The unemployment rate is up, stock market down, recruiters entering good markets up, and_____. SO WHAT? You don’t just have to survive, but can thrive in this market! If you are reading this, then that means you are sucking in oxygen for which we should be grateful. All captains can navigate effectively in calm seas, but it is in rough waters where separation occurs. All the complaining in the world will not change the situation other than bringing negativity into your life. We can’t always control what happens to us, but WE CAN ALWAYS CONTROL HOW WE RESPOND. When some see doom and gloom, others see opportunity. Most markets have not begun to feel the sting of a tougher job market, and many may very well never. Some already have, and others soon will. There are 100+ best practices that can make a big difference. They are:

1-90)    MAINTAIN A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

That is how important this part is. If you think a positive attitude is a bunch of bunk and won’t make a difference, then I would respectfully ask you check out a few leaders who you admire and let me know how many of them spewed negativity. If the answer is many, then I would suggest you stop reading this article and go see a great shrink immediately! HA! Seriously, try to read every article, listen to every friend and watch every TV show while seeing something positive in the midst of their potentially negative spin. “When the completion is cleared out I will gain market share.” “Adversity is when real skills are built, and I will be a better producer, leader, person, etc. because of it.” “At least I have my health.” My personal perspective generating favorite is, “I once cried that I had no shoes until I met a man that had no feet.” Any and all of these are fantastic! The best way though to maintain a positive attitude is to maintain positive behaviors, and these are numbers 91-100.

91)    PLAN EVERY DAY

A well thought out and written plan is essential as you will eliminate distraction and waste by knowing what you want to accomplish before the day begins. Decide what you want to accomplish, and then build a plan reflecting the activities that you will need to perform. In great markets we can get away not planning as much because even with distraction and waste, we can still accomplish a lot. Therefore, it is always good to plan; we just can’t get away with not doing it in the tough times.

92)    EXECUTE YOUR PLAN

We have all heard the cliché, “plan your work and work your plan.” This is the work your plan part. A great plan is worthless unless executed effectively. Ask any military general or athletic coach. Determine what success looks like and do not leave until at least one objective is accomplished. Objectives should always be quantifiable and some 100% within your control. An example of this may be something known as the “prime directives for the day.” Each day (numbers will depend on market and experience), I will get one/two face to face send outs arranged (results) OR get a combination of three to five quality search assignments/candidate recruits (results) OR deliver a minimum of 15-25 presentations OR dial a minimum of 70-120 attempts OR achieve 4 hours of market connect time. In this model, successful execution of at least one prime directive is guaranteed as at least one is 100% within your control!

93)    MARKET/BUSINESS DEVELOP EVERY DAY (and ensure some marketing of a candidate).

In a 4% unemployment market, we don’t have to market as much as the sales are easier and fulfillment is much tougher. We can “get away with” serving a few clients and relying on the hot market. Not prospecting for business each day is the same as a business letting its entire sales force off for the day. One day here or there won’t matter but imagine hearing that your client let its entire sales force off for one week. That is no different than a recruiter not marketing. There are urgent and critical needs in every firm, but they may not be with your current clients. A great mistake in this market is confusing a long standing cooperative client with a client with urgent and critical needs. The fastest way to make an immediate impact on the bottom line of a new client is to make them aware of talent that is normally not receptive to change but is currently and potentially with their firm. A new client does not have time for a long drawn out relationship building exercise in these times nor do they have time for a recruiter to “touch base” or “check in.” They will make time for that “A” player that can solve a problem or generate profit.

94)    RETAINED OR RECYCLABLE ONLY

With hiring freezes, temporary holds, internal issues, and market place uncertainty the odds of a position going unfilled for reasons beyond the control of the recruiter sky rocket. These are usually unexpected and, at times, at the tail end of a search after dozens of hours of very hard work have been expended. If this happens on a search with an upfront financial commitment and progress payments made on the achievement of performance milestones that you control, then you have that blanket of protection. Alternatively, a true search should only be done when there are multiple organizations with as similar need or where you are sure that the candidates generated from the search can be immediately marketed to other organizations. This is a very expensive lesson to learn in these times, and I suspect many veterans are reading this wishing they had earlier in their careers!

95)    BACK TO THE BASICS-FORMS AND ALL

Securing the right information is always critical, but the margin for errors shrink during tougher times and the issues can get tougher. There are not a lot of “gimmes” in these times! Data sheets on cocktail napkins, search assignments on yellow pads, backs of resumes for data sheets, and copy paper for closing forms may seem OK in the roaring times but are unwise today. Even great electronic forms sometimes can miss all the right questions. Make sure that you have all the questions and the forms necessary to capture what you hear and engage in active listening. MULTITAKING IS ALWAYS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE AND INEFFECTIVE but in these times can cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

96)    DON’T GET DESPERATE

“Drastic times call for drastic measures.” This is what we are told, and this is true but the measures should not include acts of desperation where we cut corners, sell our souls, engage in unethical practices, and chase placements instead of helping clients fill critical needs by placing people which results in a positive career enhancement! The money and glory will follow doing things right and doing the right thing. Chasing money almost always ends up with dire consequences. Just ask your friends at Enron, Worldcom, Arthur Anderson, Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, etc. Character is not created in tough times, it is truly exposed. So, instead of nursing that one egg (deal) like they do in March of the Penguins, diversify! SINALOA: Strength IN NUMBERS AND LAW OF AVERAGES.

97)    RESEARCH WISELY

With the emergence of blogging and social/professional networks has come a new way of reaching the passive candidate market. The rumor mills will be churning and there will be opportunities to find groups with high discontentment. These may lead to veins of “recruiting gold.” You may also find organizations that are growing and have relevant needs. You can also expand your arsenal by engaging in these areas if you currently are not doing so. If you are already doing this a great deal, then check that phone report or your phone log, and if it has been low because you are “working smart” then it may be time to fully realize that working smart and hard are not mutually exclusive concepts. This brings us to point 98.

98)    WORK HARD BY MAINTAING BALANCE

You may read this and think, isn’t that an oxymoron? The answer is unequivocally no when examined thoroughly. Part of balance means that at times, we must be very unbalanced and even myopic in order to allow for ongoing long term balance. Balance does not mean a perfect amount of time distribution each week in all areas of one’s life. If this was the case, then there should be no such things as a week vacation away from work or this would represent too much time away from work and cause imbalance. If a coin is flipped, it will have a 50/50 chance of head or tails. Balance does not mean that it will rotate perfectly and switch after each toss. There may be streaks of 10 or more but after thousands of flips, it will be statistically very close to if not exactly 50/50. So, no one would say that there is not a balance of heads and tails even if at times we see heads a dozen times in a row. Well, these market conditions necessitate a streak in the domain of work and working your TAIL off (pun intended). The reason to do this is to prevent things like economic hardship, undue stress, depression and the like to be the ultimate long term unbalanced consequence of not putting enough energy into work today. So, a short term unbalance that is in service of long term balance is actually living a balanced life. If a loved one fell ill, we may drop most everything and give that 100% until the ultimate outcome either way. Well, if our market is about to go ill (METAPHORICALLY), then it may need a similar amount of attention. Come in early, bring your lunch, stay late and work a little more at home. An extra one hour each day, ½ hour extra at lunch, and ½ hour each night will add 10 hours each week. For some, this is a 25% increase and others a 15% increase in time and may be what is needed only to secure the current market share and results that you need to maintain your objectives. Alternatively, make a lot less and potentially lose market share to more aggressive competitors, but don’t complain when it happens. Be OK with it, and then at least you made the decision with malice of forethought.

99)    STICK AND MOVE

Many people will want to talk about the market in these times and recruiters can potentially get sucked into long conversations under the umbrella of market intelligence and rapport building. An important exercise for each call is to go into the call with a series of objectives starting with the primary one. Everything in the call should be in service of accomplishing that objective and doing so effectively and efficiently without sacrificing rapport but not as the only outcome of the contact. Bottom line; get in, get it done, and get on to the next one!  

100)    INVEST IN TRAINING AND LEARNING

So, you may be thinking that I am biased because of my involvement with Next Level Recruiting Training. Yes, I am. I also, though, just gave this presentation to the 100+ recruiting professionals at Kaye/Bassman International where I am the CEO. Dozens of veterans sat there as well with dozens having 10, 15, and some with just shy of 20 years. People who have billed 5, 10, 15, and 17+ M in their careers sat there all writing notes and all agreeing that we needed MORE TRAINING AND MOTIVATION! Lunch and Learns will continue but with greater frequency where we watch outside trainers as well as inside ones teach the best practices of our trade as well as share new approaches to old challenges. Stopping investment in time and money in training in the down time is the equivalent of not watering a plant in a drought because it is losing its strength.

In full disclosure we have just released our NLE TV series of one hour video training segments from experts around the globe and a virtual foundational program that we are very excited about. However, we still will pay ourselves to view external trainers because you can never know it all and you can never be a prophet in your own land!

Darwin figured this survival of the fittest thing out years ago. The makers of pesticides are befuddled by this each time they make a new bug spray. The fittest go on and get with other thrivers and become immune to the toxins. They then wait to make a new batch to see who they can knock out with it and so on and so on. So, as the great Ali said, float like a butterfly and sting like a bee and don’t let the toxins out there get you. He also said, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”

I close with a VERY brief tip from the trenches from Butch Hawking who was one of the fastest recruiters to make partner in our history. He was the captain of his college basketball team at the Air Force Academy where he achieved the rank of Captain and went on to coach at several division one colleges. He knows what it takes to win and work hard. Here it goes: Work = Force x Distance. A solid force of effort in your market over a long time will yield meaningful and lucrative work.