Using recruiters' results as a measure of performance is crazy, because the main factors influencing those are out of their control, says performance coach and former recruitment executive Peter Keith. He instead recommends focusing on the six key inputs consultants can affect.
The most common measure of performance in recruitment is results, measured in terms of fees or market share gained, which is ironic given that two of the main factors influencing these – the marketplace and competitors – are outside consultants' control, Keith told an RCSA breakfast in Sydney this morning.
"Isn't it crazy that in a sales world where we know we can't control our results, that becomes the standard measure of performance?" he said.
"How fair is that? It's like setting an expectation for a child and saying 'You're going to make six foot, or else'."
Keith, who has held leadership roles with WorkPac and Origin Healthcare, instead recommends a results model from sales training specialist Mercuri International, which encourages recruiters and their managers to focus on two key inputs that are in their control.
"It's about your effort [or] your sales activity. It's also about your know-how, which we've turned into a groovy term called 'niching' at the moment," he said.
Each of these areas can be broken down into three inputs that managers can measure and influence to try and improve performance, said Keith.
The three inputs that go into know-how are competence, confidence and attitude, while activity is made up of three inputs: quantity, direction, and quality, he said.
If, for example, two consultants are doing the same quantity of activity but getting different results, managers using this model can look at the other inputs that go into that activity to determine whether the consultant is doing everything in their control to improve.
'Direction' refers to the target segments the recruiter is contacting, and more specifically, which individuals, said Keith.
"If it was me I'd be asking 'Well who have you been seeing? Within which organisations or industries?' You'd be tracking for some differential between those two [consultants]."
If, however, both consultants are talking to the same people in the same industry, the results issue could come down to the quality of the conversations they're having, said Keith.
"We all know that the quality of the conversation's actually not about the conversation at all... It's about consulting. You talk about you for the last five seconds of the conversation. It's all about them."
Of the six inputs, attitude is the only one that leaders can't influence in their team, but they can hire for it so it's still in their control, said Keith.
"If you're managing to results I want to invite you to consider you may be on a hiding to nowhere, 'cause you can't control it. These are the things you can control: hire for [attitude], lead and serve the rest."
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