We Need to Do The Reps to Get Better as Talent Advisors

This post first appeared on John’s Try Harder is Not a Strategy LinkedIn Newsletter. 

While I think training our TA teams to have effective talent advisor conversations is key, I also know that training, reading, watching videos, and observing others isn't enough. To get better at Talent Advising, we have to practice.

You don't get better at push ups from watching youtube videos on form. You get better by getting on the ground and doing the reps.

If you're a recruiter, it's time to run to the fire. If I were coaching you, I'd recommend you move with urgency to build more value with the business leaders you support. The well paid recruiters of the future will not be transactional managers of a recruiting process, who mostly screen inbound applicants and send InMails (this is how many hiring managers tell us they see their recruiter during our focus groups).

If you're a corporate TA leader, I recommend the same for you, PLUS recommend you help get your recruiters into situations where they can build the muscles to lead more strategic conversations focused on diagnosing root issues and helping hiring teams build the right team with the right capabilities. Your recruiters need you to create some of these opportunities, ideally with friendly hiring managers at first (this helps build confidence).

Most of us get better from doing the reps. I used to be deathly afraid of speaking in public. In university, I'd avoid classes that required me to speak in front of people, despite feeling confident about the content and having a good sense of humor. I just hated the spotlight and formality of public speaking. But I knew that getting better at this - speaking in front of groups - was key to my long term success. I knew that 25 and 30 and 40 year old John would not be where he wanted to be if I didn't put in the reps now at 20.

So, this is my advice: Get your reps in now. Even if - like me - you suck at first.

It's ok to say to a hiring manager or business exec, "I'd like to have a different kind of conversation with you. I've been doing some root issue diagnostic work that I think is impacting quality of hire on your team, and while we've mostly talked about process and priorities in the past, I'd like to go much deeper with you to make sure we're both focused on hiring the higher quality, more senior talent you need in the next 2 years. I've not had many conversations with leaders on this topic before, so it's kind of new to me - but if you're open to it, I'd like to bring some insights to our next meeting and collaborate with you to figure out how we can get you the best talent. Would you be open to that kind of conversation?"

Question for you: What do you think is key to building the muscles needed to have more talent advisor, more strategic conversations with the business? How do we build more confidence and competence?