“Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something.”

-Pancho Villa (1877-1923), last words

In everyone’s mind there is a film quietly running. In this film, we see the version of our best self. In this film, we are the hero of the story. We are wise, we are witty and we are powerful. We always know what to say and do. It really is a wonderful and inspiring story.

It’s too bad it’s all fantasy.

I can confidently say that no recruiter in our firm has ever failed for lack of training. They all know what they should do. Recruiters who fail in our company, most often do so because they know what to do and yet do something entirely different.

Let me give you a real example. Recruiters in our firm are trained on debriefing candidates after interviews and provided with a debrief form with scripting included. They all know, like they know how to breathe, that at the end of every debrief they should ask: “So money aside, if they offer you the job will you accept?” It’s classic Danny Cahill “End Game” stuff. It’s a simple and powerful question that tells you if you are moving toward a successful deal. If the candidate has hesitation or concern, you’ll hear it and have the opportunity to resolve it. This simple and elegant question asked early and often in the process virtually eliminates surprise and heartache at the end of the process.

Every recruiter will tell you that they ask this question every time and you know what? They’re all lying. No, they aren’t liars. They aren’t trying to deceive you. They really believe that they are asking that question. What I hear when I observe recruiters are watered down versions of that question. I hear them perverting a strong closing question into a soft open-ended question like: “So does the job sound good?” In their mind, it’s the same question and it isn’t. In the film that’s playing in their head, they are being strong and powerful. The trouble there’s a huge gap between the story they tell themselves and the story that’s playing out in real time. That gap is where deals die and recruiters become jaded.

There are 99 different reasons a recruiter takes the weak path and I won’t even attempt to address those in this post. The first step is to acknowledge reality. The recruiter needs to face the fact that the film that plays in her head is out of synch with the truth. There are several ways to accomplish this.

  1. Put on a public performance. In our offices, recruiters work in open spaces where they can overhear one another. By design no recruiter has a private office. It’s not because we’re stingy about space. It’s not because we are trying to recreate a boiler room environment. Our recruiters work in an environment where others can overhear them for one simple reason-it makes them better. We ask recruiters to act as accountability partners for one another. They are told from day one, if you overhear someone sabotaging their own success, hold up the proverbial mirror. We have created a culture where calling one another out is considered an act of loyalty.
  2. Capture the performance on film. Okay, maybe not film, but there needs to be some observable performance so that the recruiter can hear with her own ears the weakness, the ambivalence, the less-than-best delivery. We’ve all had the experience of hearing the recorded version of our voice and asking: “Do I really sound like that?” Recording calls has the same effect. You can no longer kid yourself about the bravado with which you delivered a message when you hear the actual recording and you sound more mousey than mighty. Different states have different laws about recording phone conversations so you’ll want to check with your attorney about the best way to move forward implementing this.
  3. Managers, get in the game. I am a huge fan of managers working amongst their team. Can you imagine a football coach skipping a game and then relying on his players to give him their recollection of the game? How could he effectively coach behavior he hadn’t actually observed? For that reason, I don’t work in a private office. I have a private office for private meetings and doing other work that requires focus but I use that space less than 20 percent of the time. I travel to different offices and work in a cubicle right in the middle of the team so I can observe actual performance and others can observe mine. Accountability is for everyone.
  4. Hire a coach. If you’re a solo practitioner or a manager who could use an accountability partner, consider hiring a coach. Look for one who will listen to actual calls and provide you real-time feedback. If you’d like more information about my private coaching options, please contact me at Coaching@ElevatePerformanceSystems.com.