How This Recruiting Team Stays Motivated — Even During Tough Times

Consider it a small miracle: Even while recruiting has been a roller-coaster ride, Erin Scruggs, vice president of talent acquisition at LinkedIn, has kept her team of 140 motivated and engaged. 

“Recruiters can go from ‘Huh, I don’t have enough to do’ to ‘Wow, my workload is doubled and I’m overwhelmed,’” Erin says, “and when the overwhelm happens, we almost can’t augment the team fast enough.” Her team has also been whipsawed by COVID-19. Erin says that responding to the needs of the business — even as the business itself has responded to “the wild swings of the macroenvironment” — has left the team feeling immense pressure and put them in “survival mode” as they respond by doubling, even tripling their team. 

But through it all, Erin has managed to keep her recruiters motivated and happy in their jobs. Yes, they’ve struggled in general during the pandemic (because, who hasn’t?). But their employee engagement survey results have come back with consistently high scores for engagement, manager support, and inclusion. And the team has had low attrition rates, and several recruiters who did leave have subsequently reached out to say they’re thinking about coming back.

Erin credits part of their success to adaptability, pointing to one of their frequently quoted mottoes: “Be a sapling and blow in the wind — blow and bend and do not break.” As the team leader, she’s also been very intentional about creating an environment where recruiters can thrive. 

We spoke with her about the key things she does to keep her team feeling supported and motivated. Here’s what she had to say: 

1. Pitch in when colleagues are struggling 

Even though it’s advice we’ve heard over and over during the pandemic, it always bears repeating: Be empathetic. People are still struggling. 

On Erin’s team, this empathy translates into recruiters feeling free to raise their hands and tell the truth about their lives. They’ve told the team that their mother has COVID. They have mentioned that their kids are doing virtual school. Again. They’ve attended video meetings with a child on their lap. Instead of questioning their work ethic, other team members have stepped up to help.

Erin has a saying she likes to apply to this: “When one person needs to lay down on the boat, everyone else rows.” In other words, they all pitch in when someone’s dealing with tough stuff.

2. Make sure that managers treat recruiters well 

One of the ways that Erin keeps her team motivated is by working with her managers and letting them know she expects them to treat their people well. Of course, recruiters are expected to do their jobs and perform. But they’re unlikely to bump up against a manager who tells them, “I don’t care what your challenges are. You’ve got to meet your numbers.” They’re allowed to be human, have an off-day, and be honest about it. 

Erin notes that empathy and appreciation are especially important in this environment, when recruiters are in such high demand. Last summer, for example, there were more jobs advertised for recruiters on LinkedIn worldwide than there were for software engineers. “We say all the time to the team, ‘You have a choice of where to go and we appreciate you choosing to stay here,’” she says. “We’re going to try to earn that choice every day.” 

3. 'Survey the heck' out of teams to get their feedback

Because there’s no playbook for what talent professionals have experienced over the last few years, Erin and her managers have had to make a lot of data-informed, educated guesses about what will work and what won’t. As soon as they’ve come up with a game plan for each new challenge, they share with the team how they plan to handle it and the direction in which they’d like to go. 

Then, a few months later, they solicit feedback. “We survey the heck out of our teams,” Erin says, “and ask, ‘How did this feel for you in the trenches? What were some of the downstream impacts? What do you wish we had known before we made this decision?’” 

Erin uses Google Forms to conduct the surveys. Once the results have been tallied, she reads the high-level insights as well as every single comment.

The feedback helps her understand what people are feeling and whether the current approach is working. Based on what they learn from the surveys, Erin and her managers shift how they’re dealing with a particular challenge — which in turn shows recruiters that leaders care about what they think. 

4. Help managers level up on leadership

Erin has been very intentional about creating a culture where recruiters want to work, and she’s started with her managers. That’s apparent in the “Art of Leadership” series she created to inspire managers and encourage them to “level up.” 

In the series, Erin shares podcasts from thought leaders such as Adam Grant, Simon Sinek, Jeff Weiner, Carla Harris, and Brené Brown. She and her managers listen to each podcast and then meet every other week for 90 minutes to discuss what they’ve heard. She offers a session every other week for new managers, so they can focus on the issues they’re having. 

5. Get inspired by a good book

A number of the podcasts that Erin’s team listened to for their leadership workshops mentioned the book The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle. A teammate sent Erin the book and the team committed to reading it, crystallizing their vision of what they wanted the team to be.

“Our leadership,” Erin says, “is now really thoughtful about team-building exercises, fostering vulnerability, and creating psychological safety.”

6. Offer specific praise for a job well done

One thing Erin’s managers have learned, as a result of their listening and reading, is to always recognize a job well done and do it in a specific way. Instead of telling a recruiter, “You’re doing great,” managers are more likely to say, “Hey, I saw that you did X. Here’s the impact that that had. Thank you so much, and keep doing it.” 

7. Use a ‘morale budget’ to keep the job fun with appreciation videos, care packages, and lighthearted competitions

While a toolbox of soft skills is essential for building a good culture, Erin took it a step further and requested a “morale budget” from her leaders at LinkedIn. Her team has used these funds to create appreciation videos, in which company leaders tell the talent team how grateful they are for their work. 

They’ve also used the funds to generate some memorable lighter moments, with the idea that if people are having as much fun as possible at their jobs, they’re more likely to thrive. Every year, her team picks a fun theme, and this year’s is “camp counselor.” 

The leadership team sends recruiters care packages, like a s’mores pack. Or if the weather looks gloomy where a recruiter is located, Erin’ll send a half-zip parka and a note that says, “Looks like it might rain this weekend.” 

Erin and her team also do lighthearted competitions (in which, for example, people have sung to their colleagues on video) and hold raffles for swag prizes. “There’s nothing earth-shattering about the gifts,” she says, “but it’s just getting something in the actual physical mail, thanking them for their contribution.” 

Final thoughts

One of the most important ways Erin keeps her team motivated is by letting them know how essential they are to the success of the organization and to its impact. 

To drive this point home, Erin recently asked Gerald Chertavian, CEO and founder of Year Up, an organization that connects young adults to careers in tech, to speak to her team about the opportunity gap and the challenge of closing it. His talk fired up the team, in part because Erin’s org has five Year Up alumni on it. But Gerald also spoke to them about how, as the front line of hiring, they can create economic opportunity and help close the opportunity gap. 

“I think it’s motivating for our team to hear that talent is LinkedIn’s No. 1 priority all the time,” Erin says. “But even more than that, I like them to understand how important this is, by connecting them to the vision and mission of the company.”

*Photo by Bucography on Unsplash

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