The Importance of Engagement…Both For You, and Those Whom You Recruit

Monday, October 25, 2010

If you have been exposed to the consulting that our company provides, then you’ve heard us talk a lot about the importance of being engaged in your work. We often reference studies performed by the Gallup Organization, which document that a large majority of those in the workforce are languishing in their jobs.

With the increased knowledge we have about work and the proliferation of new technologies that support smarter work habits, you’d think the percentage of people who are languishing in their jobs would start to decrease. But, this is not happening…

As documented in Tony Schwartz’s new book, "The Way We're Working is Not Working," the global workforce is still struggling to find engagement in their work.

“The consulting firm Towers Perrin’s most recent global workforce study bears this out. Conducted in 2007-2008, before the worldwide recession, it looked at some 90,000 employees in eighteen countries. Only 20 percent of them felt fully engaged, meaning that they go above and beyond what’s required of them because they have a sense of purpose and passion about what they’re doing. Forty percent were 'enrolled' meaning capable but not fully committed, and 38 percent were disenchanted or disengaged.

All of that translated directly to the bottom line. The companies with the most engaged employees reported a 19 percent increase in operating income and a 28 percent growth in earnings per share. Those with the lowest levels of engagement had a 32 percent decline in operating income, and their earnings dropped more than 11 percent. In the companies with the most engaged employees, 90 percent of the employees had no plans to leave. In those with the least engaged, 50 percent were considering leaving. More than 100 studies have demonstrated some correlation between employee engagement and business performance.”

So, 78% of the global workforce is either not fully committed or proactively disengaged in their jobs—and this was before the recession had an impact on these attitudes. It is probably safe to assume that things have gotten even worse as financial pressures have mounted for those in the workforce. If the researchers performed the study today (particularly in the real estate industry), they would probably have to create a fourth category below "disengaged" to capture all those people who are despairing!

While this research may seem like bad news, it actually presents quite an opportunity for a recruiter. Think of it this way: At least 78% of the people who you meet every day are either not fully committed or are completely disengaged in the relationship they have with their current employer. If your primary focus is recruiting agents from other real estate companies, that percentage is probably even higher. As you know, a person has to be experiencing some level of dissatisfaction to make a change. The happy people stay put.

If you’re responsible for recruiting, the important question becomes: How do you tap this deep level of disengagement and help people find engagement in your organization? I’ll cover this topic in more detail in our upcoming discussions, but here is a quick summary of what needs to happen:

You Need to Be Engaged In Your Work. You’ll never be able to convince someone they will find engagement and satisfaction in your organization if you’re not personally engaged in your work. While being in a job that matches your talents is important, researchers are now learning that how you complete your daily tasks has a major impact on how much engagement you’ll experience.
Surround Yourself With Those Who are Engaged In Their Work. Have you ever been on a team that is truly engaged in their task? If so, then you know that engagement is contagious. But, lack of engagement is also contagious. In fact, the negative inertia created by whom you associate with is one of the most significant factors that hinder personal growth. If a candidate's hope is to better their life by joining your team, they better find support when they get there!
Become an Engagement Expert. With the previous two foundational issues in place, learning to communicate on the topic of engagement is one of the most powerful recruitment tools you can possess. But to be effective, you’ll have to become more knowledgeable on this topic and be able to speak to others on a new level. Don’t worry, it is not as hard as it sounds!

I look forward to working through these topics over the next couple of weeks. For now, see if you can put these three items into practice.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How to Raise your Expectations: And Get What You Expect

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

We all intuitively realize that each person within an organization should be productive and perform at a level that justifies their position and salary. It's not unrealistic to expect everyone to enjoy contributing their part to the overall goals of the company, and offer no excuses for poor performance.

We also all know that there are plenty of people in every company who don’t contribute and leave us uneasy about how to treat them.

The Great Dr. Harry Levinson (psychological consultant to numerous organizations) has a keen eye for perceiving the most fundamental problems with management. One of the primary problems he has found in the hundreds of companies that he's researched and consulted with is the universality of what he calls “management by guilt.”

The crux of management by guilt is the tendency to not hold people accountable for how they should be performing due to the manager’s internal discomfort around conflict and disappointment. In his research, Levinson has repeatedly witnessed managers reporting feeling like a “not nice person” when they had to confront people with the reality of their poor performance. When this pattern has been set, managers will typically procrastinate dealing with these individuals who clearly have not been doing what’s expected, for years.

This irrational way of managing comes from our general reluctance to deal with what reality tells us, if that reality forces us to see and feel our disappointment in someone’s performance. This is usually an overly developed conscience at work. Additionally, people who are poor performers often elicit our sympathy and have a way of making others feel guilty if they are confronted. This sets up the destructive little dance that can continue indefinitely. In the meantime- the company, the team, and the person who is allowed this leniency; are all left to languish.

Management by guilt typically follows a six step process:

Disappointment in the subordinate;
Failure to confront him/her realistically about his/her performance or behavior;
Procrastination in reaching a decision about him/her;
Covering up with false compliments to ease the guilt of the disappointment;
Transfer to another position;
Finally, discharging the person.

Levinson goes on to say that the consequences of the above often include:

The subordinate's occupational opportunities are either impaired or destroyed in the name of kindness;
Executives hurt each other as they transfer this person;
The company suffers because the subordinate often draws a salary for years without producing adequately.
(Harry Levinson; Selected Articles, 2009)

Remember, A poor performer has an impact on much more than their immediate, obvious responsibilities. I have personally witnessed individuals bottleneck an entire department because of their refusal to do what was expected.

Here are some quotes from Dr. Levinson about this topic that we each need to etch in granite:

"Each person must see adequate reaction to his performance and behavior if he is to govern it accordingly."

"When after two or three direct discussions of a person's performance, she is unable to change her behavior to meet the requirements of her position, it is a reasonably safe assumption that the person cannot change voluntarily."

"Unless a Leader takes charge, and makes it clear that she is in charge, her subordinates are likely to continue to challenge her and to be in conflict with each other."

Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Why Do People Hate to Pick up the Phone to Recruit? Part 2

Monday, October 18, 2010

Last week, I introduced you to Maureen Sharib, one of the few people on the planet who seem to enjoy recruiting by picking up the phone and calling people. I know it sounds strange, but such a person actually exists! And as promised, I’m going to share some of the things I’ve learned from Maureen's insight over the last couple of years. I can’t guarantee that the information will transform you into an enthusiastic phone recruiter, but it should help to improve your execution of this important fundamental.

Why do we hate to pick up the phone and recruit?

1. We’re scared. Most people are reluctant to recruit by phone because of fear.

“What prevents a [recruiter] from being successful on the phone? The biggest element is fear. Have you ever experienced a situation where you just knew the people you need to recruit are on the inside of a particular company’s four walls and the only way to reach them is via the telephone? In that situation, even though there was a large monetary incentive to reach those people, did you not do anything about them because you were afraid?”

The answer to these questions (for all of us) is “yes.”

Maureen’s advice..

“So, the very first thing you have to do is get over it. So get over it. Next be willing to admit that you’d like to fix this troubled aspect of your existence. The final step is to do something about it.”

Sharib details some well-established techniques for overcoming fear in phone recruiting in her feature article, "20 Calls to Change Your Attitude."

2. We’re great at rationalizing behavior that keeps us off the phone.

For example, some people think it is helpful to research the person (typically on the internet) whom you’re trying to recruit before making a call. Maureen’s take….

"I personally think this 'cold calling' versus 'warm calling' thing is a red-herring made up by people who find calling a complete and total stranger psychologically difficult. They somehow believe that if they spend half a day researching each person that they'll be more likely to establish a rapport with them. Perhaps 'warming' themselves up for half a day makes them slightly more effective. But if they made 10 calls instead they'd get much better results. At some level it is always a numbers game."

Another example: Some people think it is unethical to call companies with the intention of stealing their best employees. Nice try.

“It’s a fact that many people don’t want to call another on the telephone and ask for information much beyond what it takes to order a pizza. Because this is a basic truth about much of human nature there’s a repugnance that’s developed around the subject of phone [recruiting]. It’s intimated over and over again among individuals that it’s a borderline honest activity. Bolstering that repugnance are the lofty ministrations that usually emerge over the subject of calling another company’s employees and offering them another opportunity.”

These are just two of many examples. If you’re not calling, you’re somewhere on the continuum of rationalizing your inactivity. Maureen’s advice….hold yourself accountable to making the calls.

3. We’re lazy. Very few people are willing to do the work necessary to be successful at phone recruiting. The laziness applies to both becoming a student of successful recruiting methodologies and following through on the strategies that work.

Maureen published a very long article earlier this year that outlines an effective strategy for successfully engaging a passive candidate (i.e. someone who is not looking to change companies) in the first minute of talking to him/her. She uses a case study of one of her clients who would call passive candidates and leave the following message:

“Hello, my name is ___________. I located your contact information online and have a very exciting opportunity to discuss with you. Please reach me at (___) ___ – ____ to learn more about this great opportunity. I promise not to take more than a couple minutes of your time. I look forward to speaking with you; have a great day!”

This message was left with more than 200 candidates. The results? No callbacks. No interviews. No hires. Phone recruiter who is seriously depressed.

Maureen makes the point that if you’re willing to do some work, the results can be significantly improved.

Rule #1: Try multiple times to reach the candidate live. Never leave a message until you’ve called the person at least six times and got their voicemail.

Rule#2: When you get a candidate on the phone, be ready to answer the following questions/objections quickly: “How did you get my name?” and “I’m not looking to change companies right now…” while keeping their attention. One of the ways you could answer the second objection is:

“Nobody said you were looking for a job. The intent here is to locate and talk to persons who are happy in their positions with the idea that these people are likely to be the most productive.”

Maureen’s advice… become an expert at this stuff. The ROI on becoming a proficient phone recruiter is worth the time and effort.

Hopefully, I’ve whetted your appetite to learn more about becoming a competent phone recruiter. Reading Maureen’s writings is a great place to start, but there are many, many more experts who are willing to share their secrets…if you're willing to look.

Keep in mind that many of these experts do not specialize in the real estate industry. The upside to this reality is that there may be many fresh new ideas that have never been tried in real estate recruiting. The downside is that you’ll often have to translate their verbiage into something that makes sense for your business, and sometimes modify their methods to match your application.

Let me know what you are learning as you do your own research…

Why Do People Hate to Pick up the Phone to Recruit?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Hopefully, you’ve had an opportunity to read Dave Mashburn’s recent series on the importance of fundamentals (1,2,3,4). We’ve received a lot of great feedback from the insight that Dave has shared – It seems he has hit a nerve, identifying some issues with which we all struggle.

This got me thinking… What are some of the specific fundamentals that seem to hinder owners and managers who are responsible for recruiting? After working with hundreds of different managers and leadership teams over the last few years, there is one fundamental that stands out above all the others: sourcing candidates by phone.

We seem to universally dread this activity in the real estate industry, and in every industry in the marketplace, for that matter. Maybe you didn’t know this, but there are professional conferences dedicated to sourcing candidates. They even hold breakout sessions regarding why it is so difficult to pick up the phone and call people!

If everyone hates it so much, why do people keep doing it? You know the answer to this already—because it works! And, if you’re specifically trying to hire people away from your competitors, there is nothing that produces a better return on your time and money. I’ve heard many people try to rationalize this fact away, but it’s true: there is no substitute for picking up the phone and calling people if you strive to be a successful recruiter.

So, how do you overcome the deep internal resistance you feel toward this activity, and instead grow this fundamental into one of your personal strengths? There is no quick answer to this question. But, I’d like to introduce you to someone who can help you find the answer over time. Her name is Maureen Sharib.

Maureen owns a recruiting company, moderates the MagicMethod business networking site, and writes extensively on various recruiting sites such as the Electronic Recruiting Exchange. She is a very practical person who writes in a conversational manner. The only downside to her style is that her articles are very long. However, I’ve learned to stick with her stories because she ends up sharing some of her best tactics, if you’re willing to hang in there and listen.

In my next discussion, I’ll summarize a few things that I’ve learned from Maureen over the last couple of years. Until then, you may want to check out an article that weaves some of Mark Twain’s writing on “Pocket Hunting” (a interesting method of prospecting for gold) into the principles needed to be a successful phone recruiter. Enjoy!

Fundamentals matter: Stick to your Priorities

Monday, October 11, 2010

In my most recent articles (1, 2, 3), I’ve tried to stimulate some thinking about the critical importance of detailing your own set of fundamentals that you MUST focus on in order to succeed. The purpose of this series is to encourage you to have a list of principles or “rules” you will forever rely on, and even obsess over, to maintain the focus necessary for great performance. After all, we all know that if you fail to aim at anything in particular, you’ll most likely hit NOTHING at all. I strongly feel that too much of our day is spent performing tasks that do little for our long-term success, for the reason that most of us have never taken the time to build, much less, stick to a list of MUSTS.

I was reminded today of one of the more important principles via an email from my 25-year old son, Ryan. He is an account executive at a large local radio station here in Seattle. He shared how he lost one of his most lucrative accounts and is having to apologize, both to the client, and his boss, that he let some details slip through the cracks.

Now, how does this happen? How do you momentarily or insidiously lose track of one of your primary sources of revenue? This sort of thing seems very simple to track, and yet we all do it. I almost guarantee that most of us have, at some point, lapsed into the type of work day where we are so busy doing “all sorts of STUFF,” that we fail to prioritize the primary blocks that need to be built, from the extraneous, less important, fires to be put out. This is not limited to sales. It happens in every department, in every industry.

There is something about human nature that causes us to slowly lose track of the things that really matter most. We lose sight of how to prioritize — what details to invest enormous amounts of time into, and what details to delegate, deal with in two minutes, or completely ignore.

The primary problem is that we all want to please and not disappoint. It is not necessarily a sign of deep psychological distress to want to please people, be helpful, attend to squeaky wheels, and rush to out fires. After all, when there is chaos we want to fix it, right?

However, what most of us fail to do, is weigh the degree to which investing time in each fire is worth the energy expended. Imagine for a moment, now, if you had some magical, built-in computer program that flashed before your eyes saying, “This problem is not worth addressing personally– Delegate!”…or, “This complaint from an agent who has done little to perform and less to build up the overall goal of teamwork at the office, is not worth more than three minutes!” OR even better, “You have failed to contact xyz company in 4 weeks…BIG MISTAKE, as this agent/client represents $$$ off your company dollar and needs attention now!”

Unfortunately, you are probably not ever going to have such a sophisticated computer. (Maybe someday?) But you can build something similar, only if you are willing to take the time to prioritize ALL of your activities and follow a system to be reminded. By prioritizing all of your agents, your agent prospects, your clients, your clients’ most critical needs, and your agents’ most crucial tasks–you can begin to build your own system of sifting through all of the incoming data. As a result, you will become much more efficient, functional and intentional with your time.

Editor’s Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you’re an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the “comments” link below.

Social Networking: Are You Becoming the Right Kind of Expert?

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Earlier this week, I ran across an article written by John Sumser. John is one of my favorite recruiting columnists because he really makes me think. He’s a little like the Matt Drudge of recruiting—he seems to get things figured out a little ahead of the rest of us.

The article of interest concerns the time and energy it takes to maintain a social network on the internet. It is the first time I’ve seen some metrics on this topic. Any idea how long it takes to stay in touch with a social network of 1,000 people (not an uncommon size for many today)? Take a guess before you read on…

Through an interesting birthday celebration experiment, John shows that just to maintain the network at the “annual birthday greeting card level” takes five concentrated hours per week! The article is long, but entertaining, regarding how he reaches this conclusion.

Do you have this kind of time to dedicate to such an effort? It’s an important question to ask yourself because social networking is the type of activity that can eat up a whole lot of time if it is not controlled by some self-imposed boundaries.

If you are purposefully dedicating this much time, are you likely to get a return? John goes on to answer this question in a follow-up article. Here is his perspective:

“There is no correlation between having a big social media presence and:

being good at what you do
being smart
having something useful to say
being worth the attention
getting your work done
making sales
closing deals
getting new business
innovating
being a good place to work
getting smart people to work for you

Social media is no different than any other form of [media]. The message and the distribution channels tell you nothing about:

the biases of the author
organizational affiliationthe truth or falsity of any claims made
the accuracy of the material
whether or not the material is good for you
the utility of the idea

When new [media] technology takes root, the early adopters appear to have (and in some ways actually do have) more influence and authority than might otherwise be accorded them. Prowess with new technology can seem like subject matter expertise. Learning to tell the difference between publishing skills and functional utility is one of the new frontiers of literacy.”

The point: If you happen to be one of those people who spend the time and effort to master this new form of media, it doesn’t necessarily mean you know what you’re talking about. Mastering the media (at perhaps a very high cost with regard to time and effort) may give you a short-term advantage, however, it will be eventually overwhelmed by those who truly have the subject matter expertise.

What is the take away here? Don’t aspire to become a social networking expert. Instead, aspire to become a real estate expert who is proficient with social networking.

Editor’s Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you’re an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the “comments” link below.