| |
you have a certain amount of power, not over them, but
for them. Constantly fleeting problems up the chain or
not supporting your troops will result in a loss of your
power. Loss of that power amounts to losing owner-
ship. Being decisive and taking total responsibility for
your station or zone gives you power – you need to gain
the confidence and trust of your team as well as your
superiors. Keep in mind that, once you give up your
power or ownership, it’s pretty tough to get it back. To
illustrate the point consider the following situation:
Two zones in an NRD missed goal last month. The
CR asked both ZSs what had happened.
l Chief Small said his recruiters just got lazy and
didn’t prospect enough. He said he kept telling them
they were behind, but they didn’t listen. Chief Small said
he really could use some good RINCs.
l Chief Good said she had been a bit too late in
identifying training needs in two stations. She said she
had already rectified the problem and would be
following up weekly until they were back on track. She
also told the CR that she had implemented a tickler
system to monitor training needs and make sure this
problem would not happen again. Chief Good said her
zone was motivated and ready to meet the new month’s
goal.
Chief Small did not accept the responsibility for
missing goal. By blaming his subordinates, having no
plan of action, and admitting his lack of leadership
ability, he gave away his power. Chief Small forced the
CR to take control and direct the course of action for the
zone.
Chief Good, on the other hand, did accept
responsibility for her zone. She was already enacting a
solution and had taken steps to make sure the problem
did not recur. The CR could trust that Chief Good was
on top of the situation and allow her to keep control of
the zone.
You Will Set the Tone
As a recruiting supervisor, you will set the tone for
your folks. They will look to you as the seasoned
professional to let them know what is important.
Remember, you get what you inspect, not what you
expect. Be involved. Be positive. If you believe, they
can believe.
MOTIVATIONAL SKILLS
Recruiting
supervisors must understand what
motivates their people and how to increase that
motivation to be successful. Some textbooks tell us there
are three types of motivation: hammer, carrot, and
internal.
Hammer
The hammer method is motivation based on the
subordinate’s fear of retribution. There are times when
a hammer method can serve as a short-term
attention-getter. It can only work in the short term
because it has such a negative impact on attitude.
Recruiting is a job that requires a positive mental
attitude. The hammer method does nothing to promote
positive attitudes. Before using the hammer method,
think of the result. Will there be a benefit in the long
run?
Carrot
The carrot method of motivation consists of
rewarding good behavior. Recruiting is replete with
awards that contribute to carrot motivation. They are
motivators for the award recipient as well as those who
may envy the recognition. Carrot motivation can be as
simple as saying “Well done” or patting a person on the
back. Even positive motivators, however, have their
limits. What happens when the “love me” wall is full?
When recruiters attain all the awards that are available,
they may tend to lose motivation and momentum.
Internal
Many people believe the only true motivation is
internal motivation. It must come from within the
individual. So, if the only effective, long-term
motivation is internal, what can supervisors do to
motivate their personnel?
Our job is to stir up the internal fires, encourage,
and help every individual to find that internal “go”
button that will make them successful. One motivational
speaker compared motivating others to stoking a fire.
When a fire has died down to just a few hot coals, you
take a few healthy jabs with a poker. Pretty soon,
without having added anything at all, you have a nice
roaring fire again. Recruiting supervisors need to be fire
stokers.
1-5
|
