Ginnette Harvey: On Metrics, Handling Rejection, and Personal Branding

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with Ginnette Harvey, Founder and CEO of Harper & Gray, a talent solutions company that focuses on Executive Search with a focus on leadership and specialist roles within the STEM space.

In 2020, Ginnette was named by Staffing Industry Analysts as one of the Top 100 influential leaders in staffing. She led one of the largest Life Science recruitment companies in North America, Real Staffing, and sat on the board at Sthree.

Listen in as Ginnette discusses how the demands of recruitment companies and recruiters themselves have changed over the past two years and the mindset that executive recruiters should adopt in order to thrive in today’s market.

She explains why she is adamantly against metrics-driven, ROI-focused strategies, instead swearing by the long-term value of building a strong friendship with candidates, characterized by value-focused conversations.

Ginnette also shares how to empower your team to power through disappointment and setbacks, particularly by “depersonalizing rejection” and setting expectations right at the beginning with new recruiters.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• [03:14] The mindset that executive recruiters need to succeed in today’s industry
• [05:50] How to build a productive relationship with a candidate
• [09:21] Why it is important to become a friend to candidates
• [12:21] Why activity metrics are dangerous
• [19:40] Finding the right balance between structure and spontaneity
• [23:01] Creating psychological safety for your staff
• [26:43] Dealing with disappointment and rejection
• [30:36] Building resilience in your new staff
• [36:18] Setting expectations as a recruiter
• [39:47] Ginnete’s best advice on personal branding

Key quotes:

• “Build relationships and authentically care”
• “It is really important, considering our jobs as leaders, to set people up for success and then allow them to flourish—to empower them and grow as they gain tenure, seniority, and their own relationships in the industry.”
• “People are not rejecting you. They’re rejecting the service that you’re offering.”
• “Building communities is about providing value. [...] You don’t build a personal or professional brand with the intention of walking away with something at the end of each day.”
• “If you don’t embrace the ideas of community building and social selling, you’ll be left behind.”

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/