Even though I started doing recruiting 25 years ago, I actually began my career in sales with an international consumer packaged goods company. While there, one of my more seasoned coworkers gave me some very valuable advice – don’t snub the help. You see, the majority of our time was spent in the front and back of grocery stores, selling products, gaining shelf space and organizing shelves. It was very easy to walk into a store, find the manager, sell my products, straighten out a shelf or two and move on to the next store.
What I didn’t realize was what he then explained. You never know who will be your next manager (decision maker) or who really knows what’s going on in the store. He had started as a bagger in a grocery store as a teen, moved his way up to store management, then over to the vendor side that we worked in at that time. He told me there were countless times sales people would come in his store when he wasn’t the manager and would act like he didn’t even exist…..until he became their manager! He told me, “I remembered everyone that was nice to me and everyone that wasn’t. For those who were nice to me before, I remembered them in my buying after I became the manager. Everyone else, I treated like…..”
Roll the clock forward a few years later. I had a big interview with another company. When I arrived in the main building of their massive headquarters lobby, I checked in with the receptionist then had a seat to wait. As I waited, I decided to go back to her desk and strike up a conversation. I reintroduced myself and asked if I could ask her a few questions. She agreed so I began with, “What’s it like to work here?” She became an open book. When I told her the job I was interviewing for, she told me, “Oh, you’ll get the job.” I asked how she knew. She stated, “I know what they’re looking for. Now, after you get it, here are some people you should connect with. They’re good people and they’ll take care of you. And, here are some to stay away from. They’re snakes.” The entire experience blew me away!
Guess what, I got the job and everyone she listed checked out just the way she said.
After I got the job, I approached her about our conversation at her desk. She said, “Honey, people come down here and talk around me as if I’m deaf, dumb and stupid. So, I just act like I’m not paying attention and take in everything they say. If people only knew what I knew about what goes on around here.” We both laughed, but I would check in with her about once per quarter to “get the scoop.”
So, why am I telling you this? Because the people you think are in charge may not be the ones who are really in charge. Receptionists, like the one I mentioned, hear and see a lot. Secretaries and Administrative Assistants are gatekeepers for calendars, phone calls and information. When I would bring people in to interview with me, I often asked my assistant how they treated her. If she didn’t like them, there was a good chance I wouldn’t like them either.
Because of the lesson my coworker taught me early in my career, I have gained more access and obtained more information than many of my former coworkers could have imagined – all because I was nice to the “little people” who were really the big people in disguise.
Don’t snub the help – they may just be the help you need!
Until next time….