Tap, Tap, Tap Shhhhhhhh! – Sales & Recruitment Hell!

It is my experience that silence in a sales & recruitment environment will always cost money and lead to eventual failure! I accept this is an increasingly unpopular view among the “new generation” who seek an immediate work/life balance? Who are mistaken to believe success is both convenient and painless? Yes, people need time to think & plan – that said, if you are excited and motivated by the role and its rewards you have committed to, it’s reasonable to conclude you will be keen to move ever closer to achieving them through ACTION?

Ever more frequently I witness this scenario. Tap, tap, tap, tap. The creaking sound of a swivel chair is a major event. The minority who ARE on the phone are:

a) Speaking in unnaturally hushed tones!
b) Bent forward in as if midway through a crunch in the gym!

The occasional incoming call has the audacity to interrupt the combined mood where sincerity meets boredom, delicately framed with naivety and apathy. The odd cough, some movement as someone rises from their seat to:

a) Use the toilet
b) Go for a cigarette
c) Make a coffee
d) Phone a recruiter!

Meanwhile, a Manager remains locked away in their “office” – apparently oblivious to the terminal disease which is gripping the situation over which they have been tasked (and paid) to drive and motivate. Occasionally a colleague will pop in to ask a question they already know the answer to, but, well – it beats the initiating the ACTIONS required for them to be successful – and breaks the boredom for both parties! Hey, let’s book in a meeting so as we can drag this out for as long as possible!

In between the tap, tap, tap colleagues punctuate their professional numbness with comments such as

a) “no one’s getting back to me today”
b) “my computer is shit”
c) “that candidate didn’t call me”
d) “can’t find anyone for that new job”
e) “I didn’t earn any commission last month”

Towards the end of each day, people revert to their reliance on their psychic skills whereby they appear to believe that if they do nothing else other than stare intently/blankly at their phone…….it will ring!!!!!Someone, anyone to whom they sent an email PLEASE call them back? Will they? No! Much like a Medium, they appear believe they can communicate with “the other side” without physically attempting to initiate any verbal communication – Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

And each day tends to end much as it began. Just as they all arrived on time, so they leave on time! The Manager eventually leaves their office and says “Isn’t it our candidate evening this evening?” Finally, some mental agility and powers of persuasion surface:

a) “I’ll do mine tomorrow”
b) “My girlfriends not well”
c) “I’m not feeling very well”
d) “I’ve got a plumber coming around”

And so, to tomorrow!

This exaggerated scenario is one area we specialise in repairing.