It has been my tenet over the past three years, as I've grown into my role with Tidemark, that we don’t "recruit" – we build relationships.  Every now and then I have a little epiphany.  For example, two years ago, while folding laundry, it occurred to me that the essence of recruiting is relationship building, and most all of the managers with whom I have worked with have a natural talent for that.  So, the question then became, “How do I promote this paradigm shift?”  Well, I had another mini-epiphany the other day…With whom do you WANT to build a connection or relationship with over time?  So, let’s "Reframe Recruiting," as Dr. Dave Mashburn would say.  Dave touched on this topic a couple of years ago, from a slightly different perspective — I recommend reading that brief blog as well.

I have consulted with hundreds of managers on this topic.  When I ask how many agents are in a manager’s pipeline, I often get an answer that is in the hundreds.  Now that is a daunting and exhausting task!  Developing quality relationships with hundreds of people?  That explains, at least in part, why 75% of the respondents to a survey we conducted reported the part of their job about which they hear the most complaints is recruiting.  No wonder!  Imagine trying date 100 or more people at once!

It is my belief that effective recruiting comes from selecting a smaller subset of candidates and nurturing that pipeline.  As I have said in the past, most managers are excellent at building and cultivating relationships.  They are good at this aspect of their job because they enjoy it.  However, everyone has a saturation point.  I think it is safe to say that managing and keeping track of hundreds of relationships at various stages could be counter-productive.  When you sit down to the task of recruiting with this mindset, you run the risk of facing “paralysis of analysis,” and may be more inclined to find another task you rationalize as being more important.  

You are not going to win everyone over, but by narrowing your focus, you will become more engaged in the process, and more inclined to enjoy this critical component of your job, thereby engaging in it more often…and ultimately getting closer to reaching your goals.

Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.