Exploring recruitment lessons from Birmingham’s most feared – yet famous – crime gang, the Peaky Blinders, may seem a little unusual.
But with the final season of the show streaming on Netflix today, it felt like the perfect opportunity to share a few recruitment lessons you can take away from the show’s protagonist, Thomas Shelby.
If you like the series, this article will be right up your alley. But don’t worry if you haven’t seen it; these lessons apply to every recruiter.
5 recruitment lessons you can learn from Thomas Shelby of the Peaky Blinders
We do not endorse the main characters’ unlawful violence, smoking, or drinking habits. But we do seek to learn from everything.
1. Your team is your strength
Thomas Shelby is a powerful individual in his own right. But he was always accompanied by his family. His businesses and politics are inextricably linked to his family.
He failed whenever he was separated from them. Shelby’s main competitors are larger and more powerful gangs.
But he always manages to annihilate them with his small family gang. His family will support him no matter what. In turn, Thomas Shelby prioritizes his family above all else.
Being a recruiter, you need to help your client identify their circle. It is your responsibility to find employees for your clients who will stay loyal and truthful to them.
Your clients need employees who aren’t just solo sailors but also understand that there is strength in teams.
This doesn’t just apply to your clients, but it does to your agency too. Your own circle has to be loyal to you as well.
You need a team that backs you up and sticks together. It is crucial to prioritize your team and clients over any other thing.
2. Build a team you can trust and define roles
An old leadership mantra is knowing your team’s strengths and trusting them to do their jobs. Tommy’s leadership style exemplifies how to assign roles based on your team’s strengths.
The series shows when to empathize with a team member and when to remind them of their responsibilities and strengths without hesitation.
If you’re a recruitment agency owner, prepare yourself for what are your strengths question, your team needs to be reliable, and you should be aware of their strengths and weaknesses in and out.
This will help you better assign responsibilities, function better in the industry, and competently serve your clients.
3. Always have a plan
Thomas Shelby always has a strategy in place to keep his gang of anti-heroes on top of their game.
Some of his schemes’ success may be due to pure chance, but how much is due to strategic preparation and planning?
His plans are always jam-packed with wisdom.
“When you plan something well, there’s no need to rush.” Thomas Shelby meticulously plans every detail. He even visualizes events before they occur.
He is always aware of what is going on and where it is going on. Tommy remains calm throughout the series, regardless of the outcome; he does not rush or panic when things do not go as planned, and he always has a plan B.
Similarly, every recruitment agency must have a recruitment plan and strategy in place. Organization and preparation are crucial to the success of any strategy.
Recruitment plans serve as timelines for recruiters to find qualified candidates for their clients while minimizing downtime. They also define the objectives for a specific position.
Plans facilitate the hiring process and serve as a qualification guideline for applicants.
This helps recruiters ensure that they hire people who have the necessary qualifications and skills for the job. The most significant advantage is keeping your clients on track.
As we can clearly learn from Tommy Shelby, planning is the key to success!
4. Mental health matters
Throughout the series, various characters suffer traumas, many of which are the result of their experiences during World War I, which impact their mental health.
This is a theme that runs throughout the show, which follows the lives of ordinary, working-class people after the war.
Their battles with mental illness serve as a reminder that mental illness is nothing new, even if the characters’ desperate attempts to deal with their demons in an era before professional help are heartbreaking to watch.
There is a growing understanding of the impact that a hectic and potentially distorted work-life balance can have on your mental health, which is true for recruiters as well as workers in any industry.
Taking care of your mental health and recognizing if your coworkers are struggling will help you foster a more supportive working environment.
You tend to put in more hours than any other professional out there. This often exceeds 16 hours. It can be beyond exhausting.
This is why it is vital to take breaks, communicate, and rewind in order to function efficiently and be more productive.
5. Develop a reliable network
Tommy’s enemies corner him at several points throughout the show. During such times, his dependable network assists him in rising to the top.
Having a bunch of connections always helped Tommy get out of tough situations. That’s the beauty of right networking.
So, look beyond your immediate team and create a network that can assist you in times of need.
You must indulge in networking so that you can use this network to attract qualified candidates for your clients.
You can use social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn to build your recruitment agency’s brand and expand your connections.
Having a great network of people will allow you to build a quality candidate pool that’ll come in super handy when in a crisis to fill a position fast. Networking could also help you bring in new clients!
Peaky Blinders is a work of art. It gives the audience something beyond entertainment.
Did you notice any other important lessons we might have missed? Let us know in the comments!
Featured image source: IMDb
