(Part 2 of 3) The Components & Principles of Recruiting   A Simple Guide on how to make it rain cash by Using Metrics in your Recruiting.

There are a few things that directly contribute to success in managing yourself or a team using analytics. Let us start with the Principles. 

Setting Goals and Achieving Them 

One of the most basic but most crucial functions of any successful utilization of analytics is the ability to set a goal and achieve it. Human beings as a species have almost unlimited potential. If you consider the progress made by humankind in our relatively brief history, it is mind-boggling. Just in the technology realm in the last 150 years, we’ve seen technological advancements like combustion engines, a man on the moon, genome theory, the Internet, electric vehicles, the Hyper Loop Transport, and artificial intelligence. In the 150 years prior, the best technology inventions included the steam locomotive, rubber, photography and the fire extinguisher. Most individuals fail to realize the extent of what has been accomplished by mankind. And heading into the next 150 years, our progress and achievement will continue at this pace or faster, both as individuals as well as a human species. 

In sports, we are always setting new records with improved speed, strength, and technique – each and every year. We have an unlimited ability to achieve and are now just scratching the surface. In the 2018 Winter Olympics alone, over fifty Olympic and World Records were set. No previous athletes had ever achieved that level of performance – times, scores, records, or marks – in those events. This type of achievement is not new – we have been seeking to excel beyond our predecessors since the beginning of sport being measured. 

The same is true for YOU. You have the ability to achieve whatever your heart desires. Following recruiting analytics best practices, in its most basic form, means setting goals and achieving them. With the right analytics there is no guesswork. You will know exactly where you stand and exactly what needs to be done to get you to that goal. Then, you simply repeat.

The Principle of Critical Mass 

For someone to become successful at anything, there must be sufficient volume of activity. If you are a baseball player, you need to play. You need to get at-bats, shag enough balls, or pitch enough to get better and to have a chance for success. If you are a pilot of an airplane, you need to log flight hours and when you’re ready for takeoff, you need to get enough speed to create lift. High volume of activity is critical for someone to be successful at any pursuit. One might define the Principle of Critical Mass like this: the point of critical mass is the point at which someone reaches enough volume of activity to be successful.

There is only one problem. Required volume of activity changes greatly depending on your current level of proficiency. If you are one of the world’s best, you can get by with less activity. If you are new and not yet proficient, you need much more volume. To reach the point of critical mass, the amount of activity needed is in direct proportion to your effectiveness. 

The Principle of Incremental Increase 

Regardless of the activity, there can always be more volume. You can always make more calls, have more phone time, or even get more send-outs. The Principle of Incremental Increase says that if you put an additional 10% of effort into something, generally you may see an additional 10% in return. Of course, if you are putting 10% more effort into things that do not relate to what your objective is, all bets are off. As long as you are doing the right things that lead to success – if you put in a certain degree more effort or activity, you can expect a roughly similar degree of increase in results. 

But beware: adding more volume of activity toward a goal does not necessarily mean you will get the same results in return continually. If you worked an 8-hour day full of activity, then changed to a 12- hour day packed with activity, you may see a 50% increase in results due to 50% more quality activity or volume. But if you went to a 24-hour workday, versus a 12-hour day, you would not necessarily see double the results. The reason being is that due to an exceeding amount of volume, the quality of work done would decrease significantly due to factors such as exhaustion, stress, and loss of focus. 

Next Month we will be reviewing Activities, Results, Ratios, and the Quantum Leap Theorems of Money Recruiting.