Two traits recruitment leaders must have

I have realised over time that the core of outstanding leadership is ‘Empathy with Accountability’

This is your mantra for leading recruiters to achieve optimal outcomes and happy staff.

By empathy, I mean treating people with respect. Understand they are having a bad week, have a sick child at home, and have lost confidence after having 3 offers turned down. Understand they can’t keep the same pace forever.

Empathy.

But accountability is about holding people to the commitment that they made. Bring them ‘into the tent’, spend time explaining and demonstrating the ‘success formula’, so they understand and endorse that success depends on a certain amount of activity and an agreed level of quality. Explain that in our organisation, we meet certain standards of service and behaviours for all stakeholders: clients, candidates, and colleagues.

Watch the video snippet from the Savage Recruitment Academy training library, and read the full story below.

“We agree that the success in our business relies on these activities and on this quality. We will train you and support you and reward you, but you are accountable for delivering it.”

Empathy and accountability.

I see recruitment companies that are all about accountability and targets. Do 100 of these. Do 20 of those by lunchtime, or you’ll get fired. That is not leadership.

And I see others that are run like some hippie commune where it’s all about the crystals and the love, and that’s total nonsense. It’s companies like that that describe themselves as a “family” but fire you if you have a bad quarter. Some ‘family’!

Yes, a leader must show real care but also address shortfalls in performance and effort.

There are plenty of things your team will ‘want, ‘and in many cases, they deserve them. But always, the leaders must deliver what is needed, even if it is not what people want at that time. Again, the way it is explained, the respect shown and much more will be part of this.

Leadership is not a popularity contest.

People will remember you, value you, and respect you for giving them what they needed at a time of low results, hubris, arrogance or low effort.

Because you will help them succeed by being empathetic, but holding them accountable

And that is a leader’s real job.