The staffing and recruitment industry remains stuck in a past with a reputation that is often no better than that of used car salesmen, attorneys, and politicians. While it’s easy to blame this on the minority of people who are operating with poor ethical standards, the real problem is how we do business day to day. The methods and practices that perpetuate a poor reputation and the perception of being a commodity, are called Repetitive Practices.
Companies that have eliminated these Repetitive Practices are achieving higher revenues, increased profit margins, lower labor intensity, elimination of commoditized buying, and improved visibility and standing in the eyes of Empowered Buyers.
Here are some of the common Repetitive Practices these successful temp, contact, and direct hire firms have replaced with true Best and Innovative Practices. To assess the changes your firm needs to make, rate each Repetitive Practice in the list below with one of the following responses:
- Yes, we do this at least some of the time
- No, we don’t do this
- I’m not sure if we do this
For any that you answered “Yes,” begin replacing those with true Best or Innovative Practices. For those you’ve marked “I’m not sure,” take time to work with your staff to understand whether or not these Repetitive Practices exist anywhere in your company. Finally, for those marked “No,” make certain that these Repetitive Practices are being avoided by all staff throughout your company.
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SALES AND RECRUITING REPETITIVE PRACTICES
- Client or candidate control
- Negotiating fees and bill rates (versus setting and sticking to your fees and rates)
- Feature-benefit selling
- MPC-Most Placeable Candidate presentations
- Always Be Closing (you doing the closing versus getting clients and candidates to close themselves)
- Skill marketing
- Fee and rate reductions
- Disclosing markups
- A focus on time killing deals
- Ruses (sourcing and research methods that involve lying)
- Submitting resumes to generate interest
- Traditional, open-ended questions
- Behavioral interviewing
LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND STRATEGIC REPETITIVE PRACTICES
- Providing customers with only one way of buying
- Carrots and sticks as a leadership approach
- Boot camps
- Daylong training sessions
- Strategic plans
- Back to basics
- A focus on getting employee buy-in
- Succession planning
- Employee engagement techniques
- Motivating staff
- Multi-tasking
- Disciplinary actions and write-ups
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