Every recruiter with 6 months experience has head the phrase “back to basics”.

It’s shouted at the beginning of a week with minimal business names in red on the sales board.

The preceding week will have gone badly. There’ll likely have been a drop out or 4. And then comes the disappointing pledges, foreseeing a week of impending doom.

A frown, a grimace and a shake of the head by your Manager and just before everyone departs there’ll be a request for the entire team to go “back to basics.”

“Right, back to basics please everyone”

For many a recruiter, “back to basics” means a return to the basic activity that’s demanded of them. It’s not saying you’ve been recruiting with too much ‘swazz’ or ‘panache’. But that the basic KPI’d activity your manager knows works, should be your main focus.

For some that’ll mean smashing the phones. Again.

For others, mailshots.

For a lucky few, it might mean putting out a LinkedIn poll asking what their followers have for breakfast.

Going “back to basics” is, on the face of it, a fair request. It’s pursuing activity that should bring results.

But in 99% of cases, ”the basics” recruiters are asked to return to, are outdated, ineffective and belong in the 1980s. And therefore, the request to go “back to them” draws eye-rolls from the vast majority of people who hear it.

New directions from being in a corner

When COVID hit, I tried video. No one was recruiting anyway. It was something I thought might work as a softer marketing approach. I thought it’d get me ‘out there’. Get my name in front of people and increase the chances of me doing business.

Not necessarily instantly. But longer term when the market returned.

Of course I thought it unlikely putting a video out about Financial Crime would lead to a phone call about business. And yet, it did.

Yes, they were longer approaches to the problem. They took a bit of time. They weren’t thought of as normal marketing activities for a recruiter. They relied on the building of an audience. There were countless reasons I shouldn’t have pursued the idea.

But I did.

And they worked.

And they worked reliably.

Most people would call marketing activities like this building a personal brand. Some would call it fluff. Others, like some of my old bosses, would call it a waste of time.

They’re now one of the basic activities I’d rely on if someone asked me to go “back to basics”.

Generational talent

It won’t be long until a quarter of the workforce is Gen Z. In fact by 2025 it’s likely to constitute 27%. So more than a quarter. And that’s 9 months away.

I think if I were in the position of hiring recruiters to make money, connect with an audience and build a book of contractors, or engage passive talent… video and building a personal brand would be one of the basics I’d implore of them.

In their own way of course. Many don’t like being on video. Most don’t even like sharing photos of themselves.

Everyone’s different. Some people are happier on the phone. That’s still a personal brand by the way. It’s just done one-to-one.

If you’re telling me you can’t take those conversations and turn them into more accessible content for the benefit of hundreds of others I’m afraid you’re wrong. Because that’s what I do.

Make no mistake. The world’s changing. And with it, the workforce.

Might it be possible new entrants have their own opinions on how business should be done?

That’s rhetorical by the way. They do.

I listened to a fascinating talk by Ann Swain of APSCO recently, who delved into the changing landscape of business in recruitment. It’s incredibly likely the days of calling a hiring manager, getting their business, and filling a role all on the phone are over.

And if not over, then dwindling. Fast.

Business, and especially recruitment business is a longer game these days.

Even if you work a Creative contract desk, where agencies call up on a Friday and need someone for the Monday.

It’s less about instant satisfaction and more about building communities.

The buying process now is different to the way it was.

Today, people want partners who understand them, and who aren’t just interested in a quick buck. There’s also far more to a hiring process than working with one recruiter.

Not always obviously. Sometimes you’ll have luck in finding a business that trusts you implicitly and doesn’t go anywhere else.

For many businesses, recruiters are still a great channel to utilise in solving their hiring woes. But we’re not the only show in town.

And so to represent yourself in this market, you have to think beyond the old basics.

You have to have new basics. It might be, like me, that includes building a portfolio video marketing.

It might be you start a podcast.

You might need to book into a networking event every week and meet people face to face.

I’d wager, you’ll still need to make the odd phone call too. Probably lots of them.

But one thing’s for sure, relying on building business purely on the phone will leave money on the table, and not reach half the people you might using a multitude of other methods.

So go back to basics, sure.

Just make sure your basics are modern and represent the changing face of the industry.

Or you might get left behind.