Each week I get calls from associations and companies wanting me to speak at their meetings. They ask me if I can do a motivational session, something to get their people more motivated. Sure, I can do that. But I have a confession to make. I can't motivate anyone. I really can't. The only person who I can motivate is myself. I have no control over the long-term changes that a recruiter makes once he or she leaves my program. Motivation is a choice that each recruiter must decide to make for himself or herself. Authentic and long-lasting motivation comes from within and is not dependent upon external means.
So how can we get recruiters motivated to achieve long-lasting performance improvement? What can we do to get them more excited about the business so that they can get more done and bill more?
The problem that many managers have with the concept of motivation is that their belief about it is flawed. They believe they can read a motivational book, attend a "pump up" seminar, or get psyched by listening to Wagner on the way to work in the morning. These changes might inspire someone for a few hours and there's nothing wrong with doing them, but the next day the same old habits are in place with the same old results. The biggest complaint I hear from managers about the concept of speaking programs is that they get tired of sending someone to a session and a week later the performance results are still the same. Everyone gets excited for a week, and then the status quo raises its ugly little head and says, "Move over, I'm coming back home."
In order to change the motivation level of a recruiter, to achieve real long-lasting change, we must change the fundamental beliefs that cause that person to achieve. And it's more than the externally visible "enthusiasm" that so many people mistake for motivation. They think that a gregarious bubbly person who is enthusiastic is motivated, when they have no idea what habits live beneath the surface.
Here's the real key to motivation. It's more than personality or a fleeting emotional charge. Motivation is the commitment that you have to achieve your outcomes even when you don't feel like it. That's it. In other words, it's leading a disciplined life.
If you want to achieve long-lasting change then you must become more disciplined.
If the word 'discipline' had a color, it would be a dingy ugly gray. It connotes boring, laborious drudgery, and doesn't have much fun associated with it. "This ain't your father's discipline!" I'm talking about "fun discipline". Anytime I do a session for recruiters, I make sure that it's easy, that it's simple, and that it's wildly fun. Let's just admit the fact that recruiters and sales people don't like to do anything that's freakishly boring or monotonous. Let's put some spice in it so people will actually follow up on what really counts when it comes to success: performance improvement.When you peel away everything that doesn't count, success on your desk all boils down to the actions that you take on an hourly basis. Your entire year is made up of a series of hours, and you must manage your performance as a recruiter on an hour by hour basis.
Follow these four tips on how to become more motivated and more disciplined on your desk:
1. First, if you have not yet downloaded the free telephone discipline tool, you need to do this. It will help you connect with more people each day. I receive emails from recruiters all over the world who say this simple little tool has made a visible improvement on their billings. It all starts with the habit of discipline on the telephone. (This free tool can be downloaded here: http://www.recruitingmastery. com/products.html) It's FREE! There is a crisis of discipline in our industry right now. This tool can help you overcome it.
2. Secondly, you need to build on your successes. Are you setting your goals high because some hyped-up motivational speaker who has never had been beaten up in this business told you to shoot for the moon? Forget about it. Shoot for a target that you know that you can hit. Set your goals low. That's right. Set your goals so that you actually achieve them. Forget about having fifty conversations in a day. Start with twenty. Then go to twenty-one. Twentyfive. Thirty. Thirty-five. Do it progressively. And then shoot for the moon once you have a realistic shot at hitting it. Setting goals beyond your realistic reach causes apathy and a 'why even try' performance model, resulting in low billings and recruiters leaving the business. If you end up not giving it your all everyday, this is probably why. Scale it back, dude. Give yourself a break. Get some success under your belt and then raise your goals. It's okay to do this. The market has been brutal and you deserve to start feeling successful again. Start with small successes and go from there.
3. Focus on the fun of the business. Here's what I mean: I quit the recruiting business...again...for the fifteenth time this year. And I keep coming back to it because every time I talk with a hot candidate who says he wants to interview with my client, I become elated...I just get a rush. Okay, so it's like a bad gambling habit. But it's contagiously fun, and you just can't help it. Focus on the fun part of the business. Sure, it's drudgery making all of those calls, but take those experiences that thrill you and dwell on them. Make the association of a placement or a client/candidate interview so insatiably pleasurable that you just can't wait to set up another one.
4. Change your attitude. "But candidates aren't moving right now." "Nobody's paying fees." "Everyone is already using other recruiters." Here's a news flash, champ. David never doubted his ability to overcome Goliath. Lance Armstrong fell in the race and choose not to use it as a convenient excuse for failure. Yeah, you've got challenges.We all do. So suck it up and change your self-talk. If you keep telling yourself the market stinks, then it'll stink. If you tell yourself that everyone you talk to wants to do business with you, then you will get more business. Tell yourself that 'today is going to be the most exciting day of my life' on the way to work, and watch it become just that. Expect to win. Expect to get the business every time. Become surprised when clients tell you no. Your attitude colors your perspective and paints your opportunities. You have more control over your desk than you realize, and if you change your attitude, you will attract opportunities to you. I spend at least several hours on this single concept in my two-day training programs because it is so critically important. Performance improvement through authentic motivation really is that simple. Occasionally I will have a recruiter email me a note telling me that my methods are overly simplistic. I usually respond by saying, "Thank you for noticing. Try it for thirty days and tell me it doesn't work." Remember, if you are going to hit the next level, it has to be fun, easy, and simple...otherwise the status quo will burrow a nice little home in your head. Authentic and lasting change comes from minor improvements made in major areas, so follow these four steps and improve your motivation forever.
Copyright (c) 2007 Scott Love
Scott Love shows recruiters how to achieve success by following a simple and step-by-step system. His recruiter training website has over 150 free articles, tools, and downloads that can help you bill more. Visit it at www.recruitingmastery.com.
