Targets, not just for archers or those looking to buy a bunk bed that looks like a double-decker bus. They’re important tools we use to manage our lives, especially in recruitment. No doubt a vision board would’ve been suggested or mandatorily implemented by one of your managers at some point. A physical representation of the things you want that usually money helps you achieve; a car, a house, a watch, a holiday, etc. It’s basically Pinterest before that was a thing. Shamelessly trying to piggyback on whatever is trending to trick LinkedIn’s algorithms, I was torn between Depp Vs Herd or the Champions League. Although the #MEPOO is almost too good to not get a mention the following post-match interview with Liverpool’s Mo Salah struck more of a recruitment cord.
If you want to skip forward to 2:27 where the chat about targets kicks off, I don’t blame you. Peter Crouch has done some sensational things on a football pitch, papering over the personality cracks made by Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen is just the latest. The Egyptian King’s response to being asked if he sets himself targets at the beginning of the season was an assured “always” Targets aim to provide a bit of structure and motivation. On the subject of structure, KPIs are the mini targets that every consultant should aim to achieve. 5 client meetings, 5 candidate registrations, 30 candidate calls, and 30 client calls a week was the old metric. When I moved to a non-KPI’d environment I felt a bit lost, a little unsure if I was doing the right things. That’s what they’re there for, not as a rod but as a benchmark. Chances are when you start a new job, you’re not going to be billing immediately. Productivity begets profitability (one of mine) you can rest assured that if you are hitting the mini targets soon enough the main ‘bottom line’ target will be hit too.
Most of you would’ve had your annual reviews last month. After being praised and lavished with affection you’ll have been persuaded to set yourself a target that dwarfs the amount you made last year. It’s a standard bit of recruitment methodology when setting targets; shoot for the moon and land among stars. Mo set himself the audacious target of 40 goals a season. To put that into context the most goals scored by a player in a season is 34. For the Pub Quizzers out there, it’s Alan Shearer and Andy Cole (when the league was longer). It serves as a lesson. Targets aren’t supposed to be obtainable; they’re meant to test us, to push us to be better than we were the year before. Mo is actually doing both as he sits behind Andy and Alan with his 32 goals netted in the 17/18 season. Like high-performance athletes and top recruiters, they are their own harshest critics. Holding yourself accountable to a target ensures you’re working to your own very high standards.
I understand that targets are supposed to be SMART (not one of mine) Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound. That last one hasn’t really been talked about enough. Setting your self targets means that you’re able to break down those goals into small manageable chunks. There are a lot of microcosms in agency recruitment; your day is a miniature version of your week, your week your month, your month your quarter, and so on. If you haven’t hit your target for productivity or performance in the first day then you can make it up in the next day. Likewise, if you haven’t hit your financial goal by the halfway point of the year, at least you know where the halfway point is and importantly, how much work you need to put into the remaining half. Like certain other finalists proved this week, you can get a result even in the very last gasps of a game.
Targets are crucial to our development. Be they financial in our working life or fitness in our personal life they are things to work towards. Mainly because they give us a healthy sense of accomplishment. The reward you receive is the knowledge that you have bettered yourself. We had an aim this week to have 10 clients locked in to attend next week’s ACCESS event at Generator. We accomplished that however like the Pow Wow we have a waiting list for unforeseen circumstances. Or, if you aren’t able to get into this one, we can hold you a spot for next time. Check out the link here and click on the “I am a client” button to see the effort we put into the new site.
