Do you consider yourself a competitive recruiter or team recruiter? When I first started recruiting, I was in a very competitive environment. We were driven by increasing our commission and finding the best candidate for positions that our colleagues were also trying to recruit for. This created a race to the best candidate and whoever made contact first claimed ownership which meant they had won- they had crossed the finish line. It was a fun-loving environment with great people and great recruiters, but it also created some underlying animosity and cut-throat practices. The company was extremely successful due to everyone’s desire to win and we made a whole lot of fills for our clients. However, it started to feel like we were cheering each other on in meetings just to go back to our own private cubes to curse one another’s successes and create game plans to do better next time so that the next fill would be ours.
This was the only type of recruiting I believed existed, other than corporate recruiting, until I found an organization that thrived on “Team Recruiting.” With this sort of model, teams of recruiters not driven by commission, work collaboratively together to fill the needs of their clients. They truly celebrate each other’s successes because it is always a group effort. There are many players in this type of recruitment model, including Sourcers, Recruiters, Senior Recruiters, Team Leads, and Managers. When a client’s requisitions are filled, it is due to the efforts of everyone involved, not just one individual. This leads to bigger celebrations when goals are met, comradery within the workplace, and more individual investment in organizational goals. I love being able to look around the office and know that we are all equally invested in everyone meeting personal goals in order to meet our Team Goal. I also know that when faced with a harder to fill position, my teammates will have my back and I will have theirs.
The alternative model usually comes with commissions on top of good base salaries, but at a price of increased stress at the office, longer hours, and poor work-life balance. The companies are not bad themselves- just their model is flawed. Where they can bank on their recruiters trying to have a competitive edge over one another, they must also be careful that these internal rivalries do not start to outweigh or outshine serving the client.
Team Recruiting is a model based on serving the client best. Your customer can always count on the recruiting team to support one another and always have the work covered and completed, regardless of holidays, illness, or vacation. In these situations, the team doesn’t care who gets credit for the work, just that the team completed the assignment successfully and the client is happy. In Team Recruiting, we do not compete with one another- we compete with other organizations supported by recruiters who are already turning on one another. Our team stands to win.
By Amanda Cunningham | People Science Talent Advisor