Ask Danny by Danny Cahill
Question
We have a client we have brought on after years
of wooing them. They have asked us to recruit some
branch managers for a segment of their business.
These are $50-60K positions, which are smaller than
we like but because of the potential of the client,
multiple openings and a 30% fee, we began the
search. For one location we were asked to find an
assistant manager and had a candidate interview.
They said the guy had some general industry
experience but not enough for their niche. Despite
my preparation, he also was very nervous and
according to the client was "shaking like a leaf." At
the time, it was a "No." Now, 4 weeks later, they
know he is unemployed and they want to offer him
$15/hr. They would pay us $2500 now and $5000
more if he got promoted to management. My partner
says if we negotiate now they will want to come
back again to negotiate later. I say make it clear
this is a one time exception to accommodate them
and keep going with the client. Who is right?
Response
Listening to you talk about fee reductions makes me
shake like a leaf.
I have to side with you, with a caveat. Meaning, this
is an unusually low level placement, this is an unusual
guy, so yeah, things happen and you can cut deals
with clients. But, I don't want to have your client
simply do this on the honor system. But you remind
them, wagging your finger, "I'll do it this time, but I
won't do it next time." Your partner's right, they will
do it next time if that's what you do.
You have to have a specific agreement that is
signed, that says, "We are making an exception from
our scheduled fee policy that is agreed upon and
signed and dated, for this particular candidate, for
this
particular position, given the level of his job. In no
way, shape or form does this mean our fee schedule
will shift for any other candidates. This is a one time
deal and the client recognizes it to be so." If they
sign that, absolutely you ought to do it. And you
have to do it fast because this guy is scaring me.
But if they won't sign it, then your partner's right and
they're going to have some excuse, the next guy
doesn't shake enough, and the guy after that drinks
milkshakes, and it just will get worse and worse. If it
truly is an exception, they should have no problem
with the signed agreement. Make sure they sign it, if
they do you've got a deal. If they don't, your
partner's right, move on.
More on Danny Cahill…
Quick Links...
|
Hello!
It was great to see many of you in San Francisco at
the NAPS Conference. I enjoyed participating as a
judge with
Danny Cahill at his "American Idol" event as we
searched and found the next new speaker for the
staffing industry. We look forward to introducing
you to the winner, Mike Lejeune, in our next issue.
We're pleased that he will be presenting an event as
part of our webinar series.
If you plan to be in Las Vegas for the ASA
National Convention , please stop by to
say hello. I will be
presenting a workshop on November 8th on How to
Build a World-Class Team by Recruiting, Hiring,
Training, and Motivating Winners.
We are especially excited about our two new partners
this month; we have added SkillSurvey
and
Infogist
to our offerings to further enable us to offer top-tier
services to our Recruiter Network with favorable
pricing. To learn more about our partners
please send an email to
recruitinginfo@hireability.com
or phone Andrew Stock
at 503-238-5488 (west coast/pacific time) or Eric
Cullin at 734-397-4430 (east coast/central time) so
they can help you.
Enjoy this issue of Recruiter News and have a Happy
Halloween!
Craig
|
The Science of Recruiting by Lou Adler
|
|
Part
6: Influencing Hiring Managers – Taking the
Assignment
Influencing hiring managers is as important as
influencing candidates. If hiring managers won’t take
your advice you shouldn’t be a recruiter. The
interviewing and assessment process is not a perfect
science. So recruiters need to guide managers along,
insuring that the best available candidate gets hired.
You can’t afford to spend your time showing hiring
managers an endless stream of candidates until the
perfect one magically appears. Or, until they’re so
worn down they can’t tell the difference.
However, for recruiters the most important part of
the recruiting and hiring process is not influencing
the final selection process, it’s taking the initial
job
assignment. For a recruiter, how well this is done will
make all of the difference in the world.
When taking on a new assignment, recruiters
typically ask hiring managers what they’re looking for.
The answer is the traditional job descriptions
over-emphasizing skills, experiences, industry
background,
academics, and personal attributes. Asking this
question is the best way NOT to increase your
influence with hiring managers. The best way to
increase your influence, is to ask the hiring managers
to describe what the person taking the job needs to
DO to be successful, not what the person needs to
HAVE. Force the hiring manager to describe the real
job, rather than describing the person taking the job.
Your ability to shift the discussion to deliverables
and
outcomes is the key to becoming a great recruiter
and
gaining instant credibility with the hiring manager.
This is the fundamental difference between
performance-based hiring and traditional hiring
techniques. If you want to be a better recruiter you
start by taking better job descriptions.
(continued...)
|
Cyber Recruiter Uses HireAbility's
Automatic Résumé Processor
|
|
|
Ask Miss J - Fun & Advice
|
Click on Miss J's photo to email your
recruitment questions and problems to her!
Ahh, the falling of the autumn leaves, the
oranges, the reds, hoarding squirrels – a little
different from Miss J’s homeland where autumn is all
drizzle, clouds, and saggy, damp, wooly underwear.
It’s late October and Miss J is to be found on her
leaf-strewn porch with a dagger in her hand and a
fierce, determined look on her face. All that
Fortesque, the nearly deaf blind butler, can hear
through his state-of-the-art hearing aids is Miss
J’s grunting and accompanying squishy stabbing
noises. Fearing for his life, he trips over the
numerous Mums and falls off the porch, landing in a
heap on the ground below. But fear not, admiring
readers, Miss J has not turned into a homicidal
recruitment maniac! This picture is just of an
inexperienced, frustrated Brit trying to turn her
hand to carving a Jack O’ Lantern. Less of a Jack
and more of a Freddy (as in Kruger). Michelangelo
she ain’t!
Studying the lopsided eyes and the mouth that could
swallow up a whole dentist, she puts her dripping
dagger down and picks up her cider. Miss J rummages
through the leaves to drag out this month’s letter.
As you all know, Miss J donned large boots and
unceremoniously kicked Lord B to the proverbial curb
earlier this year, and since then Miss J has been on
a whole recruiting quest of her own – if you know
what I mean. So the letter she has picked out this
month strikes a particular cord…
Dear Miss J,
I am unlucky in love; there is no one more unlucky,
that’s all there is to it! Match.com even refused
to try and help. What makes it worse is that I also
appear to be unlucky in building those great client
relationships that I need, to build my business.
It seems to me that this whole recruiting thing is
just like dating: lots of frogs and few Princes. I
am looking to go from Kermit to Charming, so I look
in all the right places for the ‘right one’ and lo
and behold there it is – the potentially dream
client – handsome, rich, with needs! I gather up
the courage to call the person and then go about
finding out all about them, with client discovery
next to none. Then, and only then, I share with
them solutions I can offer to match their challenges
and examples of how I have done so for previous
clients. In short relay how truly gorgeous I am
(purely from a business view point that is). We talk
a little more and then its time for that first
meeting (date). Should I go? Is this person right
for me? Maybe we can continue our courtship by
telephone or email? How do I know if this is a
match made in heaven or just an accident waiting to
happen?
Loveless of Louisville, KY
Dear Loveless of Louisville, KY:
First consider why you want to go on this date
(meeting) and whether it would be a worthwhile
visit.
How many awful dates have you been on? How many
winking, food dribbling, train spotting nerds could
have been avoided with just a few more qualifying
questions? When deciding on dates or client visits
it is better to qualify out than in. A two-hour
drive to see a prospect that might have a
requirement in 2 months is probably not the best use
of your time. Admittedly, if that job was going to
be a $250k VP of Business Development and a 20%
fee
of course you would. So ask as many qualifying
questions as you can to be ahead of the game. It
could as well be a $20 tech support job with a
client that has no plans for growth and has not
taken anyone on in 2 years – is this your dream
client?
(continued…)
|
|
|
