PART CLARITY. PART OPERATIONS

(5 min read)

In my follow-up visit with my coach, he was happy to see me. But even more happy to see that I had fallen off the deep end. Not because he wanted to see me suffer, but because he needed me to reach a breaking point — the point where I was ready to listen. He needed me to be receptive to trying something different. To move past my old self and embrace the possibility of becoming someone new — a more confident and in-control recruiting leader.

Are you at that point?

Do you need a little more confidence and control over your function?

Are you ready to try something new?

I hope you are. As I can attest…it worked for me and I don’t ever want to go back to the old way of doing things.

So as I sat down with my coach, I said “Okay…I’m ready. Give me the goods. What’s the big secret I’m missing out on? Why am I constantly behind the eight ball at work?”

And as most seasoned coaches do, he kept it really simple. He gave me just two clear objectives.

Here’s what he told me…

1. Set the stage for transformation by creating a clear vision for your team.

2. Create a system that drives the transformation.

He said if I can do these two things, I will get everything I want — to be a transformational leader, to feel more in control, to be seen as a strategic advisor to the business, to be a better boss to my people, and to get my worklife balance in line so I could spend more time with my kids.

It was brilliant! And I wanted to get started right away!

But I REALLY didn’t know exactly what he meant.

So I asked him to clarify the two objectives. And again, as the wise old coach that he was, instead of telling me the answers he started asking me a bunch of questions.

It went something like this…

SETTING A CLEAR DIRECTION

“So, James, tell me your three year talent acquisition strategy.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Over the next three years, what are you trying to build? What strategic choices have you made? What kind of recruiting function are you building here?” He said.

“Ummm. Well, I’m going to build a sourcing function. And get a new ATS. And we’re going to do interview training for managers.” I snapped back.

“Okay.” He said. “That’s not a strategy. Those are tasks. They might ladder up to a strategy. But those are tactical. Let’s try going up a couple levels. What is your “vision” for your talent acquisition team?” He asked.

“Well, my vision is to have a couple more Recruiting Coordinators, a couple Sourcers and some new technology that makes us more efficient.” I proudly responded.

My coach looked down at me over his glasses and said “That’s not a vision son. That’s just a set of desires. Let’s try one more thing and then we’ll move on to some other questions. What is the mission for your team? What big, audacious, emotional feeling gets you and your team out of bed every morning?”

Feeling like my answer wasn’t going to be to his liking, I simply conceded, “I guess we really don’t have a mission. We just come in here every day and try to fill jobs as best as we can.”

“That’s okay. Thanks for being honest” He said. “And for what it’s worth, that’s what most of your peers do too. But these three things — mission, vision and strategy — are the foundation of setting a clear direction for your team. You need to spend some time developing these with your team, got it?

“Got it.” I said.

I was starting to see the method my coach was using to explain his two pieces of advice. And it was working. So I surrendered to the process and let him continue to unpack the things that contribute to a well-oiled recruiting function.

He went on…“Now let’s talk about systems and operations.”

OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS ARE THE KEY

“So, tell me about your operational meetings.” He asked.

“Operational meetings?” I responded.

“Yeah, like, what meetings do you hold regularly to keep your function operating smoothly.” He said.

“Oh, okay. Well, I have a monthly team meeting…usually. Sometimes I have to cancel because I get pulled into things. And I meet with my boss. Mostly when she has time. And I meet with my ATS vendor once per month too. Is that what you mean?” I said.

“Sort of.” He said. “Those are two types of meetings — let’s call those Team meetings and Vendor meetings. But to really get your recruiting function under control and prevent overwhelm, you need to identify the key pieces of your function that allow it to work really well. What are those things for you?” He asked.

“Well, I guess I should have a Budget meeting to make sure I’m not over budget. And a Goals meeting to make sure the team is on track with their goals. And maybe something with technology. Not sure what, but tech is moving really fast right now and I feel like I’m falling behind. Am I on the right track?” I asked.

“You are! You’re getting the concept. To optimize your time and your results as a leader, you need to establish a system of managing the most important operational things in your department. Otherwise, you just deal with them at the last minute. Like when a problem comes up or when an executive asks. By then, it becomes a mad scramble. Am I right?” He asked.

“Yep. That’s my life right now!” I said. “So what else?”

“Well, what about your people?” He asked. “How do you ensure that your people have goals, the right skills to meet the goals and that they’re focused on the highest priorities?”

“Ugh.” I grunted. “I’ll admit. Beyond setting goals at the beginning of the year, I’m so busy that I have a hard time planning any meaningful development activities or tracking progress.”

“I’m glad you realize that.” He said. “And I can tell you know that it’s important. So you have some work to do there too” he said.

“Okay, what else?” I asked.

“Well, some other areas that will help you operate a more effective recruiting function would be…

1. Systems around how you communicate to your key stakeholders

2. How you build culture and engagement on your team

3. How you prioritize and run key projects

4. How you measure all of your work.” He shared.

I cleared my throat. “Gosh. This sounds like a lot. I’m feeling overwhelmed again. I thought you said this will make me feel less overwhelmed!”

He laughed. “That’s okay. I’m introducing a new way of doing things. What you’re doing today isn’t working. What I’m proposing is a whole new way of running your function. It’s a new approach designed to get a completely different outcome. You have to trust the process. And build it too! I’m not an expert in talent acquisition. But you are. So you need to build these systems based on what you know about your industry and your company.”

IT’S OKAY…NO ONE TAUGHT YOU THIS STUFF

In this follow-up meeting with my coach, he set me on a journey to create clarity of direction for my team and build a system of continuous improvement that would bring order to my life and help me lead my teams through some of the most challenging days we would face together.

It took me another 10 years, but I would eventually write a book about my journey that details a framework to becoming a more strategic, confident, and in-control talent acquisition leader.

If you stick with me here, I’m going to give you the framework for free because I think everyone should have it.

But first, I want to take a half step back.

I realize I threw a lot at you.

I may have even made you feel more overwhelmed because you’ve started to realize that maybe you don’t have a mission or a vision for your team. Maybe you don’t have a crystal clear, written strategy that guides your actions. Perhaps your operations are not governed by a fancy framework.

If that’s the case, that’s okay. It’s not your fault!

They don’t teach you this stuff in college!

And when they put you in your role, people just assumed you already knew how to run a world class recruiting function, right?

The reality is; however, that most of us are thrown into the Head of TA position without a lot of preparation.

In the next section, let’s find out why that is and start talking about how we’re going to fix this once and for all!