If you have never quit a job, you are fortunate. As business professionals, we try and find job opportunities that will help us achieve our career goals, improve our financial standing, and bring fulfillment to our lives.
Most of us spend a considerable amount of time thinking about job opportunities, weighing the pros and cons, and doing significant due diligence to make sure it is the right fit for us.
But it doesn’t always work out.
There are times when the culture of a company is not in line with our expectations or perhaps, we have a boss we do not trust.
Our lives change and that 45-minute commute is no longer a suitable option for us.
We leave jobs that had so much promise in terms of advancing our careers, but our growth simply stalled.
We were promised the opportunity to work on exciting, dynamic projects that would push our abilities and stimulate our minds but for whatever reason this never panned out, and we found ourselves stuck in a rut of boredom.
Our financial situation changed. We had a child, bought a house, or experienced a life event that put pressure on us financially, and a greater salary was needed.
In my case, I found the stresses and unpredictable nature of running my own company to be too much and sought a job that would be more dependable.
These examples are called decision drivers and in the staffing industry, we need to understand that our candidates have their own decision drivers, too! For those recruiters out there, your job is to discover your candidate’s decision drivers and present opportunities that positively address them.
At Butler Street, we teach a structured approach to this concept, and it is called “PLACED.”
Consider the decision drivers I listed above. Strong recruiters ask great questions that are deeply rooted in their candidate's operating reality and as a result, tend to uncover these important decision drivers.
So, what do you do next when you uncover a decision driver?
Let’s take a closer look at some of the examples previously mentioned.
Candidate A reveals that they are not happy with their 45-minute commute. Great! Seek to understand what kind of commute they are looking for and then present your candidate with jobs that would be closer to home
Candidate B is bored in their current role and feels as though they are in a rut professionally. Your next step should be to explore why they feel that way.
What’s missing specifically? What kind of opportunity would be more stimulating for them? Equipped with this information, you can now present them with opportunities that are in line with their goals.
In both examples, the recruiter is seeking to understand what is most important to the candidate. Unfortunately, this approach does not happen nearly enough among recruiters.
Time and time again, I hear about recruiters who reach out to candidates with the goal of simply “checking boxes” and they miss the opportunity to ask great questions designed to uncover these crucial decision drivers.
Do these example questions sound familiar?
“What shift are you available to work?”
“This job pays $18 an hour. Does that work?”
“Do you have experience handling a high volume of phone calls?”
“You will need to work weekends. Is that ok?”
Now, don’t get me wrong, we need to get answers to these questions but so often those are the only questions recruiters ask and then they submit the candidate. We now have a transactional relationship with this candidate, not a genuine relationship.
If you want to make better matches and create stronger relationships with your candidates, look to ask specific questions designed to connect with them and uncover their unique decision drivers.
Here are some examples to help you get started.
People: In your experience, what companies had the best work environment and why?
Location: Describe your optimal commute.
Attainment: What are you trying to attain or achieve in the next phase of your career?
Challenge: What do you find to be challenging work?
Earnings: Are there any perks that add value to a position for you? Childcare, travel allowance, etc.
Dependability: Does your company offer flexibility? Work from home, flexibility offsite?
Now it’s your turn! Create 5 questions for each category and begin using them in your interviews with candidates. Want additional help on how to attract top talent to your jobs? Butler Street can help. Our Recruiting Effectiveness programs offer self-paced eLearning, instructor-led sessions, and a supporting Manager Guide. Contact us to let’s get started!
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