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Something I learnt very early in my career as a recruitment manager and later director was it pays to keep good records and track everything from, numbers to conversations and bright ideas. I refer to it as a swipe file.

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Words become actions and actions become habits.”

Frank Outlaw

Why might you want to do that?  Covering your tracks? Making sure you have an answer for your director if you are challenged? No, the exact opposite in fact, the better a billing manager you want to become the more information you need to keep.

Here are three straightforward reasons why keeping hold of the detail will make you a better manager.

 

Improved Performance

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Though it might surprise you I am a dab hand at making cakes; yes really. My fruit cakes are legend. Why? Well over a number of years I have perfected a recipe that works.

The good news for all concerned is that I wrote down exactly what I did and what I use; even to the brand of the ingredients and whether the measure is in grams or pounds and ounces.

How is it related? Well in my cake making skills I got to a point where I had perfected the technique so it gave me consistent results.

Let’s translate this in the recruitment context. As an example if you are having a performance discussion with one of your recruitment consultants and it hit the mark, you will probably have used particular questions that helped. Imagine how much easier it would be having a whole list of best practice templates, questions and ideas that you can action, confident in the knowledge that they will work and deliver the results you want.

[By the way on the Centredexcellence website one of our most visited pages is our resource section. I give away a number of templates and guides that will only cost you an email. Click here to access and download.]

 

Consistency 

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 As a billing manager you will experience similar management and business scenarios time and time again. Though the odd new experience will certainly raise its head you will also have a number of challenges that repeat themselves. If you keep great records you can check back, so that you can remember what worked in the past.

The question, “how did I do this last time?” will crop up. Your consultants will look for consistency and there is an unspoken expectation that everyone is treated the same and fairly. This is much easier to do if you keep good records and document the process.

Here is a simple example. If Andrew pulled in that great client in January and you bought him tickets for Man U, what are you going to do for Louise, whose recent win is just as valuable to the organisation? The experience and monetary value needs to be the same; doesn’t it. #Beconsistent.

 

It’s Always Good to Have Proof 

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In today’s world of litigation, email fauxpar’s and mixed messages it’s always good to keep electronic and or paper trails.

From a performance review with a consultant to how you helped the team double billings in 6 months, these are all important pieces of the equation when it comes to documenting your success.

The strange thing that I do notice is that few managers keep records like this consistently; do you?

The power of a cloud based email system as our back up of everything we do is a given, however it’s also a good idea to keep word documents or a process map that works or a job advert that created an avalanche of responses as your own go to resources; what if you decided to leave, potentially your own hard work could stay with your past organisation.

If you have kept scant records in the past, it’s time to change that now.

High performing consultants are the lifeblood of any successful recruitment organisation. The challenge starts when your recruiters underperform. There is a solution and I cover it in-depth in my latest ebook; How to Convert Your under Performers to Consistent Billers in 14 Days or less. You can download it here.

 

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Warm regards

 

Nicky