Are you protecting your high performing recruiters from burnout?

By GSR2R Admin | 22nd September 2022

Are you noticing an increase in burnout of your high performing recruiters? If so, what are you doing about it?

High performers rarely know they are on the brink of burnout until it’s too late. It’s your obligation as a leader to protect your high performing recruiters from burnout. But it’s easier said than done.

Before you think about how to overcome this challenge, ask yourself, what are you asking of your high performing recruiters?

We can fall back on putting the onus on protecting mental health at the door of high performers. Because by nature, they’re high achievers who often take on more work even when at capacity. And, because of their previous performance, it’s easy to assume that they can handle it, with little guidance and support. But can they?

“Mental health of the top 20% of high performing leaders of UK businesses are affected by burnout” – according to a five year study undertaken.

What can be causing burnout of our high performing recruiters?

And what 3 questions should you ask yourself to consider if burnout might be on the cards?

1. Do you ask top performing recruiters to help on smaller tasks, unrelated to their work?

High-performing recruiters already have demands on them for consistently high performance. They are your role models and culture champions, all while doing their day job. The reason they are high performing recruiters is because of their focus. Detracting this focus on menial tasks, simply because they’re good at it, will impact their performance negatively.

Leaders need to be aware of this and offer these tasks to other members of the team, not only for them to scale their experience but to give them a sense of purpose. Share the load and create positive working environment for everyone.

2. Do you leverage the abilities of your high achievers to compensate for underperformers?

Let’s get ‘so and so’ to train them. Learn from the best, and all that…

You see a stand out employee and assume that they have both the capacity, and the ability, to support or train weaker members of the team, to develop to their levels.

It’s a recipe for disaster. Whilst some top performing recruiters enjoy mentoring and sharing best practices, it needs to be their choice. Not only can forced support foster resentment, but you’re taking your top performers away from what they do (and enjoy) best. As a result, you’re reducing the time for them to deliver the same exemplary results.

3. Do you assign the toughest projects to your high performers?

Of course, you want your top performers on the projects that have the biggest impact your business. Because you want the best results from the people who have proven their effectiveness, time and time again.

The challenge is, that if you’re entrusting the same people to do the toughest things, you will run the risk of running them down. Therefore, affecting all areas of their work, including their consistent billings.

How can you support your high performing recruiters?

1. Let your high performers select their projects

Let your high-performing recruiters select projects that motivate them. Continuing to give them the autonomy and trust they crave, to do the job well. This choice puts the control back in the hands of the high performers and reconnects them with what excites them about their job.

2. Keep track of their time demands

Outlined above, high performers can feel pressured to take on more than they have capacity for. As a result, burnout may be imminent. Be sure to manage the demands on their times and act accordingly, to avoid demotivating your best billers and reducing your bottom line.

3. Pair high performers with their peers

Top billers or high performers can often feel separated from the pack because of their high numbers. Give them the opportunity to establish relationships with equally high performers so they feel motivated and have peers to discuss similar challenges.

Keep your high performing recruiters productive

Taking the time to master these critical stages will keep motivation and morale high, and as a result, productivity will be maintained, if not accelerated.

Until next time,

Cheryl