Dear Recruitment Mum,

I wonder if you could help me? I’ve been with my current company for over five years now and I feel stuck in a rut.

I joined as a newbie to recruitment and have had great success over the years.

I don’t know what to do: what I originally bought into at the company in terms of values and practice, has now totally changed. Basically, I feel they are no longer the same company! 

I feel like the loyalty and commitment I have shown to them over the years just isn’t appreciated anymore.

By that, I mean, I’m constantly micromanaged; I feel like I’m not trusted to be senior consultant and it’s getting me down. I am being treated the same way as the trainees! This has been really significant since Covid began, as before that I was left alone to bill, which is why I am their top biller and continue to be, which is why this change is making me feel so undervalued.

Please help!!

From Jodie

Recruitment Mum says: 

Thank you for explaining your situation to me, Jodie. It’s clear that the pandemic has affected your leaders’ levels of trust. You don’t say whether you are based in the office or remotely, so it would be interesting as to whether this shift from an empowered leadership style to an overbearing one is because they feel that you not being in the office 24-7 means you won’t get the results.

If your results are the same as before, it is possible you are being used as the ‘fall guy’ ie. perhaps others in the business haven’t performed as well; the impact on companies’ profits since Covid have been monumental and this could be a case of your leaders panicking.

If your performance has remained the same, yet you are now feeling micromanaged and bulked into the same cohort as the trainees, then it is definitely the time to request a review/appraisal with your leader.

If your performance has remained the same, yet you are now feeling micromanaged, it is definitely the time to request a review”

In advance of this, ask for the data on your performance, or better still, prepare it yourself – to show your activity and outcomes. This will be your armour for when you broach the subject in hand, which is ‘expectations management’.

During this conversation, ask your leader what their expectations are of you. Are you meeting them? Have you met them up to that point?

In response, what do you expect of them? How are they performing in terms of your expectations? This is your opportunity to present your concerns over their shift in leadership style to see whether it is their perception of you, or whether, as suspected, it is a case of ‘leader in panic mode’.

By suggesting this level of candour (ideally face-to-face, if not video call), then I believe you can relay back the reasons why you are loyal, why you enjoy working there and why you have remained successful when others have not. In addition, are there opportunities for you to support these more junior recruiters, with their coaching and mentoring delegated to you so that you can champion them to success?

This could be a win-win for both of you: you feel highly regarded for your loyalty and knowledge, and your leader is less time-restrained and can have a better succession plan in place.

I hope this advice helps – and well done on committing to this company through this challenging time. I hope your loyalty is repaid. 

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