December 6, 2023 • 34 mins
In this episode, we're tackling a crucial aspect of business growth — building out your recruitment funnel. Many entrepreneurs, in the rush to get help, often find themselves with hires who might not be the perfect fit. To avoid that, we are exploring how building out an effective recruitment funnel can lead you to your ideal candidate.
There are many hiring challenges, from hiring individuals who can't fulfill the required tasks to dealing with constant requests for direction, ineffective training, or mismatches in attention to detail, the wrong hire can be a major setback. We'll share real examples and practical tips on avoiding these pitfalls.
If you’re ready to get much more strategic with your hiring, we’re discussing actionable steps, real-life examples, and step-by-step instructions to guide you through the common pitfalls.
If you are ready to take your recruitment to the next level, we've got you covered. Don't miss the link to our exclusive mini-course, "The Hiring Bootcamp," designed to help you build your recruitment funnel with ease. Plus, it's currently on sale, so seize the opportunity to enhance your hiring process.
https://www.georgiafitzgeraldcoaching.com/HiringBootcamp
Connect with Us:
Share your thoughts on this topic with us on Instagram @pipharland and @iamgeorgiafitzgerald. At Scaling Simplified, we're dedicated to supporting fellow female business owners on the exciting journey to seven figures and beyond and we always love to hear from you. 🚀💼
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https://www.georgiafitzgeraldcoaching.com/SS
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pip (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the podcast.
(00:03):
Today we are talking about somethingthat you may or may not have heard of.
I am certainly going to put my handsup and say I had no idea what one
of these was when I first startedmy business, but my goodness has
it made a massive difference tomy ability to grow my business.
And this is a recruitment funnel.
(00:24):
So have you ever just hired somebody?
That somebody's recommended, like afriend has been, Oh, you know what,
Laura, she's really good at this.
You should hire her or somebodyat work that someone said,
Oh, you speak to Johnny.
Cause like Johnny'sreally good at X, Y, Z.
And so you go, yeah, brilliant.
Fine.
You can come work for me.
And then.
(00:44):
Actually, you know, you get a little bitfurther down the line and you realize this
maybe wasn't the best idea and it now hasbecome really awkward because you've hired
the friend or the friends of the friendand you just sort of did it all in a bit
of a, I need help, panic, great, perfect,you look great, come on in, let's work
for me, and then you start to regret it.
I'm sure I'm not the onlyperson that has been there.
(01:06):
But if this is the case, this isdefinitely the episode for you because a
recruitment funnel is going to honestlychange your life and change your business
and help you if you're really readyto scale up to that seven figure mark.
So Georgia, I know that this is yourabsolute zone of genius, and I cannot
wait to pick your brains on all ofthis on behalf of everybody listening.
, Georgia (01:27):
what.
Pip (01:28):
point do we need to be at in business?
And what are the signs that actuallya recruitment funnel is something
that we need to actually starttaking seriously and start thinking
about building in our business?
I love this
Georgia (01:40):
topic, and the situation you just described, I think
so many people have been in.
They hired a friend, their friend actuallycan't do what they need them to do, and
now everything's just got really awkward,and they don't know how to handle it.
So, They're never going to makethat mistake again once they finally
extricated themselves from that.
(02:01):
Now, I'm not joking, I've heard aboutpeople that have kept people on their
payroll for two years because they felt soawkward about the whole situation and they
didn't know how to bring it to a close.
But this person that they've beenpaying for two years isn't actually
able to do what they need them to do.
(02:22):
Or worse, you hire someone becauseyou're really short of time.
And then every day they come toyou asking what you would like
them to do, asking for direction.
So not only have yougot your own to do list.
to worry about, but you're now stressingabout, Oh, I've got to remember
what to give this person as well.
So as you say, they feel like they'recreating more work than they're solving.
(02:43):
You might also feel like you've gotto give them loads of training because
you've brought this person in andactually they can't do any of the
things that you wanted them to do.
So now you've got to teach them, you know,they said, yeah, I'm, I'm good with it.
And actually they've never used Gmail.
They perhaps have neverdone anything on a website.
They're certainly not going tounderstand any of your other programs.
(03:04):
So you've just opened awhole can of worms there.
So you've got to give them thebasic training and training.
And for some reason you don't wantto lose face and say, this was a
huge error, actually, because IT islike the main component of this role.
, Or perhaps you brought someone elsein because you are not very detail
orientated and you need someone to makesure that every single stage of your
(03:27):
funnel is done, linked, perfectly set up.
And then you've actually hired someonewho is also not detail orientated and
misses one or two of the essential steps.
So it makes the whole thing pointlessbecause you, the non detail orientated
person, has to go back in and double checkevery stage and make sure it's happened.
(03:47):
So you start to wonder why you bothered.
, or maybe it's the other way around.
Maybe you...
need them to be really big pictureto remember all the different parts
that are going to have to fit inand that's actually too much for
them to deal with because It's justnot the way their brain thinks.
So by not putting really any considerationin before we hired this person, we
(04:13):
might end up with someone on ourpayroll for two years that can't do
any of the things that we needed helpwith, which is really a huge problem.
And one thing I can relate this to,if you haven't heard yet, or a similar
problem that we all end up with as westart building our business is when we're
first starting out, we're quite gratefulfor all the clients that come our way.
(04:37):
So it's really similar to when you signthat non ideal client, you know, at first
you're really thrilled that they've signedup, but you quickly realize actually,
This client is going to drain your energy.
They might be way too needy.
They might have arrived in victim mode andthey want you to solve all their problems.
Perhaps they're not at the levelthat you love to work with.
(04:58):
So actually it's really quite dullbecause you're being underutilized.
You know, you're notin your zone of genius.
So actually the problems thatyou're working on them, yes,
whilst they're paying you.
Or actually it's really draggingyour energy down and that's not
great for your other clients.
So we quickly learn in marketing thatwe need to attract the right clients.
So we set up this marketing funnelto make sure that the right people
(05:23):
are coming into our business andwe're working with the right people.
And hiring is exactly the same.
A recruitment funnel is really, really
Pip (05:32):
similar.
Okay.
I love that.
So I'm going to talk you through.
hIgh level how I do my marketingfunnel and then I'd love you
Georgia to like tell me how it'sdifferent for a recruitment funnel.
So I think a lot of peoplelistening will be quite familiar
with the marketing funnel.
So.
We sit down, we, we work outexactly who our ideal client is.
We understand who we want to work with,what the problem is that we're going
(05:54):
to solve, how we're going to help them.
And then we figure out howwe're going to talk to them.
What's going to attract them in.
What's the copy that's going toattract them in or the imagery or, you
know, what's the thing that's goingto get their attention and go, Oh,
well, I'm a little bit interested.
I want to find out more.
And then we figure outwhere they're hanging out.
So where are we going to find them?
Find these ideal clients of ours, howwe're going to then attract them in with
(06:19):
our social media or with our ads or,you know, with our reach out, however
we're, however we're finding them.
And then we bring them intoour world and we nurture them
and, you know, what have you.
And eventually we get them ona sales call and, or, you know,
we get them to a checkout point.
Or a no buy.
And hopefully, you know, at thatpoint we've got our customer.
(06:40):
So how would we switch this upin terms of recruiting instead
of bringing in an ideal client?
Georgia (06:47):
It's exactly the same idea.
When you get to that sales call,you know, straight away that this
client is, or isn't the perfect fit.
You know, you get that energy.
They're sitting in the right zoneof genius, you know, your knowledge,
you're going to have that, the rightconnection, it all fits together.
Exactly the same withour marketing funnel.
(07:08):
We're not just going to take someonethat our friend recommended, you know,
we're going to actually think aboutwho we want coming into our business.
So the same way we spend time working outexactly who our ideal client is, we're
spending time working out exactly whodo we need to come into our business.
Do we need someone with heaps of energy?
(07:28):
Do we need someone detail orientated?
Do we need someone that's going totake these, , run with running our
website or building stuff together?
We need to work out exactly who weneed to add value to the business.
Then we're going to startthinking about what.
What do we have that they'regoing to be interested in?
How do we attract this person?
(07:49):
You know, how do we bring themin and form that partnership?
How can we kind of serveeach other in this?
We're probably narrowing down, like,looking at the way they like to work.
, looking at how they like to work,who they like to work with, what
sort of environment, what are theirskills, what are not their skills?
What would be an amazingday at work for them?
(08:09):
What would make themwanna poke their eyes out?
You know, we are filtering allthis stuff before we even get
to the point of meeting them.
And then when we meetthem, we already know.
Everything about them.
And now it's about, havewe got a connection?
Can we see that going further?
And you quite quickly know, is thisthe right person or isn't this the
Pip (08:30):
right person?
Yeah.
It's so funny, isn't it?
When you're hiring, I, I probably cantell within the first couple of minutes
of speaking to somebody, whether they'regoing to be a good fit for the company.
And that's definitely taken time toget to that place, but you do have
generally just a gut instinct, especiallywhen you're application process and
your interview process up to thatpoint has been quite good at filtering
(08:51):
out the right or the wrong people.
Okay.
So let's dive into a scenario that I'msure a lot of people listening will
resonate with and talk about, you know,what we can do with a recruitment funnel
here and how we would add this in and, youknow, and all of the details around this.
So I think this is a prettycommon scenario based on a
(09:13):
number of people I've spoken to.
And that is, , we are say, Wehave somebody called Jane and
she has her own marketing agency.
So she's specializing indigital marketing services, say.
And so, you know, maybeyou, you relate with this.
You're really good at what you do.
You've got your business.
You're quite specialized andvery good at your one thing.
(09:34):
And you started out as a solopreneur.
You're doing everything yourself,kind of a bit like a freelancer.
And it's just you.
And then actually, because you'rereally good at what you're doing.
Your business has grown.
And so Jane, our example lady here withher business, , she's gained a reputation.
She's delivering exceptionalresults to her clients and
her business has really grown.
(09:55):
But the problem is, is that.
She just can't handle all thiswork, and she's gotten to a
point where she's the bottleneck.
More work, potential work,is coming through the door,
but she can't handle this.
And I'm sure this is, you know,it's a position a number of us
will resonate with very strongly.
What do we do in this situation?
Georgia (10:18):
Okay.
So the, the easy thing wouldbe your friend says, I know
someone that could help you.
My VA has got some extra hours.
Do you, do you want to take her?
Do you want her to come into the business?
Now, the problem with doing that isinstead of building out a recruitment
funnel, instead of getting really clearabout what she needs, like what she wants,
(10:39):
she's taken a really haphazard approach.
So she's.
Maybe bringing in a team member froma friend there and, or maybe there's
a word of mouth referral here orthere's a connection in her network.
And there's no structured process forfinding those candidates for vetting
them in terms of their skills, theirabilities, how they like to work,
what motivates them, the kind ofenvironment they want to be in, the
(11:02):
responsibilities they're willing to takeon, whether they are somebody that is
willing to take on responsibilities.
And there's no kind of vetting, , usingdata to see if they're the right person.
There's no kind of real onboardingprocess to make sure that
people are fitting together.
So the whole thing has gone a littlebit awry, to say the very least.
Pip (11:24):
This is funny because, and it's not funny because it is actually really
serious that you get this sorted, but.
The number of conversations I've hadwith clients about literally what
you have just described, it, I think,I think it's just the natural way.
You just want help.
So you go out and find help, but I know,you know, I've learned the consequences
of doing this the hard way, but whathave you seen with your clients about
(11:46):
if you are haphazard in this approachand you don't have a structure in place,
what does this potentially mean for yourbusiness and what's going to happen,
you know, or potentially some of thepitfalls that you're going to fall into?
I
Georgia (11:58):
mean, they're myriad, but I mean, imagine, let's
just take a different scenario.
Imagine that you run a health foodkitchen, you know, and, , it specifically
caters to vegan, to people who want avegan diet and suddenly world really
takes off about your cafe and you'vegot a line of people around the block
(12:19):
and your friend says, Oh my God,you're saying I'm really stressed.
I need someone to come in and help me.
And your friend says, I know a great chef.
. You should get in touch with them.
Now, what you fail to ask is, haveyou ever worked with that chef before?
Because often our friends, who havebeen really nice in helping us out,
are recommending people that they'venever even worked with themselves.
So they really have no idea, they justknow a name, but we love to be helpful.
(12:42):
Love to help each other out.
So you bring this chef in, andthen you quickly find out that
this chef is a specialist, Idon't know, in French cuisine.
So he's all about butter and sauces andcream and like, All these lovely, rich,
amazing foods, which are not a vegan diet.
So, you're almost asking him tocompletely retrain to fit into your
(13:05):
business, because you were really shortstaffed, whereas you actually, if you'd
spent five minutes thinking, I need avegan chef and I'm going to put an ad
in the local paper, you probably couldhave ended up with a better result.
So, the big thing that'shappening is inefficiency.
You know, you're wasting timeonboarding a team member.
Who probably doesn't, you know,in the chef's case, doesn't have
(13:28):
the right skills for this role.
Also, that team member maybedidn't have clarity coming in.
If, if the chef had knownthat this was a vegan kitchen.
They perhaps wouldn't have beenas interested in the role either.
So, then you're going to haveeven bigger issues going forward.
So, there's, we're not thinking,you know, round peg, square
hole, or the other way around.
(13:48):
We've got to make sure it's a matchon both, on both sides, so that we can
make sure that this is so efficient fromthe moment that they join our business.
Pip (13:57):
Yeah.
And of course, if you bring in thewrong person for the role, quality
issues are potentially going to becomesomething that happens really quickly.
If you bring in somebody that's notactually, doesn't have the required skills
or required experience for the role inquestion, and you've just hired them
because, you know, your friends said,Oh, actually they're really good at this.
(14:19):
I'm sure they're really good at that,but that's not maybe what you need.
It means that you risk then your servicequality declines and you have real
issues further down in the business.
And that might be somethingthat's very apparent immediately,
or actually something that canoften be worse where you don't.
Pick up this lack of skill orlack of knowledge fairly on.
(14:40):
And it's something that then becomesa problem later down the line as,
as the issue sort of built up untilit reaches that boiling point.
So I think something that we forget aboutthat is if you bring the wrong person
in, then they're not going to succeed.
And not only does that make themfeel terrible, but also, you know,
there's a real knock on effectpotentially on your business.
Yeah, and
Georgia (15:00):
them not succeeding and feeling terrible in the role, like being in
a role that doesn't match their skillset, that doesn't put them working in
their own zone of genius, means thatyour turnover is going to be high.
Because people aren't going to stay in arole that they're not enjoying, and then
if they're not enjoying it, there's, youknow, perhaps there isn't that structured
onboarding when they come in, the roleisn't defined, they start to become
(15:23):
a bit disengaged with everything, youknow, and they can then leave relatively
quickly, which is causes all sorts ofdisruption internally, but also with
Pip (15:33):
your clients as well.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, if you've got high turnoverof staff, if somebody's not
great at their job, likelihood isthey're not going to actually be
delivering very well for the clients.
The client's probably notgoing to be very happy.
They're probably notvery happy in their role.
So they're not going to communicatewith the client in the way that.
You might expect with the valuesthat you as a company, you know,
(15:55):
are known for, and that's who youusually would want to hire for.
And the knock on effect ofthat is not only as you say
internally, there's problems, butexternally there are problems.
And often because clients, you know, ifthere's a problem, you're going to deal
generally with your client first, becausethat's the revenue coming in the door.
You spend your effort and timedealing with the dissatisfied client.
But you still haven't dealtwith the problem of the team
(16:17):
member who's not the right fit.
And so you're in this little cycleof trying to put out the fire with
the client, but not dealing withthe cause of the fire, which is
actually internal within your team.
Yeah.
So now poor
Georgia (16:29):
Jane is suffering with extreme stress and burnout because,
you know, she's still trying to jugglethe business now manage all of this
stuff that's going on in the team.
And kind of make thingsbetter for her clients.
So, I mean, obviously in Jane's situation,this has spiraled quickly out of control.
But these things, you know, eventhese little niggles really can
(16:52):
have an effect on the energy that wefeel in the business, in the team,
the satisfaction of the clients.
And it's really simply solved by nottaking an ad hoc approach, you know,
realizing that that isn't sustainable.
And realizing that actually...
Team is one of the biggestinvestments we make in our business.
(17:13):
So why are we so blase about it?
You know, even when I speak, I speakto other business owners that have
invested in a coach, they might spendsix to 12 months looking at that coach's
content, following them, understandingif they are the right person for
them to invest in, in their business.
Yet they will take a recommendationfrom a friend who is probably
(17:33):
costing them more than that coach is.
Per month and potentially causing themall sorts of different problems further
Pip (17:41):
down the line.
I think that's a really big thing.
I think your team should be the, thebiggest thing you invest in, and I see
a lot of people do this too, investingin the coach rather than the team member
and really scrimping it with the team andtrying to scrape the bottom of the barrel.
How cheap can I get somebody to help?
And then they wonder why they'rehaving problems in their business
where if you go, well actually.
I really made sure I got the rightteam member, then it really makes
(18:04):
such a massive difference, doesn't it?
Okay.
So clearly the ad hoc approach hasnot helped Jane and her, her business,
which is, she is really struggling with,but what can we do very practically
to start building out this recruitmentfunnel and, and really start to
put those like pieces in place tohelp us identify and then bring on.
(18:28):
the right people who are going to reallybe culturally the right fit and then
also job wise have the right skills andexperience to help you take your business
to the, to the next stage of growth.
Yeah, absolutely.
Georgia (18:39):
I mean, Jane was quite unlucky and I think sometimes that ad, you
can have people recommend someonethat actually could be the right fit.
But you don't know if youhaven't defined that role first.
So before you take anybody'srecommendation, before you even think
about interviewing someone or sayingyes for the business, start thinking
(19:00):
about what do I actually need?
Now, we alluded to this in a previousepisode where we were talking about
scaling your client delivery, butit's sort of the same questions for
every part of your client processor for every part of the roles.
really clearly define what is thisperson going to be responsible for?
What is the outcome within thebusiness that they are pushing forward?
(19:22):
So for example, if you are hiring a clientsuccess manager, that person's role is
about making sure that you're retainingclients, you're getting good referrals.
That is that almost people aresigning up for another term or
whatever with you, that they arebringing in other people with their
(19:43):
positive words about the business.
So their role is everything todo with making sure that those
clients are having an amazing time.
So are really being supported, are reallygetting the results that they want.
So then we're getting quite clearabout, okay, what, what does this
person need to be able to do then?
To be able to do this, like if they'regoing to look after the candidates,
(20:03):
well, the clients, well, they needto be really good at keeping on top
of where every client is within theprocess, you know, remembering to
check in when they need some help.
So they've got to have some reallygood systems in place to monitor
that, but they've also got tohave that big picture vision of
where are they within the person.
(20:24):
They're probably a real people person.
They're probably great, bothin terms of messaging, but.
Also taking on board like new informationand feeding that back to clients.
You know, they're going tobecome a real right hand to you.
So they might have some quite similarattributes to you, but they also
might have one or two that you don't.
So that you're a goodcompliment for each other.
(20:46):
So it's really getting clear on that.
Or if this role is really to supportyou in terms of systems and processes,
like what does that involve?
Is it really strong IT?
Is there one program thatyou use all the time?
Like Is everything in Notion?
Is everything in Monday?
Is everything in ClickUp?
Like, it would really helpif they already know that.
(21:07):
And there are enough people in theworld that have experience on ClickUp
and Notion that you don't need to hiresomeone that doesn't, and then have to
spend all that time training them, ifyou don't have that time to train them.
So, It's really thinking about whatare the specifics of this role?
What are the responsibilities?
What qualifications do I need?
(21:27):
What do they already need tobe able to do coming into this?
But what are the things that I can teach?
You know, you can't teach values.
You can't teach someone's approach.
You can't teach someone's attitude.
But if they've got basic, I don'tknow, Google sheets, you could probably
teach them how to use Airtable.
You know, if they ticked allthe other boxes and actually you
(21:50):
needed them to do something fairlysimple in one of the systems, then
actually that is more teachablethan teaching the right attitude.
Pip (21:59):
No, totally agree.
I think it's really understandingthose non negotiables and then
the areas that you're like,actually we can cope with this.
If you write, if youtick of every other box.
We can deal with this, because noone is ever going to be perfect.
It's like finding, you know,your romantic partner, isn't it?
No one's ever going to tick every singlebox, so it's figuring out actually what's
really important to me, and what canI let go of, because we can deal with.
(22:22):
And then the next stage of this, andI love that you get really clear on
what the role you are hiring for first,because then we need to go find potential
candidates for this role, right?
And I think if we haven't done that, thedefinition of the role, it's basically
impossible to find the right people.
(22:42):
Because once we've got that idea of whatthis role is, we can then really start to
source our candidates and think about...
Where they're hanging out,where they would be, how are we
going to get in front of them?
Just like we would get in front of anideal client, how are we going to ensure
that we can get them to see our job rolesavailable or how do we reach out to them?
(23:04):
And this might mean that we reallyneed to start looking in places that
maybe we don't hang out all the timebecause we're not part of that world.
Especially if you're looking forsomebody very technical in one part
of your business, there's going to be.
The group of people who are really good atwhatever this piece of software is that we
might not be part of because we're lookingat the business as a bigger picture.
(23:24):
So it's really thinking about wheream I going to find these people
and where am I posting this job?
You know, which places online, whatonline job boards are we looking at?
Are there industry specific networksthat we can be speaking to, to
try and find the right person?
Do we have any partnerships withlocal colleges where there might be
a speciality in something that wecould do in our business is really
(23:47):
thinking about where does this personhang out and how can I attract them?
So I know that I'm then getting theright type of person apply for my role.
And it's really funny.
Cause we were just chattingabout this before we started
recording for a job I'm hiring.
And it's really getting intothat mindset of the candidate.
Where are they in life?
What are they looking for?
(24:08):
Where are they going to be findingout about new opportunities?
And how can you make sure,as the employer, that you get
yourself in front of those people?
Because it's just as much your job to getin front of those people as it is for the
potential employee to come and find you.
If anything, I would say, as a smallbusiness, until you've built up your brand
awareness, That's your biggest thing isgetting in front of the right people.
(24:29):
Because once you're in frontof the right people, it's just
converting them then, isn't it?
Just like a marketing funnel.
But if you're not getting in front of theright people, you will never get the right
Georgia (24:38):
hire.
Yeah, and I really would encouragepeople to get creative about this, like
think about how they can reach out tothese people, what kind of groups are
they in, who might they be friendswith, would any of our friends, when
any of your friends know someone, a pastcolleague, you know, and really start
like listing down where they might be.
And then so once you have got these adsout there and you're pulling people into
(25:00):
the funnel into that kind of process.
Obviously, there will be somequite structured interviews,
but even before we get to that.
What I love to do is have a bitof an application questionnaire.
I love people to do personality tests.
I want to know like whattheir ideal day looks like.
I want, I've got some quite detailedquestionnaires that I do with people.
(25:22):
And again, I'll put the link in theshow notes to a mini course that
takes you through like all the thingsthat you want to ask in this process.
But the more informationyou can get before you even
get to the interview stage.
Then you know that the people that you'reinterviewing are in theory the right
people for the job, but then it comesdown to, you know, that personality, like
(25:45):
how, how does that all niche together?
Like, how are they going tofit working alongside you?
You know, are you goingto compliment each other?
Can they teach you somenew exciting things?
So we're then moving into kind ofthat, that application questions
and then structured interviews.
Yeah,
Pip (26:02):
and I think it's also really important from a legal perspective.
Obviously, we have a legal dutywhen you're employing people to give
people fair, , treatment throughthe, the recruitment process.
And one of the things I loved about,I love about structuring everything
is that you have a record of decisionmaking throughout the entire process.
(26:22):
So a lot of my applications will havespecific yes or no questions that I
know if they don't tick the yes orthe no appropriately to what I need,
it's a really clear yes or no thiscandidate's going forward or they're not.
And that's kind of protecting me legallyif somebody then comes back and say
this recruitment process wasn't fair.
You, you've got everythingthere for you as well.
Yeah,
Georgia (26:43):
absolutely.
It's a really good way to narrow it downand fair on both sides as well, because
you don't want to, as we've said, youdon't want to put something, someone into
a role that they're not going to thrive inbecause they don't have the skills or they
don't have the knowledge that they need.
If you haven't got time totrain them in that, they've got
to come in already knowing it.
Pip (27:00):
So, so true.
Okay.
So we've done, we found our person,we've taken them to Interview process
and we're now getting them to start andsomething that I think, , that we can
really take from bigger organizationsthat often in small businesses, we kind
of forget to do because we're so busy.
We finally found this, this superstar.
We can't wait for them to start.
(27:20):
And that's having an onboardingand actual onboarding.
To really help bringpeople into the business.
I think we forget as business owners,just how much we live, breathe and
understand our business and knoweverything to do with our business.
The industry that we sit in, we knowthe big names and competitors in our
industry, and we just know everythingwithout really needing to think about it.
(27:43):
And obviously hiring the right person.
Hopefully they'll have some understandingof your business because that's
why they're the right person andthe industry that you're in, but
they're not going to know everything.
In the way that you willand that onboarding process
and program really helps.
Bring somebody into the businesshelps you share expectations, how
(28:04):
the business runs, how you do things,where to go for questions and help.
Also make sure that you're trainingthe person in the right way and you're
identifying if there's anything youidentified in the interview process that
was a negotiable and you go, actually,they're not quite as good at this or
they don't know this piece of software.
That's the chance tothen say, look, let's.
(28:24):
Give you a, a whistle stop tourand let's give you some training on
this software before you jump in.
And then once you've used it for a coupleof weeks, we'll touch back again and,
and then see how you're getting on andsee where we need more support here.
But it's really not just dumpingsomebody in the deep end be
like, here's your to do list.
This is your job.
Off you go.
It's really about bringing somebodyon boards and helping them understand
(28:47):
what things are going to look like andsetting them up for success and kind of
giving them, painting them the picture.
I always think with a good onboardingprocess, you're really painting
the picture of what you're tryingto achieve and then giving people
the tools and talking about.
How we're going to develop overthe next few weeks and months
and where to go for help.
And you know, what thosepotential pitfalls will be.
(29:07):
So you're kind of almost puttingsome bumper rails on, rail guards
on just to kind of help peoplethrough the first few weeks.
Because starting a new job is kindof terrifying often, you know,
you're really excited about your newjob and you don't want to mess up.
And that onboarding process reallyhelps somebody feel really comfortable
immediately and will help you getthe best out of them long term.
Georgia (29:27):
Okay.
So the final thing we probablywant to think about, we've got that
onboarding process, we've got somegreat training is performance tracking.
And I know that this sometimes bringsup fear or it makes us feel like having.
I mean, having worked in a lot of salesroles, we know, I know all about KPIs.
And sometimes that can make peoplefeel like they're being judged.
(29:49):
But actually what we're doingis we're just looking at ways to
refine and improve the process.
So say, for example, you arebringing someone on to help
you with your sales calls.
And currently for every 10 salescalls they're doing, three of
those people are signing up.
Now that might be nowhere near theconversion rate that you've got.
So how can you help that personto convert more sales calls?
(30:13):
Is it that they need more knowledge?
Is it that they're not understanding?
Exactly how what you're deliveringis going to help the client.
Is it just that they feel abit underconfident and they
need some more practice?
Do they need to listen to someone else's?
So by tracking performance and thoseKPIs, we can also tie that in with
our training and our development.
(30:34):
We're looking not at it in a way to.
to judge people.
We're looking at it in a way toimprove people and constantly keep
those results going on and on.
So thinking about our funnel, the bigbenefits are going to be obviously
hiring candidates who are better suitedfor their roles, which means we're
going to get so much more improvement.
(30:55):
We're going to reduce thatturnover because employees feel
more engaged, more supported.
Plus we're hiring the right employees.
So, you know, we're not bringing inthat turnover in terms of having to
get rid of people, , we're deliveringconsistent results to our clients.
We're improving the overall satisfactionbecause we're really thinking about
the process that we're using bybringing in this recruitment funnel.
(31:18):
You know, it's all becomingso much more effective.
better quality, , lessturnover, more focused staff.
The whole thing is goingto feel so much more fun.
So when you are thinking about yournext hire going forward, I want you to
think about who do I need in this role?
(31:40):
Like, what do they need to bringto really make this role their
own to really run with this role?
What are the questions that I need to askto make sure that that is that person?
What do I need to know in the interview?
How am I going to onboard them?
Like, what are the things theyneed to know to get going?
How am I going to keepthat feedback loop going?
(32:01):
So building a recruitment funnelis not just about filling those
jobs, job openings that you've got.
It's about being really strategicabout how we build our team.
We're strategic in everyother area of our business.
So we need to do the same in our, whenwe're hiring our team, we're making
really informed decisions becausewe're asking the right questions.
(32:21):
We know that we'reattracting the right team.
Further down the line, this is goingto save you so much time and energy.
And one of the things that I often sayto people is you wouldn't get married
and spend the first 30 days makingsure you'd picked the right person.
You'd be damn sure that you'd gotthem before you walked up that aisle.
(32:44):
So think about it the samewhen you hire your team member.
I
Pip (32:48):
love that analogy.
And Georgia, I know you have anamazing mini course on which takes you
through the step by step process ofbuilding out your recruitment funnel.
So we'll make sure that we leave thatin the show notes because this was
honestly a game changer in my business.
And I can't wait for you guys to makethis a game changer in your business too.
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the podcast.
(00:03):
Today we are talking about somethingthat you may or may not have heard of.
I am certainly going to put my handsup and say I had no idea what one
of these was when I first startedmy business, but my goodness has
it made a massive difference tomy ability to grow my business.
And this is a recruitment funnel.
(00:24):
So have you ever just hired somebody?
That somebody's recommended, like afriend has been, Oh, you know what,
Laura, she's really good at this.
You should hire her or somebodyat work that someone said,
Oh, you speak to Johnny.
Cause like Johnny'sreally good at X, Y, Z.
And so you go, yeah, brilliant.
Fine.
You can come work for me.
And then.
(00:44):
Actually, you know, you get a little bitfurther down the line and you realize this
maybe wasn't the best idea and it now hasbecome really awkward because you've hired
the friend or the friends of the friendand you just sort of did it all in a bit
of a, I need help, panic, great, perfect,you look great, come on in, let's work
for me, and then you start to regret it.
I'm sure I'm not the onlyperson that has been there.
(01:06):
But if this is the case, this isdefinitely the episode for you because a
recruitment funnel is going to honestlychange your life and change your business
and help you if you're really readyto scale up to that seven figure mark.
So Georgia, I know that this is yourabsolute zone of genius, and I cannot
wait to pick your brains on all ofthis on behalf of everybody listening.
, Georgia (01:27):
what.
Pip (01:28):
point do we need to be at in business?
And what are the signs that actuallya recruitment funnel is something
that we need to actually starttaking seriously and start thinking
about building in our business?
I love this
Georgia (01:40):
topic, and the situation you just described, I think
so many people have been in.
They hired a friend, their friend actuallycan't do what they need them to do, and
now everything's just got really awkward,and they don't know how to handle it.
So, They're never going to makethat mistake again once they finally
extricated themselves from that.
(02:01):
Now, I'm not joking, I've heard aboutpeople that have kept people on their
payroll for two years because they felt soawkward about the whole situation and they
didn't know how to bring it to a close.
But this person that they've beenpaying for two years isn't actually
able to do what they need them to do.
(02:22):
Or worse, you hire someone becauseyou're really short of time.
And then every day they come toyou asking what you would like
them to do, asking for direction.
So not only have yougot your own to do list.
to worry about, but you're now stressingabout, Oh, I've got to remember
what to give this person as well.
So as you say, they feel like they'recreating more work than they're solving.
(02:43):
You might also feel like you've gotto give them loads of training because
you've brought this person in andactually they can't do any of the
things that you wanted them to do.
So now you've got to teach them, you know,they said, yeah, I'm, I'm good with it.
And actually they've never used Gmail.
They perhaps have neverdone anything on a website.
They're certainly not going tounderstand any of your other programs.
(03:04):
So you've just opened awhole can of worms there.
So you've got to give them thebasic training and training.
And for some reason you don't wantto lose face and say, this was a
huge error, actually, because IT islike the main component of this role.
, Or perhaps you brought someone elsein because you are not very detail
orientated and you need someone to makesure that every single stage of your
(03:27):
funnel is done, linked, perfectly set up.
And then you've actually hired someonewho is also not detail orientated and
misses one or two of the essential steps.
So it makes the whole thing pointlessbecause you, the non detail orientated
person, has to go back in and double checkevery stage and make sure it's happened.
(03:47):
So you start to wonder why you bothered.
, or maybe it's the other way around.
Maybe you...
need them to be really big pictureto remember all the different parts
that are going to have to fit inand that's actually too much for
them to deal with because It's justnot the way their brain thinks.
So by not putting really any considerationin before we hired this person, we
(04:13):
might end up with someone on ourpayroll for two years that can't do
any of the things that we needed helpwith, which is really a huge problem.
And one thing I can relate this to,if you haven't heard yet, or a similar
problem that we all end up with as westart building our business is when we're
first starting out, we're quite gratefulfor all the clients that come our way.
(04:37):
So it's really similar to when you signthat non ideal client, you know, at first
you're really thrilled that they've signedup, but you quickly realize actually,
This client is going to drain your energy.
They might be way too needy.
They might have arrived in victim mode andthey want you to solve all their problems.
Perhaps they're not at the levelthat you love to work with.
(04:58):
So actually it's really quite dullbecause you're being underutilized.
You know, you're notin your zone of genius.
So actually the problems thatyou're working on them, yes,
whilst they're paying you.
Or actually it's really draggingyour energy down and that's not
great for your other clients.
So we quickly learn in marketing thatwe need to attract the right clients.
So we set up this marketing funnelto make sure that the right people
(05:23):
are coming into our business andwe're working with the right people.
And hiring is exactly the same.
A recruitment funnel is really, really
Pip (05:32):
similar.
Okay.
I love that.
So I'm going to talk you through.
hIgh level how I do my marketingfunnel and then I'd love you
Georgia to like tell me how it'sdifferent for a recruitment funnel.
So I think a lot of peoplelistening will be quite familiar
with the marketing funnel.
So.
We sit down, we, we work outexactly who our ideal client is.
We understand who we want to work with,what the problem is that we're going
(05:54):
to solve, how we're going to help them.
And then we figure out howwe're going to talk to them.
What's going to attract them in.
What's the copy that's going toattract them in or the imagery or, you
know, what's the thing that's goingto get their attention and go, Oh,
well, I'm a little bit interested.
I want to find out more.
And then we figure outwhere they're hanging out.
So where are we going to find them?
Find these ideal clients of ours, howwe're going to then attract them in with
(06:19):
our social media or with our ads or,you know, with our reach out, however
we're, however we're finding them.
And then we bring them intoour world and we nurture them
and, you know, what have you.
And eventually we get them ona sales call and, or, you know,
we get them to a checkout point.
Or a no buy.
And hopefully, you know, at thatpoint we've got our customer.
(06:40):
So how would we switch this upin terms of recruiting instead
of bringing in an ideal client?
Georgia (06:47):
It's exactly the same idea.
When you get to that sales call,you know, straight away that this
client is, or isn't the perfect fit.
You know, you get that energy.
They're sitting in the right zoneof genius, you know, your knowledge,
you're going to have that, the rightconnection, it all fits together.
Exactly the same withour marketing funnel.
(07:08):
We're not just going to take someonethat our friend recommended, you know,
we're going to actually think aboutwho we want coming into our business.
So the same way we spend time working outexactly who our ideal client is, we're
spending time working out exactly whodo we need to come into our business.
Do we need someone with heaps of energy?
(07:28):
Do we need someone detail orientated?
Do we need someone that's going totake these, , run with running our
website or building stuff together?
We need to work out exactly who weneed to add value to the business.
Then we're going to startthinking about what.
What do we have that they'regoing to be interested in?
How do we attract this person?
(07:49):
You know, how do we bring themin and form that partnership?
How can we kind of serveeach other in this?
We're probably narrowing down, like,looking at the way they like to work.
, looking at how they like to work,who they like to work with, what
sort of environment, what are theirskills, what are not their skills?
What would be an amazingday at work for them?
(08:09):
What would make themwanna poke their eyes out?
You know, we are filtering allthis stuff before we even get
to the point of meeting them.
And then when we meetthem, we already know.
Everything about them.
And now it's about, havewe got a connection?
Can we see that going further?
And you quite quickly know, is thisthe right person or isn't this the
Pip (08:30):
right person?
Yeah.
It's so funny, isn't it?
When you're hiring, I, I probably cantell within the first couple of minutes
of speaking to somebody, whether they'regoing to be a good fit for the company.
And that's definitely taken time toget to that place, but you do have
generally just a gut instinct, especiallywhen you're application process and
your interview process up to thatpoint has been quite good at filtering
(08:51):
out the right or the wrong people.
Okay.
So let's dive into a scenario that I'msure a lot of people listening will
resonate with and talk about, you know,what we can do with a recruitment funnel
here and how we would add this in and, youknow, and all of the details around this.
So I think this is a prettycommon scenario based on a
(09:13):
number of people I've spoken to.
And that is, , we are say, Wehave somebody called Jane and
she has her own marketing agency.
So she's specializing indigital marketing services, say.
And so, you know, maybeyou, you relate with this.
You're really good at what you do.
You've got your business.
You're quite specialized andvery good at your one thing.
(09:34):
And you started out as a solopreneur.
You're doing everything yourself,kind of a bit like a freelancer.
And it's just you.
And then actually, because you'rereally good at what you're doing.
Your business has grown.
And so Jane, our example lady here withher business, , she's gained a reputation.
She's delivering exceptionalresults to her clients and
her business has really grown.
(09:55):
But the problem is, is that.
She just can't handle all thiswork, and she's gotten to a
point where she's the bottleneck.
More work, potential work,is coming through the door,
but she can't handle this.
And I'm sure this is, you know,it's a position a number of us
will resonate with very strongly.
What do we do in this situation?
Georgia (10:18):
Okay.
So the, the easy thing wouldbe your friend says, I know
someone that could help you.
My VA has got some extra hours.
Do you, do you want to take her?
Do you want her to come into the business?
Now, the problem with doing that isinstead of building out a recruitment
funnel, instead of getting really clearabout what she needs, like what she wants,
(10:39):
she's taken a really haphazard approach.
So she's.
Maybe bringing in a team member froma friend there and, or maybe there's
a word of mouth referral here orthere's a connection in her network.
And there's no structured process forfinding those candidates for vetting
them in terms of their skills, theirabilities, how they like to work,
what motivates them, the kind ofenvironment they want to be in, the
(11:02):
responsibilities they're willing to takeon, whether they are somebody that is
willing to take on responsibilities.
And there's no kind of vetting, , usingdata to see if they're the right person.
There's no kind of real onboardingprocess to make sure that
people are fitting together.
So the whole thing has gone a littlebit awry, to say the very least.
Pip (11:24):
This is funny because, and it's not funny because it is actually really
serious that you get this sorted, but.
The number of conversations I've hadwith clients about literally what
you have just described, it, I think,I think it's just the natural way.
You just want help.
So you go out and find help, but I know,you know, I've learned the consequences
of doing this the hard way, but whathave you seen with your clients about
(11:46):
if you are haphazard in this approachand you don't have a structure in place,
what does this potentially mean for yourbusiness and what's going to happen,
you know, or potentially some of thepitfalls that you're going to fall into?
I
Georgia (11:58):
mean, they're myriad, but I mean, imagine, let's
just take a different scenario.
Imagine that you run a health foodkitchen, you know, and, , it specifically
caters to vegan, to people who want avegan diet and suddenly world really
takes off about your cafe and you'vegot a line of people around the block
(12:19):
and your friend says, Oh my God,you're saying I'm really stressed.
I need someone to come in and help me.
And your friend says, I know a great chef.
. You should get in touch with them.
Now, what you fail to ask is, haveyou ever worked with that chef before?
Because often our friends, who havebeen really nice in helping us out,
are recommending people that they'venever even worked with themselves.
So they really have no idea, they justknow a name, but we love to be helpful.
(12:42):
Love to help each other out.
So you bring this chef in, andthen you quickly find out that
this chef is a specialist, Idon't know, in French cuisine.
So he's all about butter and sauces andcream and like, All these lovely, rich,
amazing foods, which are not a vegan diet.
So, you're almost asking him tocompletely retrain to fit into your
(13:05):
business, because you were really shortstaffed, whereas you actually, if you'd
spent five minutes thinking, I need avegan chef and I'm going to put an ad
in the local paper, you probably couldhave ended up with a better result.
So, the big thing that'shappening is inefficiency.
You know, you're wasting timeonboarding a team member.
Who probably doesn't, you know,in the chef's case, doesn't have
(13:28):
the right skills for this role.
Also, that team member maybedidn't have clarity coming in.
If, if the chef had knownthat this was a vegan kitchen.
They perhaps wouldn't have beenas interested in the role either.
So, then you're going to haveeven bigger issues going forward.
So, there's, we're not thinking,you know, round peg, square
hole, or the other way around.
(13:48):
We've got to make sure it's a matchon both, on both sides, so that we can
make sure that this is so efficient fromthe moment that they join our business.
Pip (13:57):
Yeah.
And of course, if you bring in thewrong person for the role, quality
issues are potentially going to becomesomething that happens really quickly.
If you bring in somebody that's notactually, doesn't have the required skills
or required experience for the role inquestion, and you've just hired them
because, you know, your friends said,Oh, actually they're really good at this.
(14:19):
I'm sure they're really good at that,but that's not maybe what you need.
It means that you risk then your servicequality declines and you have real
issues further down in the business.
And that might be somethingthat's very apparent immediately,
or actually something that canoften be worse where you don't.
Pick up this lack of skill orlack of knowledge fairly on.
(14:40):
And it's something that then becomesa problem later down the line as,
as the issue sort of built up untilit reaches that boiling point.
So I think something that we forget aboutthat is if you bring the wrong person
in, then they're not going to succeed.
And not only does that make themfeel terrible, but also, you know,
there's a real knock on effectpotentially on your business.
Yeah, and
Georgia (15:00):
them not succeeding and feeling terrible in the role, like being in
a role that doesn't match their skillset, that doesn't put them working in
their own zone of genius, means thatyour turnover is going to be high.
Because people aren't going to stay in arole that they're not enjoying, and then
if they're not enjoying it, there's, youknow, perhaps there isn't that structured
onboarding when they come in, the roleisn't defined, they start to become
(15:23):
a bit disengaged with everything, youknow, and they can then leave relatively
quickly, which is causes all sorts ofdisruption internally, but also with
Pip (15:33):
your clients as well.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, if you've got high turnoverof staff, if somebody's not
great at their job, likelihood isthey're not going to actually be
delivering very well for the clients.
The client's probably notgoing to be very happy.
They're probably notvery happy in their role.
So they're not going to communicatewith the client in the way that.
You might expect with the valuesthat you as a company, you know,
(15:55):
are known for, and that's who youusually would want to hire for.
And the knock on effect ofthat is not only as you say
internally, there's problems, butexternally there are problems.
And often because clients, you know, ifthere's a problem, you're going to deal
generally with your client first, becausethat's the revenue coming in the door.
You spend your effort and timedealing with the dissatisfied client.
But you still haven't dealtwith the problem of the team
(16:17):
member who's not the right fit.
And so you're in this little cycleof trying to put out the fire with
the client, but not dealing withthe cause of the fire, which is
actually internal within your team.
Yeah.
So now poor
Georgia (16:29):
Jane is suffering with extreme stress and burnout because,
you know, she's still trying to jugglethe business now manage all of this
stuff that's going on in the team.
And kind of make thingsbetter for her clients.
So, I mean, obviously in Jane's situation,this has spiraled quickly out of control.
But these things, you know, eventhese little niggles really can
(16:52):
have an effect on the energy that wefeel in the business, in the team,
the satisfaction of the clients.
And it's really simply solved by nottaking an ad hoc approach, you know,
realizing that that isn't sustainable.
And realizing that actually...
Team is one of the biggestinvestments we make in our business.
(17:13):
So why are we so blase about it?
You know, even when I speak, I speakto other business owners that have
invested in a coach, they might spendsix to 12 months looking at that coach's
content, following them, understandingif they are the right person for
them to invest in, in their business.
Yet they will take a recommendationfrom a friend who is probably
(17:33):
costing them more than that coach is.
Per month and potentially causing themall sorts of different problems further
Pip (17:41):
down the line.
I think that's a really big thing.
I think your team should be the, thebiggest thing you invest in, and I see
a lot of people do this too, investingin the coach rather than the team member
and really scrimping it with the team andtrying to scrape the bottom of the barrel.
How cheap can I get somebody to help?
And then they wonder why they'rehaving problems in their business
where if you go, well actually.
I really made sure I got the rightteam member, then it really makes
(18:04):
such a massive difference, doesn't it?
Okay.
So clearly the ad hoc approach hasnot helped Jane and her, her business,
which is, she is really struggling with,but what can we do very practically
to start building out this recruitmentfunnel and, and really start to
put those like pieces in place tohelp us identify and then bring on.
(18:28):
the right people who are going to reallybe culturally the right fit and then
also job wise have the right skills andexperience to help you take your business
to the, to the next stage of growth.
Yeah, absolutely.
Georgia (18:39):
I mean, Jane was quite unlucky and I think sometimes that ad, you
can have people recommend someonethat actually could be the right fit.
But you don't know if youhaven't defined that role first.
So before you take anybody'srecommendation, before you even think
about interviewing someone or sayingyes for the business, start thinking
(19:00):
about what do I actually need?
Now, we alluded to this in a previousepisode where we were talking about
scaling your client delivery, butit's sort of the same questions for
every part of your client processor for every part of the roles.
really clearly define what is thisperson going to be responsible for?
What is the outcome within thebusiness that they are pushing forward?
(19:22):
So for example, if you are hiring a clientsuccess manager, that person's role is
about making sure that you're retainingclients, you're getting good referrals.
That is that almost people aresigning up for another term or
whatever with you, that they arebringing in other people with their
(19:43):
positive words about the business.
So their role is everything todo with making sure that those
clients are having an amazing time.
So are really being supported, are reallygetting the results that they want.
So then we're getting quite clearabout, okay, what, what does this
person need to be able to do then?
To be able to do this, like if they'regoing to look after the candidates,
(20:03):
well, the clients, well, they needto be really good at keeping on top
of where every client is within theprocess, you know, remembering to
check in when they need some help.
So they've got to have some reallygood systems in place to monitor
that, but they've also got tohave that big picture vision of
where are they within the person.
(20:24):
They're probably a real people person.
They're probably great, bothin terms of messaging, but.
Also taking on board like new informationand feeding that back to clients.
You know, they're going tobecome a real right hand to you.
So they might have some quite similarattributes to you, but they also
might have one or two that you don't.
So that you're a goodcompliment for each other.
(20:46):
So it's really getting clear on that.
Or if this role is really to supportyou in terms of systems and processes,
like what does that involve?
Is it really strong IT?
Is there one program thatyou use all the time?
Like Is everything in Notion?
Is everything in Monday?
Is everything in ClickUp?
Like, it would really helpif they already know that.
(21:07):
And there are enough people in theworld that have experience on ClickUp
and Notion that you don't need to hiresomeone that doesn't, and then have to
spend all that time training them, ifyou don't have that time to train them.
So, It's really thinking about whatare the specifics of this role?
What are the responsibilities?
What qualifications do I need?
(21:27):
What do they already need tobe able to do coming into this?
But what are the things that I can teach?
You know, you can't teach values.
You can't teach someone's approach.
You can't teach someone's attitude.
But if they've got basic, I don'tknow, Google sheets, you could probably
teach them how to use Airtable.
You know, if they ticked allthe other boxes and actually you
(21:50):
needed them to do something fairlysimple in one of the systems, then
actually that is more teachablethan teaching the right attitude.
Pip (21:59):
No, totally agree.
I think it's really understandingthose non negotiables and then
the areas that you're like,actually we can cope with this.
If you write, if youtick of every other box.
We can deal with this, because noone is ever going to be perfect.
It's like finding, you know,your romantic partner, isn't it?
No one's ever going to tick every singlebox, so it's figuring out actually what's
really important to me, and what canI let go of, because we can deal with.
(22:22):
And then the next stage of this, andI love that you get really clear on
what the role you are hiring for first,because then we need to go find potential
candidates for this role, right?
And I think if we haven't done that, thedefinition of the role, it's basically
impossible to find the right people.
(22:42):
Because once we've got that idea of whatthis role is, we can then really start to
source our candidates and think about...
Where they're hanging out,where they would be, how are we
going to get in front of them?
Just like we would get in front of anideal client, how are we going to ensure
that we can get them to see our job rolesavailable or how do we reach out to them?
(23:04):
And this might mean that we reallyneed to start looking in places that
maybe we don't hang out all the timebecause we're not part of that world.
Especially if you're looking forsomebody very technical in one part
of your business, there's going to be.
The group of people who are really good atwhatever this piece of software is that we
might not be part of because we're lookingat the business as a bigger picture.
(23:24):
So it's really thinking about wheream I going to find these people
and where am I posting this job?
You know, which places online, whatonline job boards are we looking at?
Are there industry specific networksthat we can be speaking to, to
try and find the right person?
Do we have any partnerships withlocal colleges where there might be
a speciality in something that wecould do in our business is really
(23:47):
thinking about where does this personhang out and how can I attract them?
So I know that I'm then getting theright type of person apply for my role.
And it's really funny.
Cause we were just chattingabout this before we started
recording for a job I'm hiring.
And it's really getting intothat mindset of the candidate.
Where are they in life?
What are they looking for?
(24:08):
Where are they going to be findingout about new opportunities?
And how can you make sure,as the employer, that you get
yourself in front of those people?
Because it's just as much your job to getin front of those people as it is for the
potential employee to come and find you.
If anything, I would say, as a smallbusiness, until you've built up your brand
awareness, That's your biggest thing isgetting in front of the right people.
(24:29):
Because once you're in frontof the right people, it's just
converting them then, isn't it?
Just like a marketing funnel.
But if you're not getting in front of theright people, you will never get the right
Georgia (24:38):
hire.
Yeah, and I really would encouragepeople to get creative about this, like
think about how they can reach out tothese people, what kind of groups are
they in, who might they be friendswith, would any of our friends, when
any of your friends know someone, a pastcolleague, you know, and really start
like listing down where they might be.
And then so once you have got these adsout there and you're pulling people into
(25:00):
the funnel into that kind of process.
Obviously, there will be somequite structured interviews,
but even before we get to that.
What I love to do is have a bitof an application questionnaire.
I love people to do personality tests.
I want to know like whattheir ideal day looks like.
I want, I've got some quite detailedquestionnaires that I do with people.
(25:22):
And again, I'll put the link in theshow notes to a mini course that
takes you through like all the thingsthat you want to ask in this process.
But the more informationyou can get before you even
get to the interview stage.
Then you know that the people that you'reinterviewing are in theory the right
people for the job, but then it comesdown to, you know, that personality, like
(25:45):
how, how does that all niche together?
Like, how are they going tofit working alongside you?
You know, are you goingto compliment each other?
Can they teach you somenew exciting things?
So we're then moving into kind ofthat, that application questions
and then structured interviews.
Yeah,
Pip (26:02):
and I think it's also really important from a legal perspective.
Obviously, we have a legal dutywhen you're employing people to give
people fair, , treatment throughthe, the recruitment process.
And one of the things I loved about,I love about structuring everything
is that you have a record of decisionmaking throughout the entire process.
(26:22):
So a lot of my applications will havespecific yes or no questions that I
know if they don't tick the yes orthe no appropriately to what I need,
it's a really clear yes or no thiscandidate's going forward or they're not.
And that's kind of protecting me legallyif somebody then comes back and say
this recruitment process wasn't fair.
You, you've got everythingthere for you as well.
Yeah,
Georgia (26:43):
absolutely.
It's a really good way to narrow it downand fair on both sides as well, because
you don't want to, as we've said, youdon't want to put something, someone into
a role that they're not going to thrive inbecause they don't have the skills or they
don't have the knowledge that they need.
If you haven't got time totrain them in that, they've got
to come in already knowing it.
Pip (27:00):
So, so true.
Okay.
So we've done, we found our person,we've taken them to Interview process
and we're now getting them to start andsomething that I think, , that we can
really take from bigger organizationsthat often in small businesses, we kind
of forget to do because we're so busy.
We finally found this, this superstar.
We can't wait for them to start.
(27:20):
And that's having an onboardingand actual onboarding.
To really help bringpeople into the business.
I think we forget as business owners,just how much we live, breathe and
understand our business and knoweverything to do with our business.
The industry that we sit in, we knowthe big names and competitors in our
industry, and we just know everythingwithout really needing to think about it.
(27:43):
And obviously hiring the right person.
Hopefully they'll have some understandingof your business because that's
why they're the right person andthe industry that you're in, but
they're not going to know everything.
In the way that you willand that onboarding process
and program really helps.
Bring somebody into the businesshelps you share expectations, how
(28:04):
the business runs, how you do things,where to go for questions and help.
Also make sure that you're trainingthe person in the right way and you're
identifying if there's anything youidentified in the interview process that
was a negotiable and you go, actually,they're not quite as good at this or
they don't know this piece of software.
That's the chance tothen say, look, let's.
(28:24):
Give you a, a whistle stop tourand let's give you some training on
this software before you jump in.
And then once you've used it for a coupleof weeks, we'll touch back again and,
and then see how you're getting on andsee where we need more support here.
But it's really not just dumpingsomebody in the deep end be
like, here's your to do list.
This is your job.
Off you go.
It's really about bringing somebodyon boards and helping them understand
(28:47):
what things are going to look like andsetting them up for success and kind of
giving them, painting them the picture.
I always think with a good onboardingprocess, you're really painting
the picture of what you're tryingto achieve and then giving people
the tools and talking about.
How we're going to develop overthe next few weeks and months
and where to go for help.
And you know, what thosepotential pitfalls will be.
(29:07):
So you're kind of almost puttingsome bumper rails on, rail guards
on just to kind of help peoplethrough the first few weeks.
Because starting a new job is kindof terrifying often, you know,
you're really excited about your newjob and you don't want to mess up.
And that onboarding process reallyhelps somebody feel really comfortable
immediately and will help you getthe best out of them long term.
Georgia (29:27):
Okay.
So the final thing we probablywant to think about, we've got that
onboarding process, we've got somegreat training is performance tracking.
And I know that this sometimes bringsup fear or it makes us feel like having.
I mean, having worked in a lot of salesroles, we know, I know all about KPIs.
And sometimes that can make peoplefeel like they're being judged.
(29:49):
But actually what we're doingis we're just looking at ways to
refine and improve the process.
So say, for example, you arebringing someone on to help
you with your sales calls.
And currently for every 10 salescalls they're doing, three of
those people are signing up.
Now that might be nowhere near theconversion rate that you've got.
So how can you help that personto convert more sales calls?
(30:13):
Is it that they need more knowledge?
Is it that they're not understanding?
Exactly how what you're deliveringis going to help the client.
Is it just that they feel abit underconfident and they
need some more practice?
Do they need to listen to someone else's?
So by tracking performance and thoseKPIs, we can also tie that in with
our training and our development.
(30:34):
We're looking not at it in a way to.
to judge people.
We're looking at it in a way toimprove people and constantly keep
those results going on and on.
So thinking about our funnel, the bigbenefits are going to be obviously
hiring candidates who are better suitedfor their roles, which means we're
going to get so much more improvement.
(30:55):
We're going to reduce thatturnover because employees feel
more engaged, more supported.
Plus we're hiring the right employees.
So, you know, we're not bringing inthat turnover in terms of having to
get rid of people, , we're deliveringconsistent results to our clients.
We're improving the overall satisfactionbecause we're really thinking about
the process that we're using bybringing in this recruitment funnel.
(31:18):
You know, it's all becomingso much more effective.
better quality, , lessturnover, more focused staff.
The whole thing is goingto feel so much more fun.
So when you are thinking about yournext hire going forward, I want you to
think about who do I need in this role?
(31:40):
Like, what do they need to bringto really make this role their
own to really run with this role?
What are the questions that I need to askto make sure that that is that person?
What do I need to know in the interview?
How am I going to onboard them?
Like, what are the things theyneed to know to get going?
How am I going to keepthat feedback loop going?
(32:01):
So building a recruitment funnelis not just about filling those
jobs, job openings that you've got.
It's about being really strategicabout how we build our team.
We're strategic in everyother area of our business.
So we need to do the same in our, whenwe're hiring our team, we're making
really informed decisions becausewe're asking the right questions.
(32:21):
We know that we'reattracting the right team.
Further down the line, this is goingto save you so much time and energy.
And one of the things that I often sayto people is you wouldn't get married
and spend the first 30 days makingsure you'd picked the right person.
You'd be damn sure that you'd gotthem before you walked up that aisle.
(32:44):
So think about it the samewhen you hire your team member.
I
Pip (32:48):
love that analogy.
And Georgia, I know you have anamazing mini course on which takes you
through the step by step process ofbuilding out your recruitment funnel.
So we'll make sure that we leave thatin the show notes because this was
honestly a game changer in my business.
And I can't wait for you guys to makethis a game changer in your business too.
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