“Time is money” is a cliché, but it’s very relevant in recruitment.

Pressure to lock down new clients, find top candidates and fill more roles can take its toll on productivity. Through trying to be as productive as possible, as a recruiter, you can can end up being counterproductive.

Here are five ways in which you can increase the productivity of your recruitment business.

 

1: Dip into your existing resource pool

Rather than always looking for new candidates to fill roles, why not look back at ones you’ve worked with previously. If they didn’t meet the requirements of a client before, it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t fit the brief in the future. The likelihood is that you already have a bevy of qualified candidates in your contacts book, they just haven’t been the right one for the roles you’ve filled so far.

So, instead of reaching out to new candidates each time you have a new role to fill, take a look at your existing candidate pool and see what’s already available at the touch of a button.

Taking this approach will free up your time considerably, allowing you to focus our energy on your clients. Why?

  • You won’t have to spend so much time posting on job boards
  • You won’t need to spend so much time on the phone getting to know new candidates
  • You’ll be able to match potential candidates to the roles quicker, as you already have a base knowledge of their experience, skills and capabilities
  • You’ll be able to run a quick search of your database to find candidates who meet the relevant criteria

 

2: Manage your time effectively

There’s nothing better than a straightforward to-do list to keep you on track. Whether you use pen and paper or opt to go paperless, creating a daily action list each day will make you more organised at work.

A successful to-do list should highlight your workload in order of most important through to least, and should break down what you need to do, when you need to do it by and how long it will take to complete.

As a huge fan of to-do lists, I have a strict list routine that I stick by and swear by. I personally stick with the traditional pen-and-paper list, partly so that it remains in full view on my desk so that I can also see what I’ve done and what’s left to do (and also for the pure satisfaction of crossing something off when I’ve finished it). There’s no correct way to do a to-do list, however, if you’re wondering how to get started, I’ve shared my approach:

  • At the beginning of each week, I create a list of everything I need to complete by Friday and break it down into priorities.
  • At the very beginning of each working day, I write down what I need to accomplish and cross each task off as I go. I’ll also add anything I didn’t manage to accomplish the day before, and shuffle the priority order to fit the workload in.

Ten recruitment KPIs you need to know

3: Keep it simple, stupid

Make your work processes as simple as possible. You’ll save time, become more efficient and, in turn, more productive. Here are some ways in which you can take your routine from complex to simple:

  • Cut out any steps that aren’t essential to your success.
  • Consider alternative ways to communicate with your clients and candidates, an email can be as effective as a 15-minute call.
  • Keep track of how much time you spend on each of your processes. This will highlight where your time is being wasted and where it could be better spent.
  • Allocate time to complete different elements of work, and stick to these time slots. If you overrun, consider how you can change this process to make it slicker and simpler.

 

4: Stop trying to multitask

As busy as the person in the office who is on the phone, sending out emails and completing admin at the same time looks, how good is the quality of their work?

Before diving headfirst into a day of non stop multitasking, it’s worth considering whether this will actually bring you the results you need. Unless you’re a superhero or Father Christmas, it’s impossible to deliver all of you workload at the same time without compromising on its quality.

Your energy is better spent tackling one job at a time, focusing your effort on achieving top results across the board. There’ll be fewer amends, fewer mistakes and less back-and-forth.

And if you’re not convinced by what we’re saying, check out the results of this study conducted by Stanford University. In short, they found that multitasking can actually do more harm than good, damaging your brain’s cognitive functionality. So, whilst multitasking might make you look good in the office, and help you get a lot done in a short amount of time, it can actually have a negative effect on your quality of work and your career.

 

5: Take advantage of the technology on offer

We live in a digital world, and we’d be foolish not to take advantage of the technology around us, irrespective of the fields we work in.

For recruitment agencies, there’s an abundance of tech that has been designed to streamline all of your processes, from managing your candidates to crafting the perfect job ads and email. We created the ultimate online recruitment toolkit a while back, which has some great resource suggestions.

The technology available to you does much more than just automate processes. It frees up time and resource, so that you can focus on what matters the most to the success of your agency.

An all-in-one back office solution is part of the product we offer to recruitment agencies. It makes it easy to manage your placements, with full visibility over your contract business, online contracts, timesheets and invoices and one-click reporting. You can read more about it here.

 

Have a go at incorporating these tools into your recruitment business and you’ll see an influx of productivity across the board.