I have always been a fan of the long game. You know, planning for my future, where my husband and I would live, a new part to my business and a house in the country… and all that sort of thing.
The classic approach has always been to set long term goals. We determine where we want to be in say 3 or 5 years and set our plans accordingly.
However!
Everything over the past few months has changed that. Suddenly most recruiters I speak to are working out how to get to the end of the year.
Can you relate? I know I can.
The Challenge of Long-Term Goals Post COVID
Let‘s be honest. No one predicted what would happen with the virus and in fact, we still can‘t. Though the latest figures from the Bank of England say that the economy is moving in the right direction, many organisations are being tentative in the steps they are taking to move forward as many recruiters have experienced.
Personally, I take every day as it comes, and I only now work to 30 day and 90-day plans.
Here is the thing. The pace of change is so fast now meaning that your one-year goal of moving into a senior recruiter role might need a new timescale.
Taking a shorter-term approach is the most effective approach available today.
Goal Setting That Works For Recruiters Now
In a recent post I read on the University of California‘s mind and society website suggested that working to more than a 90-day plan now could be unproductive.
Why? Because it can lead to procrastination.
The issue is that a long-term approach makes you realise how far away those goals are; and how much time and work you have looming in the future to reach them.
Not exactly motivating in the world we currently all live in. As a recruiter who wants to get their billings back as fast as possible, a short-term approach is what you need.
The best thing about this approach is that it focusses your mind on immediate action, which is more motivating. This motivation helps with your creativity too – something we all need at the moment, with many clients being hard to get hold of.
This action will produce results too; I know it might not be as easy as it used to be to make the placements you wanted, and when you keep putting the work in the universe will deliver.
Energy in will equal energy out.
Now it’s about thinking how far you have come in a weird world rather than how far you still have to go.
The world has changed drastically over the past few years when it comes to goal setting and achievement and not just because of COVID.
The World Wide Web A.I. and the internet of things and how social media and text messaging, Zoom meetings and remote working are making an impact, means that ideas we had about what we wanted, even a couple of years ago, have changed. One friend of mine is planning to move to Spain and run her business from there entirely.
Though It Is Key To Hold Onto Your Big Goal Too
In today’s world, it is about having a long term vision that is delivered by short term goals.
And just because your timeframe is short, it doesn‘t mean you are only acting tactically; you still need to think long term too.
This works by taking your long term vision and identifying the different short term goals that will move you in the right direction over the next 90 days.
It might be that you want to either be on the board of your current company or buy out the current owners of your recruitment business or start your own venture.
On a personal front, you might want to operate remotely, get married and home school your kids.
So some of your short term goals might be;
1. Get back to your pre COVID billings by Dec
2. Make senior recruiter by March 2021 and then associate director in Dec 2021
3. Propose
You get the idea.
You would stand a good chance of hitting these shorter-term goals which means you can win on every level.
Want help to talk through your recruitment career? Then send me an email or give me a call on 020 3889 1670.
Until next time,
Cheryl
