever I want.
4. It’s “Just in Time” and Easier⌚
Freeing up a team of busy recruiters, and getting them all synchronised and focussed is a tough gig.
Why disrupt your recruiters when they can log on for 5 minutes, learn a new recruiting hack, log off, and get back on the phone and practice what they’ve learned?
“Always on”, continuous learning for recruiters is key to creating accountability and a sense of recruiters feeling in control of their careers.
Got a counteroffer? Login and complete a 5-minute workout to tackle it head-on. A recruiter told me:
I got a counteroffer. I went back to the online training I'd already completed. I took notes which helped me get back on the phone and ensure that the candidate was attracted by the role, not the money.
5. It’s Inclusive, Hybrid and Remote Friendly🟰
I get that managing a remote/hybrid recruitment team is challenging.
Maintaining standards, keeping everyone engaged, and delivering “your way” was tough enough pre-pandemic.
Now, with online learning tools, you have a chance to attract, engage, and nurture your recruiters. (Neat tip: with online training, you can give your recruiters access to their online training platform before they even start to ensure that they stay engaged and don’t drop out.)
Plus, if your training platform is gamified, your recruiters will see each other online and feel more connected. You’re creating a community for your potentially disconnected recruiters.
6. Prevents Churn 💩
Glib quotes around not training recruiters and having them stay are not needed here.
Acknowledge that recruiters crave training and will leave without it. In fact, a whopping 2/3 of people leave due to lack of training.
The last thing any recruitment leader needs right now is to lose valuable recruiters, or indeed take too long to train new starters.
I left my previous recruitment job as I didn’t have enough training. HIIT is priceless. It gives me that edge over other recruiters.
More Reasons Online Recruitment Training Works
Other viable reasons why online training is crucial in recruitment. Recruitment training:
Gives recruiters control – accountability.
Better for the environment.
Gamification drives engagement and performance.
Flexible and mobile – where you want, when you want.
Self-paced – different people learn at different speeds hence you need to allow for that.
Improves the ROI from your internal training. Trainers can focus more on coaching performance rather than repeatedly training new recruits - blended learning works.
Final Word on Recruitment Training
Whether you’re looking to improve your recruiter performance, generate ROI from your people, data, systems, or just create a better experience for your candidates and clients, training is crucial.
Just be sure that the recruiter training you buy is engaging, easy, self-serve, relieves stress and pressure on you and your team, and is cost-effective.
And if you have an online platform already, try our online learning engagement tips to ensure you generate ROI from that!
...Talking of Online Recruitment Training...
Recruitment HIIT trains recruiters and resourcers so you can speedily onboard new starters, and improve the performance of experienced recruiters.
Bullhorn hacks, job qualification, screening, sourcing, job advertising, and counteroffer immunity, are just some of the 5-minute topics recruiters love.
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Why AI Might Not Fix Recruitment Productivity
Recruitment Leaders - are you looking to engage with tech to help you drive productivity? Are you needing significant RoI from your tech stack? Be careful you don't fall into the pit of "tech before process".In the 2 decades we've been working in recruitment, a persistent, cyclical problem is starting over again — and it's being amplified by the advent of new technology like AI.😔History Repeating Itself: Tech Before ProcessMy team has watched a trend unfold: the belief that simply "buying data and tech and throwing it at a problem" will magically fix it.Unfortunately, it rarely does, and I fear we are seeing this pattern play out again with Artificial Intelligence.The core issue is that the recruitment industry often engages with technology without truly engaging with the process the technology is supposed to fix.We get why. A LOT has happened in and to the recruitment sector in the last 2 decades - it's a big ask for leaders to stand back from the coal face and really invest time in the problem when it's been so disruptive...But, we've seen this cycle before:The CRM wave: A sophisticated recruitment system is bought, added to the recruitment business, and recruiters are told to use it, often without a fundamental change to the underlying workflow.The Automation trend: Tools are purchased to automate tasks, but the initial problem (unproductive activities) remains because the why and how of the automation weren't properly addressed.Now, AI: In the rush to purchase the latest AI tools, many recruitment firms are overlooking the essential step of asking: "What problem are we trying to solve, and how will this technology specifically help me do that?"🤔Purchase V ProblemI recently said to a client who was trying to get buy-in from his recruiters for the AI tools he's bought:Are you processing the AI, or AI-ing the process?One way is wrong, the other right. Food for thought...This focus on the purchase over the problem means we miss the fundamental goal:Fixing recruitment productivity. Empowering recruiters to do the right things at the right time.🙋 WIIFM? What’s In It For Me? The Missing LinkA healthy skepticism - or outright fear - exists among many average recruitment consultants about what AI and automation are really there to do for them.If you're an innovation leader, your mind is likely 20 steps ahead, focused on the competitive edge, efficiency metrics, future-proofing, and adding value to your business. But when introducing new technology, you must take it back to basics and think with the recruitment consultant / resourcer / manager in mind.You need to answer the crucial question for them: "What’s in it for me (the consultant)?" - WIIFM?Stop talking about backend efficiencies and start talking about the individual's tangible benefits:"This will help you make more money.""This will enable you to take a longer lunch break.""This will free you up to see your kids' school plays."Ultimately, this tech is meant to enable recruiters to spend less time on low-value, time-consuming tasks (often up to 80% of their day) and more time on high-impact, revenue-generating activities. Because right now, the stats clearly show they are incredibly busy... potentially doing the wrong stuff.If you want technology to succeed, you have to connect it directly to the recruiter’s personal and professional drivers.What are your thoughts?What is the biggest barrier to getting your recruiters to use new technology effectively?And how will you ensure that you get true value from your tech, data, and people in the next year, and beyond?Automation Buddy / Bullhorn RoIWe are Automation Buddies set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.READ MORE ABOUT OUR BULLHORN VISION SERVICEREAD ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICEBOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
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Recruiters! Is the Myth of GPDR Holding You Back?
Recruiters / Leaders / Marketers... Are you nervous of contacting candidates and clients without having their express consent?The advent of GDPR created some myths including “no more email marketing”. This blog will tell what total rubbish that is AND why you should be email marketing more than ever before!So, if you are a recruiter, recruitment marketer or recruitment leader, and:Want to generate more candidatesNeed more viable leadsShould be attracting more recruiters to your recruitment businessWant to be smart and use automation / email / WhatsApp / or dare I suggest, the phone…...you need to read this blog!🤔The Myth of GDPRGDPR has caused stupid amounts of disruption and confusion. Myths were created. Data was deleted. 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It’s not against the law!An unsolicited message is any message that has not been specifically requested. So even if the customer has ‘opted in’ to receiving marketing from you, it still counts as unsolicited marketing. This does not make all unsolicited marketing unlawful. You can still send unsolicited marketing messages – as long as you comply with PECR.This is interesting – note the word “often”:You will often need a person’s consent before you can send them a marketing message. But,You must not send marketing emails or texts to individuals without specific consent. There is a limited exception for your own previous customers, often called the ‘soft opt-in’.🥰Recruiters Now Need to Rely on Being Soft!Is this a proper “get out of jail free card”?The rules on electronic mail marketing are in regulation 22. 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Your goal is longer term to create consent, and to create really good email marketing campaigns to get them to say “don’t delete me – I think you’re great!” Then you can take that engaged mailing list to your sassy clients and ask them to pop that in their pipes and smoke it –whilst you place lots of candidates with them at your rack rate fees!🏃➡️Now to Start Building an Email Marketing and Automation Strategy to Attract Your 3CsRecruiters!Candidates, clients, and colleagues (your 3Cs) need to hear from you!You need to maintain your legitimate interest in holding their data. You need to give them compelling reasons to stay on your mailing list - and your recruitment marketers have the keys to this!Automation Buddy / Bullhorn RoIWe are Automation Buddies set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.READ MORE ABOUT OUR BULLHORN VISION SERVICEREAD ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICEBOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION