By Nicky Coffin
Recruitment consultant training does work. As a first step you need to know if the consultants on your team actually possess the skills needed to become high billers.
The first step for any recruitment manager is to conduct a skills audit. If you have a job profile you will have a list of key skills and attributes that you want your recruitment consultants to have. Some skills are more trainable than others. Specific areas may need additional coaching and follow up time. In fact the latest research says that when training is followed up the results can increase by as much as 40%. If you don't have a specific role profile then make the time to create one. Think about the high billers you have known in the past. What were they amazing at? What did they say and do that created the results they got? Then make a list. As a hint top performing billers are; good communicators, great at building relationships, prospecting, understand their market and customer, are energetic and hardworking, they ask questions, they thrive on challenge and meeting customer needs, they listen and respond to feedback and they are tenacious.
Break these areas down into the actual behaviours that people use that demonstrate this skill. Then review if your consultants exhibit them on a regular basis. For instance someone that is good at prospecting might use LinkedIn to best effect, send out emails to new clients and candidates and then follow up with a phone call. Knowing the key behaviours that link to skills makes it easier to measure results and improvements and bring everything back to a process that can be taught. This will give you a great foundation about where to focus your attention, time and resources. If you are new to your own role as a recruitment manager then ask questions. It is easy to make an assumption that your recruitment consultants know how to perform a given skill. If you are not sure ask them to talk you through the process. This will reveal a lot of information for you. For instance if you notice John or Joan are not picking up the phone it could be a skill issue. You might be surprised to find out that they are unsure how to open the call and what to say to move the phone conversation onto the next stage.
If you commit to do this with your consultants then you will soon identify the main skills gaps. Once you have carried out this process group the key areas together. You will see a pattern emerging and some priorities will jump out at you. As a business owner you will know the key performance indicators for your business. If there are skills gaps around any of these this is an area to address as a main priority.
Once you have this information you can develop a recruitment consultant training plan that will develop skills in your team that will add to the business.
The reality is that many recruitment managers are unaware of how powerful this process is. It bases your actions on facts rather than judgement. In summary, decide the ideal skills and behaviours you need. Carry out a skills audit to identify if they are there and being used. Then plan a training programme that will either deliver the skills that are missing, or refocus on those already there.
And now to learn more about training your recruiters you can get FREE access to our tips by visiting Centred Excellence at http://www.Centredexcellence.co.uk
Nicky Coffin has over 15 years' experience running her own recruitment agency and helping other recruitment business owners to grow theirs - Rapid Results For Recruitment Agencies an Expert on recruitment consultant training For Rapid Results For Recruitment Agencies visit our Centred Excellence website.
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