Create an Environment of Achievement for Your Recruiting Professionals

Christine Gormican Hierl
President
Gormican Hierl Consulting

Pat Riley, longtime NBA coach, said it best with, ?a champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.? For someone who has won five championships and is considered to be one of the greatest coaches in the game?s history, Mr. Riley knows a truth that is often overlooked: It?s not necessarily the big trophy or the title that makes a champion. But rather, it is the ability for that athlete to get up every day and achieve the very best he has to give. Be it a coach or an admissions professional, therein lies the challenge: to motivate and inspire people to achieve 110 percent every day.

Stoking this fire in our admissions professionals is as nuanced as coaxing a 7-foot center on how to take a drop step. But with a few simple changes to your daily routine, you can create your own champions.

Set the Tone in Your Office and Create an Environment for Achievement

If you are frustrated, stressed out or lacking inspiration, chances are your recruiters will be too. You set the tone in your office and create the environment where people can achieve. Just as enthusiasm is contagious in an admissions office, so is negative energy.

Your admissions staff will feel this as long as you feel it yourself. Jot down the motivational factors that sustain you and what you can do to sustain them. This exercise can give you perspective on how to think about supporting the motivations of your recruiters.

Align the Goals of Your Organization with the Goals of Your Recruiters

Are the goals of your organization in direct correlation to the goals you set for your recruiters? If the result of a recruiter?s work does not contribute to the goals of the organization, then the organization is not any better off than if the employees were doing nothing at all.

It is critical that directors of admissions know what they specifically want from their recruiters. These ?wants? should be worded in terms of goals for the organization. This typically happens during a meeting or strategic planning session. We always want to ensure that employees have strong input to identifying their goals and their goals align with the organization.

Employees often feel strong fulfillment from realizing that they are actually making a difference. This realization requires clear communication about organizational goals, progress toward those goals and celebrations when the goals are met.

Find Out What Makes Your Recruiters Tick

A fatal flaw in any organization is painting employees with one brush. This is even more critical in a performance-based environment. It cannot be understated that different things motivate each recruiter. First, find out what it is that really motivates each of your recruiters. This is as simple as asking, listening and observing them. Meet with them one-on-one and make a list of the top three things that motivate each of them. Fill out the list yourself for each recruiter and then have them do it for themselves. Compare your answers and meet with them individually to discuss what they think are the most important motivational factors to them.

Finally, take some time to think of how you will modify your approaches to each individual. Communication is key and no matter what you do, you cannot make these employees successful unless you understand ? truly understand, what makes them tick.

Motivation is a Process, Not a Task

Change is inevitable. Organizations change all the time, as do people. It is an ongoing process to sustain an environment where each recruiter can strongly motivate himself or herself. If we look at sustaining employee motivation as a process and not a task, then we will be much more fulfilled
and motivated ourselves.

This process also includes cultivating strong skills in delegation. By empowering your recruiters and by giving them authority within a specific framework, your time will be slightly freed up and they will take a stronger role in their jobs, which means more fulfillment and motivation for both the manager and the recruiter. This process takes time and needs trust to foster.

Build a Clear, Reliable and Comprehensive System

Strong interpersonal relationships are key to motivating your recruiters, but don?t rely on just that as your primary tool to inspire.

The nature of relationships can change greatly; for example, during a low-producing time period.? Instead, use reliable and comprehensive systems in the admissions office such as compensation systems, employee performance systems, organizational policies and procedures and weekly meetings.

Sit down with each recruiter to ensure their motivational factors are taken into account when these systems are being built. If for example, family is a motivator for a recruiter, perhaps you might develop a personnel policy that rewards employees with more family time, etc. As with anything, goals and systems must be clear and understood by the recruiter. Finally, good performance management includes identifying goals and metrics to indicate if the targets are being met or not, as well as corrective actions to re-direct activities back toward achieving the goals when necessary. Ensure
the goals are specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic, timely, extending of capabilities and rewarding (SMARTER).

Celebrate Your Wins

An action that is often overlooked and is critical to long-term motivation is to celebrate achievements. Without acknowledgement of success, even the most stellar of employees can become frustrated, skeptical and even cynical about their team, their office or their organization.

As with any championship team, wins come to recruiting professionals by doing the right thing day-in and day-out and most importantly, creating an environment that inspires people to arrive each day ready to pursue excellence.

Christine Gormican Hierl is an accomplished sales management executive specializing in leadership development, team building, succession planning, management development and management in a multi-location and multi-brand environment. For more information, please visit her website at www.gormicanhierl.com.