When it comes to recruiting new employees, now is a more important time than ever to be cautious of not only who you’re hiring, but how you approach the hiring process as a whole. With tight budgets and an unstable economy, there is little room for hiring the wrong “fit” at your agency. So, what should an agency be doing in terms of recruitment? It all starts with understanding what you need, as you’ll see in this first of a five-part series designed to help you recruit top talent.

Determine what you need
Determining exactly what your agency needs in terms of new employees is the first step toward recruiting a good fit at your workplace. It is important to assess this question long before you start contacting potential employees. “You will never find what you’re looking for if you don’t know what you need,” said Heather Gaengel, recruiting manager at Zywave.

But how do you do this? By interviewing the managers seeking new hires you can gain insight on not only what traits they’re looking for in an employee, but also specific quantitative qualifications such as knowledge of specific computer programs or a second language proficiency. Ask these managers who their top performers currently are, and what skills they bring to the agency. Probe further by asking what skills their top performers have been able to learn on the job. And see if you can find out why they have surpassed their peers and what has contributed to their success in doing this. Gaining insight to these questions will leave you better prepared and equipped to find the right new hire for your agency.

And you don’t have to stop at interviewing hiring managers about their top performers. “As a recruiter, get to know the top performers themselves and understand why they like their jobs,” said Heather. Ask them what has contributed to their success, and why they think their traits have coincided so well with the agency. The combination of understanding why the top performers are seen as successful in the eyes of their managers as well as why these performers enjoy their jobs is essential. This sets you up to recruit only potential employees with the right “fit,” and helps you position the job opportunity to the recruit as well.

This is part one in a five-part series on recruitment at agencies.

©Copyright 2009, Zywave, Inc.