Recruiter Productivity Tips

With more of us heading back into the office regularly, we are having to readjust to the ways we used to do things. As a recruiter, that means more face-to-face conversations, small talk while the kettle boils and having to put up with dodgy tunes on the office playlist. Love them or loathe them, these things are part and parcel of office life.

Despite these distractions, you might find being in the office generally makes you more productive. It might be that your attention wanes when working from home or the opposite might be true.

However you work, if your output is inconsistent or there are days where you struggle to get going – and let’s face it, we all have those – finding ways to enhance productivity can be really beneficial.

Here are 10 recruiter productivity tips to help you find a new level of consistency.

1. Stop multitasking

Multitasking can be a beneficial skill to have at times. But in a recruitment environment, being able to focus clearly can be far more advantageous.

Committing to strong planning and time allocation can prove worthwhile here. Set out a clear schedule for your day and work on one thing at a time. This is a great way to operate more efficiently.

2. Prioritise your most important work

We can sometimes find ourselves devoting way more time than we should to something relatively unimportant. Do this too much, and your overall productivity quickly suffers.

By understanding what requires your focus most, you can align this with your most productive times of the week. Generally speaking, that’s towards the beginning of the day and towards the beginning of the week. So Monday mornings and Tuesday mornings are a good time for the big jobs!

Also consider saving some of the day’s more administrative tasks for the afternoons, when you might not be firing on all cylinders.

3. Track your time

If you have said to yourself, ‘Where’s the day gone?’ when at work, that might be because you are not spending your time efficiently.

It can be difficult to get a full oversight on what it is you are doing each day so an experiment you can do is to track your tasks. There are plenty of time tracking tools out there that can help with this, and you might get a bit of a surprise when you see how much time you devote to certain things, but that insight can help you change for the better and enhance your productivity.

4. Consider your home/office work dynamic

By now, you should have a pretty good idea of whether you prefer completing your recruitment work in the office or from the comfort of your home. Both have their benefits, but each has its distractions too.

If you are struggling to be productive in one setting but fine working in the other, then consider moving towards that which gets the most out of you. The reality today is that teams are finding ways to balance home and office work much more effectively so if it helps your work productively, your seniors may well be supportive of you working in your preferred location more often.

5. Chunk your time for tricky tasks

We have all had tasks we know are going to take some doing. That can lead to us putting them off or trying to tackle them bit by bit. When it comes to being productive, however, those challenging tasks require your full commitment to get them over the line.

We recommend blocking out a specific chunk of time for any task that you have concerns about or know will require some serious brainpower. You should consider when you are most productive in the day, as you should be more switched on when you tackle them.

6. Take regular screen breaks

We are all very used to staring at screens these days – but as a recruitment consultant, you might find that taking some time away from your screen works wonders.

Going for a little walk, clearing your head, or even taking a minute to yourself to look out of the window at the world around you can refresh things. And when you do sit back down and start working again, you might find you have greater focus and ultimately get more done.

7. Eliminate distractions

We all have little distractions that we sometimes do without realising.

Front and centre are our mobile phones. With so much information available at our fingertips, it can be easy to pick up your phone and start scrolling. Before you know it, you have lost valuable time and might find it hard to switch back into work mode.

If this sounds like you, putting your phone out of arm’s reach or switching it off altogether can be a good step. All the funny cat videos and memes will still be there when you turn it back on, don’t worry!

If you find yourself distracted by other things, like browsing for news stories or searching for holidays, give yourself a scheduled ‘five minute treat period’ every so often. This way, you can switch off temporarily, get the distraction out of your system, then crack back on with what you need to be doing.

8. Consider a productivity tool

If you feel you and your wider team could be doing things that bit more effectively, there are plenty of tools out there that can prove a game-changer.

Productivity tools and management tools can identify pain points, provide actionable information to staff, and stay on top of the day-to-day. We recently picked out ten management tools to consider, so be sure to do your research and see if you or your colleagues could benefit.

9. Make time for collaboration

In the world of recruitment, being able to draw on the experience of others can help you reach your own goals.

Finding time to collaborate can give you the impetus you need to work more effectively and boost your own productivity. Collaboration offers the chance to share ideas and learn from those around you, so investing time in collaborative working is definitely worth considering.

10. Find your own productivity patterns

When it comes down to it, being productive is on you. Finding the methods and tactics that are best for you is key to creating the right circumstances for positive work habits.

Many people are most productive in the morning, but you might be different! Consider what works best for you and make the changes that you feel will be of most benefit to you. Once a few positive changes have been made, your recruitment work could pick up in a really strong way.

We hope there will be plenty of opportunities for contractors to support businesses as they move forward in the new normal. This in turn gives great opportunities for contractor recruiters, so be sure to get on top of your working practices and enhance your productivity where you can.

Bear Kingsbridge in mind when introducing contractors to business insurance, with our comprehensive and compliant package designed especially for contractors.

Kingsbridge also runs an affiliate scheme that affords the chance for partners to earn a commission when invitees sign up for a Kingsbridge policy. Our partnerships page has more information on this. If you have any other questions, our expert team can be reached on 01242 808740.