HR Pulse

#Recruiterlessons from the Savage Truth Tour

More than 300 South African recruiters joined the Federation of African Professional Staffing Organisation (APSO) at the Savage Truth seminars held in Cape Town, Durban and Joburg earlier this month. The feedback showed that the delegates got everything they hoped and more, and you only have to look at the Tweets that were flying during the seminars to see that Greg’s experiences and insights really resonated with local recruiters.

Thanks to the Onyx Digital Team who performed the research on the “Tweetup”, we’re able to share the key #recruiterlessons from the seminars. If you’re interested in seeing the detailed empirical content analysis, a report containing valuable insight into the power of social media interaction during events of this type, then simply click here.

Top 25 #recruiterlessons from Greg Savage

1. The future of recruitment is where technology meets human influence
2. A tsunami of structural change is going to hit the staffing industry in South Africa very soon
3. Some recruiters still operate as they did 30 years ago! Get up to speed with all the new gadgets
4. Top recruiters need to cultivate intelligent optimism and a positive mental attitude
5. SA recruiters need to specialise in a niche and go deeper
6. Proactive recruiting is the way to succeed. Identify, source and attract your talent. Become a true talent magnet
7. Clients see social media as an alternative to recruiters. Turn your attention from job boards to social media!
8. Social media is the future of recruitment and the ROI on social media is that your recruitment business will still exist in five years
9. Build a social media profile that creates a following! Then potential clients and candidates will start calling you
10. Every recruiter should be on LinkedIn but beware, it’s out to replace you as a 3rd party talent facilitator
11. Greg bets that one day LinkedIn will ban recruiters once corporates have fully entrenched themselves
12. Don’t work on jobs you can’t fill. Don’t be afraid to walk away. Use your time well for clients who are serious
13. Recruiters create the right match, not job offers
14. Success comes from lots of quality activity, done with the right people
15. Recruiters burn more candidates than we help. Candidate care is critical, so treat your candidates well to reap the results
16. The definition of a “candidate” is changing from someone who is “looking for a job” to everyone who is “available to change jobs”
17. There is only one recruitment metric that counts...Client-Candidate Interviews (CCI)
18. Countering the counter-offer starts in the first interview. Remind candidates that their ultimate loyalty is to their own career
19. Fun and money are excellent reasons to go to work!
20. Hire talented recruiters who respond well to your management style and let your competition hire the mediocre ones
21. Leverage your (and your business’) strengths by hiring recruiters much better than you, and who will bill better than you
22. Managers have subordinates but leaders have followers. Remember, people don’t leave companies, they leave managers
23. Great leaders provide clarity. Clarify what you consider good and acceptable and let every employee know where they stand
24. Real-time coaching is more powerful than training because you can reinforce positive behaviour and correct those drifting
25. Celebrate wins, small and frequent, and encourage your team to constantly reach for new heights

It’s plain to see that things are changing, or have already changed, and only those recruiters who are brave enough to do things differently will remain relevant. APSO is committed to empowering our members to embrace these changes, grow their business and will continue to bring in experts like Greg Savage. We send all our events onto HR Pulse so follow the publication on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn  and Google+  for more information.