Recruitment Story: Networking Skills That Pay

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We live in an unimaginably connected world. It truly feels like a small world at times. But how many of us are actually mindful about our connections? Of course, it is not possible to know how and to whom you are connected without some sort of communication and revelation. You cannot know your sister goes to a school where your friend’s cousin is her classmate, unless someone tells you about it. You cannot know a client of yours knows a candidate you placed in a different firm ten years ago, unless you see them as mutual connections on social media.

And sometimes, connections pay- literally and figuratively. The impetus networking skills have gained over the years is the proof. Networking, making connections is an important task. LinkedIn wouldn’t be so important otherwise.

Moreover, it is a greater skill to make use of that networking and connections, at the right time.

We are back with a recruitment story, this time, with the theme of the importance of making right and timely use of your networks.

One of our Team Leaders was in touch with a candidate who had been selected for a senior position at a particular company abroad. The candidate, let us call him Mr. X, was having a hard time getting his resignation accepted at his then current job. Seeing no other alternative, he ghosted that company. He left, just like that.

He not only ghosted the company he was then working at, but also the company he was supposed to join.

So now, the client company was left hanging. The candidate had also met the management once, and they were sure he would join once his notice period came to an end.

The client told our Team Leader about the issue.

The Team Leader’s calls, messages, emails went unanswered, unreachable too.

A classic case of ghosting had unfolded! What to do now, we wondered.

The Team Leader explored her networks. She browsed LinkedIn incessantly to find some common connection, some person, maybe who lived in the same country, city as Mr. X. She started looking for people who might be even remotely connected in any way to him.

She found out one connection, someone she knew, let us call him Mr. Y. Apparently, he and Mr. X  both were employees in one company at some point of time, but in different countries. The timings of their tenure matched, but could it be possible that Y would know X? Probably no, probably yes.

Besides, she had contacted a former colleague of Mr. X, and he had the same contact information. What are the odds that this Mr. Y would have anything new to say?

At such times, it becomes important to rely on your guesswork, and take chances.

Our Team Leader anyway contacted Mr. Y, and eventually asked him if he knew Mr. X.

Turns out, they were in fact, good friends. What’s more, Mr. Y said he had talked to Mr. X  just recently. They were in touch!

Our Team Leader talked about the issue to Mr. Y. He said he wouldn’t be able to give her Mr. X’s new contact information but he will communicate the issue to him, and will tell him to give a call.

There was no call for some time though. The Team Leader waited.

Finally, Mr. X called. The ghost had been found!

He communicated the problem he was facing with his resignation to our Team Leader. He also told her that there was a health emergency in his family, and he wouldn’t be able to join the client company at the date that had been decided. The Team Leader understood his predicament, and communicated this to the client company.

Eventually, the issues were sorted, he attended to the health emergency well. He attended the training sessions but as per his requirement, his joining date was extended.

What are the lessons to learn here?

Firstly, the Team Leader’s perseverance and resourcefulness.

She made full use of LinkedIn. Many of us ignore the tools we have at hand.

How many of us have that presence of mind? It is important to know where to look, and whom to ask. Knowledge-acquisition process would become haphazard if we didn’t know these basic questions.  And she kept looking despite failure at the first connection.

The Team Leader also took a chance. She didn’t dismiss any trace of a link. It is truly necessary to be open to possibilities. We should know that one really never knows.

These qualities, and the commitment helped her retain a long-term client, a very important thing in the recruitment industry. And most importantly, communication played a major role. To find solution(s) to any problem, one needs to know that there is a problem in the first place.

This is one recruitment story where making the right use of technological resources, networking, and communication skills made a difference. Kudos to Mrs. Rina Arun, the Team Leader in the story!

Recruitment Story: The Sweet Rewards of Professional Excellencies

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A gesture that has a personal touch, for a professional feat goes a long way in boosting levels of motivation, confidence, and work-satisfaction in the employee. Acknowledging and being grateful for any such gesture, and articulating it to the person who gave the “reward” strengthens the professional bond.

How would you like receiving a huge cake on your wedding anniversary from a prestigious client?
Pretty overwhelming, joyful, valued, surprised?

This is probably one of the best feedback someone might receive for their professionalism.

It is time for another recruitment story giving lessons, both personal and professional.

This team leader got a call from a lady in Singapore, who had found out about United HR through a reference.
The lady from Singapore eventually became a regular client.
And the team leader helped her get a lot of candidates for several management and directorial positions. The lady from Singapore phoned the team leader regularly to express her happiness whenever someone got recruited. The team leader too, always answered the calls warmly, and made sure the quality of work was maintained.
Now one day, the team leader received another such call from this lady.
It happened to be the team leader’s thirtieth wedding anniversary. As the client lady from Singapore expressed her happiness about the latest recruitment, the team leader thanked her for giving such a happy news on a day like that. More pleasant words were exchanged and the call was over.
The team leader got another phone call from a different person asking for her home address, and assuming it was for a professional reason, gave it.

Fast forward to when she was at home. The doorbell rang, and lo and behold, there was a cake delivered to her from the client lady in Singapore, for her “ wedding anniversary”! That person asking for the team leader’s address was calling from Hyderabad (he was a successfully placed candidate), and was directed by the lady from Singapore to do so. He had selected a huge cake with wonderful icing.

This client lady had also emailed praising the landmark number of thirty years.

The team leader had received felicitations from distant places! Both, the client and the candidate had gone an extra mile.

One talks about the sweet returns of a great job. But rarely one thinks of receiving such a literal sweet return!

 Efficiency, and consistency are two factors that contributed to establishing a sense of reliability.

This reliability goes a long way in retaining clients and maintaining client-relations.

It is hard to imagine something similar happening if the team leader wasn’t consistently delivering results. She clearly didn’t stop making efforts after just one successful assignment. What’s more, there was always cordial, warm communication taking place. This goes a long way in making sure the client feels valued.

The personal touch in a gesture is truly a marker of the client-satisfaction.
And sure enough, in this case ,professional excellence leads to a figurative cake and the sweet taste of job satisfaction, which are way beyond the monetary rewards.

Kudos to Mrs. Ansuya Satish, who is the team leader in the story and we thank her for sharing pearls of wisdom, and take things to learn from her.
She has been one of the Great Pillars, on whom the Glorious History of United HR rests.

Mrs. Ansuya Satish
Mrs. Ansuya Satish

Recruitment Story: Sleeping, Smelling, Dreaming Generators

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Some of us would be familiar with our parents and grandparents telling us stories about the struggles they had to go through when they were younger. Anecdotes about walking long distances to go to school, when all we have to worry about now is whether we will be able to catch the bus on time. About how one had to actually spend hours in the library to look for one tiny snippet of information, when all we have to do is one Google search.

Looking at these incidents with humour is all very well, but the thing is, all of this is true. We have to admit that our parents and grandparents did some pioneering acts which might daunt us if we think about it now.

Here we present one such story about our initial years.

Flashback to almost thirty years back. The India we know today was different then. The world as we know now was different then.

There was a requirement of an “Operator” for an 11,000 kva, 40 feet tall generator at a Textile mill in Nigeria.

The only brief given was the person should:

“Sleep with Generator

Smell of Generator and

Dream Generator.”

 What?

This was no era of KRAs.

This was no era of specifications of degrees or specialisations.

This was no era of interconnected email networks which now ensure that there is an almost instant spotting and filtering of potential candidates. Headhunting was the only way.

Add to the mix, although generators were a norm in industries in India as well as Nigeria and electricity not as widespread as it is now, a machine this big was still a rarity.

How would one cope with a “Brief” like this in the present day?

It was the brief where we had to understand that there was a need of someone who knew all about dismantling and assembling generators like the back of his hand.

They needed someone who could work hands on with a generator. Or more specifically work hands on with an 11,000 kva, 40 feet tall generator.

We found the perfect candidate for this position. Yes, with no KRAs and just this brief. Yes, in that era.

This was all done, under the able guidance of our CEO, Dr.O.P Pahuja, who is a hands on Engineer himself. This tells us so much about his visionary nature.

Dr. O P Pahuja
Dr. O P Pahuja

This recruitment story is of the time when industriousness, problem-solving skills, perseverance, awareness, risk-taking, courage were the qualities that were necessities. They were needed to thrive and keep companies running successfully.

This recruitment story is a testimonial to the pioneering and industrious nature of Team United HR. It aligns perfectly with one of our mission statements: “Putting right People in Right Places”