My daughters have recently started to tell me that they think sometimes the way I sound and talk is rude. I am a straight shooter and clearly the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.

It did get me thinking that perhaps I need to adjust my tone or voice when speaking to them, to better position my point to my ‘target audience’. That way I’ll win more friends, be a greater influence and better with negotiating. Without sounding rude.

So how important is it to actually get across your point when you meet with and talk to people? And how are we getting our point across? Are we snagging people, getting them interested, or speaking in a foreign language?

We’ve been advised by a behavioural / organisational psychologist that how people behave through the recruitment process, all those little data points along the way, are directly correlated with job performance. How they’d work on the job.

We have had a candidate this year who was quite excited initially about the job she was applying for. So excited that after meeting me she repeatedly called to see where things were at. Needed reassurance if she hadn’t heard from me each day regarding each step in the recruitment process. Turns out this kind of behaviour is how she performs on the job too. With worry, doesn’t like a lot of uncertainty, and isn’t openly embracing of change and the time it takes to improve systems.

Another example, opposite side of the tracks, is a candidate we recently placed as a Facility Manager of a Residential Aged Care Facility. A non-RN but experienced in managing nursing homes. That person couldn’t have been more obliging in terms of following the process – they followed process, understood deadlines and timeframes and where their responsibilities lied in that recruitment process. This candidate treated me, as a recruiter, with respect, took instruction and guidance well, gave nice feedback when appropriate and it was a match made in heaven. Turns out on the job this successful candidate exhibits the same sort of behaviour.

So have a think about whether you are being ‘rude’ and whether or not your children would tell you to ‘calm your farm’ as my youngest daughter Jessica says. It’s how we act during the process that determines your success on the job.

Data for Days

We recently engaged a business Process Engineer to analyse the last three years of recruitment placement data. Metrics for success have included:

1. Average tenure in a job being > 2.5 years being an indicator or recruitment success
2. 82.5% of all jobs P.J. has placed over the past 3 years have been with people who we have head hunted. THE POWER OF EXECUTIVE SEARCH
3. 40% of all jobs filled have been executive appointments, of those appointments 40% were male and 60% female
4. 60% of the jobs we have filled have been middle management, of those appointments 19% were male and 81% female.
5. On average the candidates we have placed in the past 3 years live 27km from the job we place them in. So people are willing to travel for the right role.