INSTITUTE OF
R EC R U I T M E N T
PROFESSIONALS
Advancing the recruitment profession
IRP Professional Guides | Your Career
Why is this important?
If you feel happy in your own
emotional and physical health,
you will naturally feel more able
to succeed in your endeavours.
Understanding that there is a link to
your own productivity through your
own wellbeing is an important step
in being better at what you do at
your work.
This guide is designed to give you
some quick tips, but it is important
to utilise the resources you have
as part of your IRP membership to
help.
11.3million
days
lost due to stress,
depression or anxiety in
2013/14*
*Health & Safety Executive website 2015
IRP Professional Guides Managing pressure
in a recruitment
environment
Recruitment is a fast-paced, sales focused industry, in
which you have to balance the need to deliver results
with being a consultative expert on the jobs market. This
consultative approach to finding people jobs, whilst also
delicately managing the multiple relationships, can be a
challenge. Here are some very simple tips for managing
stress at work which will hopefully make you feel more
productive in the long term and help your emotional and
physical wellbeing.
Key points
1. Stay mobile and get out more:
Regular exercise can be an excellent way in which you can
manage pressure you face at work. When you feel like your
workload is too much, get out for five to ten minutes, take
time to remove any negative thoughts and breathe. Fresh air
works. Once around the block can help you to focus your mind
for when you return to your desk.
2. Take time to plan:
It may sound obvious, but taking time to plan out your day,
week or month, can be a massive influence on how you
manage your own pressures in your work life. Build yourself a
construct that works for you. That could be through Microsoft
Outlook tasks, calendar notes, a workbook or other similar
systems. Find the right system for you that is easily accessible.
Break your projects in to small ‘quick wins’. A series of quick
wins built up together can lead to an overall larger success.
Whether it is the quick wins of getting through to that client,
or making sure that you’ve had that conversation with a
candidate, those little quick wins can add up and before you
know it you’ll have achieved your overarching task.
T 020 7009 2155
E [email protected]
www.rec-irp.uk.com
INSTITUTE OF
R EC R U I T M E N T
PROFESSIONALS
Advancing the recruitment profession
IRP Professional Guides | Your Career
“Sometimes
when people
are under
stress, they
hate to think,
and it’s the
time when
they most
need to think”
Bill Clinton
3. Be prepared to compromise:
You won’t always be able to achieve everything you want to.
This is where prioritising comes in and providing the action
in hand won’t cost you that placement, recognise which
elements can be juggled and which are more important.
Overcome those hurdles first and foremost and you’ll find
the stresses of juggling multiple tasks will get easier.
4. Avoid negativity where possible:
If you are negative from the outset of trying to complete a
task, you are already on the back foot and setting yourself
up to fail. Try to be positive about the outcome. If you are
making a difficult call, be positive in your tone when you
speak to a client/candidate, as that will translate itself when
you speak to somebody. Positive body language can also
help to support positive interaction, both on the phone and
in face-to-face interactions.
5. Draw on the experiences of your peers:
Talking to somebody, communicating your concerns or
issues, can help you because your peers may have other
perspectives on how you can handle a difficult or stressful
situation, or they will have potentially have gone through
the same situation as you previously. The best people to talk
to about your pressures are those around you, because they
are the ones who are doing the same job as you and could
empathise with your situation.
Implement now/next
Visit the REC’s
ManagementDirect portal,
which includes support
documentation and articles
that outline ways in which you
can manage stress. Visit www.
rec-irp.uk.com/cmi for more
information
Quick tips:
yy Use the CMI portal on the IRP website to find out how you can
improve your emotional wellbeing at work
yy Share your challenges with peers
yy Take time to plan and think about what you are working on
For more information visit www.rec-irp.uk.com
or contact the IRP team on 020 7009 2155.
IRP Professional Guides T 020 7009 2155
E [email protected]
www.rec-irp.uk.com