http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/06/us-management-tip-idUSBRE8480ST20120606
(Reuters) – Rather than the kindly mentor you can go crying to when you fall and scrape your proverbial knee, you might be better off with the one who doles out tough love to really test your mettle, says Harvard Business Review.
This is a dramatic retelling of the history of a recruiter or two that you may know, training styles may have changed.
“In the early 2000’s, a recent college graduate walks into the second floor of a very nice building in Westwood, CA. He is interviewed by a couple of people who call him a few days later to let him know he’s been extended an offer to join their company.
He happily accepts, not knowing what to expect but as importantly not really knowing how this will change his life forever. The new employee sits a desk across from his trainer at 7 am in the morning who greets him with a smile and politely introduces herself. She’s strong and caring and looks like she’s ready to get this young man a new lease on life.
The clock strike 8 am, the team meets to discuss the plan for training and what a day will look like. The new employee shakes his head, nods and finds himself often saying that he understands (which is probably his fatal flaw at this stage in life).
The day kicks off with phone calls… lots of phone calls…endless phone calls. By 11 am the new hire connects with someone on the phone and is engaged in a “situation” he immediately does as he is told and start to parrot everything the person on the other line is saying. His trainer, guides him through the response, but he doesn’t listen. She starts getting louder, and he starts to sweat, getting more nervous. He repeats 90% of what she tells him to say, but doesn’t finish her thought with the person on the other side of the line. The call ends…no dice!
The trainer raises her voice, proud that he made it through the call, but furious he didn’t follow her words to the very end. She glazes over at him and say “Listen, if you want to be successful, you need to be on this, my way”. Nervously, he agrees but throughout the rest of the day he does the same again when he gets into his next “situation”.
By the end of the day (around 7-8 pm) he’s exhausted, his neck hurts from the calling and cramping of the phone under his ear and he probably needs to change his undershirt.
He leaves work that day, more scared than when he started – Both for the life he has now embraced and the manager he now reports to.”
Years later I am a better recruiter than I could have imagined possible and I had to sweat to get here, and I still have room to learn and grow. I owe you a lot Nitu. Just wanted to say thanks!
