THIS BLOG is written to aid both managers and consultants in the recruitment industry. This is the 5th post in a series of twelve. For the links to previous competencies that I’ve already covered, please see the end of this post.
5. Meeting Goals
A ‘goal’ is described in the dictionary as ’the purpose toward which an endeavour is directed; an objective’. So, meeting that goal is achieving that purpose… always a great feeling. For recruiters this typically means finding ‘people for jobs and jobs for people’.
So how many consultants actually set themselves goals?
The majority of recruitment companies set their staff revenue targets, some will then set KPIs and performance objectives, but leave their consultants to work out how they are going to achieve them. There’s no wrong or right way to go about things – as long as the consultant has clear objectives to achieve with specific timelines and mini targets along the way to make sure that they know they are on the right track.
I do a lot of performance management training and I would say the consistent factor that I come across with businesses is that although there are goals set, there are no consequences for NOT meeting those goals. Is this your business too? People therefore tend to see ‘performance management’ as something that happens when someone’s not doing so well. No wonder it’s not seen in a positive light by all. PM should be a consistent throughout the business to support everyone daily in achieving their goals – whatever they are.
Purpose: – The purpose for a recruitment consultant is maintain urgency in their decision making process, in particular that of day to day tasks and implementing the activity consistently to achieve the overall goals longer term.
Questions to determine the meeting goals competence: –
1. Tell me about a time when you have had to make an urgent decision:
a) What happened?
b) How did you come to make the decision that you did?
c) How did your decision impact on your business/team?
2. Give an example of a time when you have successfully achieved a difficult goal?
a) What decision making process did you go through?
b) What action did you take?
c) How did you communicate that action to others?
3. Explain about a time when you have had to make a difficult decision to achieve one of your goals:
a) What happened?
b) How did you communicate the decision to the people it affected?
c) How did you display urgency in the process?
High level of competence shown: –
- Maintains pace and urgency throughout the decision making process, with attention to the end result foremost in their mind
- Identifies potential opportunities to take decisions and takes immediate action
- Engages others by offering alternatives prior to the decision making process through use of knowledge of the clients business and the market place
Each week I’m tackling a new competency and I will follow the same format of purpose, questions and three examples of what a high level of that competency would look like.
1. The Competencies of a Recruitment Consultant – Planning
2. The Competencies of a Recruitment Consultant – Monitoring
3. The Competencies of a Recruitment Consultant – Analysing
4. The Competencies of a Recruitment Consultant – Sales Opportunities
