Whenever a recruitment business is struggling to grow there is a reason. In fact, there are a few and generally they aren’t what people think.
Here is one for you that I see consistently……What is it?
If it’s to be its up to me….
Simply put it’s the belief that if a task or activity needs to get done and quickly, then I must do it myself!
Even if it means doing something you don’t really enjoy or doing something that someone else less qualified than you can do. For some bizarre reason, recruitment business owners have the misguided belief that its quicker and better if they do nearly everything themselves.
A classic example
So for example, if you were walking through the sales floor and you overheard one of your staff having a problem with a potential placement, rather than working with their billing manager to sort out the problem, you jump straight into a conversation with the consultant, going over the head of the manager to get a quick result………….you’ve got a problem.
A better reaction to this would be – that as soon as you hear the problem arise, make a note to have a discussion with the manager at a pre-set time, it could be in their weekly review and then coach them through to a solution of how they could stop this from happening again and get the right result for all concerned.
Why is it important to understand this syndrome?
Because if you are serious about growing your recruitment business, and building a top performing self-motivated team, then you absolutely have to set it up so the business can run without you being there 24/7.
[Important takeaway: Read that last sentence again…. it’s so important.]By acting in the way, we shared in this example, then you are the success blocker to your growth. By the way I can give you multiple ways that directors and CEOs step in where they shouldn’t; writing a job advert, writing a blog post, spell checking an email, being the only person that can choose an image from IStock …..!! The list goes on.
The truth?
You must set it up so that you can fire yourself from the business. So, what are the ramifications if you don’t avoid the; “To get it done, I’m the one” Syndrome.
- Your recruitment business will stop growing when it reaches your capacity… rather than the organisations capacity.
- You might see this happening currently, perhaps you’ve struggled to get beyond a team of 10 or go from 20 to 30 consultants. #itsyourfault #successblocker
- It’s exhausting and will eventually will lead to burnout or losing your mojo-unfortunately I have seen this happen far too many times.
The thing is, as the business grows, the number of tasks and decisions needed will increase and there is only one of you. It’s fine to be like this when you have a small team around you as you can be on the desk with them and then answer questions and decisions as you go along.
As your team grows it becomes physically impossible to be there all the time……………and for everyone.
As individuals we spread ourselves too thin. We are often asked to wear all the hats in the business.
For example, we need to focus on:
- Customer acquisition
- Relationship management
- Recruiting
- Administrative work and more…………
But the truth is that by spreading ourselves so thin we are missing out on bigger opportunities.
One of the key things that Sir Richard Branson is focused on when he starts up a new business is what and who does he need in place, so that he can fire himself from this business and step away and leave it to thrive?
Stepping away must become a priority for you , otherwise, you will ALWAYS be busy and overwhelmed, getting to the end of each day thinking; “what have I actually accomplished today?”
Even if you ignore my advice, though it may take 5 – 7 years, you WILL burnout and you WILL lose your mojo.
Then self-doubt will begin to creep in and you’ll begin to question your own abilities……. And this is a dark place to be.
The thing is this syndrome causes a lack of results over a sustained period. The voice inside your head gets louder and you’ll begin to question if you are a capable leader….
…………Asking, “what’s wrong with me – why can’t I grow the business?”
The truth is there is nothing wrong with you – it’s a matter of changing this habit.
What is even worse, is……..
You will create a team that cannot survive without you.
By having this syndrome, you create total co-dependency and they will not be able to make a decision without having to pass it buy you first. This not only is exhausting for you, you’ll never be able to be away from the business without things going belly up!
You’ll disempower great people who will eventually leave because they are not feeling challenged enough………………………..and then it gets even worse and your business is struggling, all the time.
How can you stop ‘do it all syndrome’ now?
So here are 2 quick things that you can do to fire yourself from the business fast.
1. Make time more important than money.
One of the biggest shifts for me when I took my business to a level I never believed possible, was my realisation that time is more precious than money.
Now a lot of people don’t act as though that’s true. A lot of people act as though money is the scarce resource and it’s their money that they need to protect but they don’t realise you need to protect your time in the same way.
The fact is, you can always make more money but you can’t manufacture more time…… though you can buy other peoples.
These days, as a consumer, I regularly spend money on things that save my time because I understand how valuable my time is. I know that within an hour or within a day I’m able to go and create something for my business that will bring in income, not just this week or month but for years to come.
It’s the same for you.
You could be spending your time opening strategic relationships with your top clients or finding great consultants that will give you a return year on year, or developing amazing new directors that will enable you to accelerate growth.
So, you must have that same attitude that your time is more precious than your money and so just as you protect your money, you have boundaries in place.
For instance as you do things like check your change, you check your bank statements and you have some consciousness about where you’re spending your cash, you must have that same level of consciousness about where your time is going.
2. Say no to things that simply don’t fit into your key business priorities.
Get clear on what you do well and what to say goodbye to. As a rule of thumb, if someone asks me to do something and I don’t feel good about it or feel I’m sacrificing something for it, then I say no thanks…
In today’s super connected world there will always be a bright shiny object around the corner waiting to take you of track.
If you find it hard to say no easily, think about having a set script that you can read that says no nicely; it’s easier than you think.
Ready to take act?
If you want to know how other recruitment owners, make this strategy work for them get in touch here.
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.
