Recruit Constantly!

by Carolyn B. Thompson

Carolyn B. Thompson
Training Systems, Inc.
221 Vermont Road
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-469-1162

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526 Words

Recruit Constantly!
by: Carolyn B. Thompson

Would you begin marketing your products and services the day you need the revenue?

Of course not, but that's what most companies do when recruiting employees they wait until they need an employee, then they start seeking! You need to recruit constantly!

The product/service marketing/sales process begins with a plan a marketing plan. What should we sell? Who wants to buy it? Where are they? What will attract them? Your Recruitment Plan (marketing you as an employer to potential employees) will be the same: - Who Are Our Potential Employees? here's the basis of your plan, this is where you target who will be successful by looking at who has been successful and their characteristics. You may need to make several recruiting plans if your employee job tasks are very diverse. I always try to start with one and then add if there is great diversity.

- What Makes Us Attractive to Potential Employees? obviously you need to know this so you can create an organization that has the qualities that your target is seeking again, like customers, you change your products and services to meet their needs so they'll buy. This information is best gathered from current and past employees and those applicants you wanted but who didn't want you.

- What Are 10 Benefits to Them of Working with Us? great info for your recruiting literature and interviewing. You can actually use the words that will show them the most benefit.

- Who Are Our Competitors? watch to see how they're recruiting and learn from successes and mistakes.

- Short Term/Long Term Objective Of Our Organization no sense in doing a recruiting plan for a department that's being phased out know where your whole organization is going and integrate your plans.

- Recruiting Strategies now you can use strategies that will actually attract the target you want. Most companies use the classified ads and local school job boards this is great if your target is anyone who can read at a 6th grade level, and the people who look at job boards at local schools.

- How to Respond to Applicants if you use strategies that are specific to your target, it will cause hoards of great applicants to come your way and you may not need some of them now. Your plan needs to include how you'll respond and keep in touch with them so they'll be there when you need them many companies using the "recruit constantly" method send potential employees a quarterly newsletter and other company generated info - a great, easy way to stay in their minds.

- What Assessment Techniques to Use plan what assessment techniques, selection techniques, and closing (job offering) techniques you'll use so you choose things that are attractive to your target for example, if one of your targets is students, asking them to come in for 2 or more interviews may be cumbersome and thus make you less attractive than a competitor!

- Action Plan finally, you'll set up action steps and timelines so that strategies are implemented at the appropriate time and nothing slips through the cracks of your busy days.

Save time, save money and save energy recruiting constantly with a Recruiting Plan.

Carolyn B. Thompson is the President of Training Systems, Inc., a customized training and HR consulting company that helps small and medium sized organizations enhance their ability to recruit, inspire and retain quality employees and improve performance through training. Training Systems, Inc. also provides training design and delivery services to training companies and the training departments of large companies, and professional and trade associations. Carolyn B. Thompson is an experienced trainer and consultant knowledgeable in the challenging area of employee recruitment, inspiration and retention. She is an exciting, inspirational trainer who leads people to learn. She has written articles for prominent magazines, has been interviewed for Chicago's TV Channel 26, the "You're Hired" radio show, Safety & Health, Small Business Computing, Business Week, Working Woman, Redbook and Inc. magazines, been the subject of articles in the Daily Southtown, Will County Business Journal, and Star newspapers, as well as written chapters in several books. Most recently, Carolyn produced a two-tape audio cassette set entitled "Straight Talk for Employers", written and published a book entitled "Creating Highly Interactive Training Quickly and Effectively", is currently writing a book about on-the-job training, and co-authoring another book about using biblical principles to manage employees.