Keeping Your Digital Talent Pipeline Full

One of the enormous issues you’re going to see play out beginning this year is the movement and flux of those that work within the digital advertising and PR industries.

It’s not usually talked about, but believe me, it’s a significant concern for agency owners and companies. How do you retain your top digital talent? How do you maintain them happy? And, how do you keep your eye on the next hire?

Recently, I’ve heard from a number of trusted sources and pals that a number of agencies and companies are struggling to locate the proper social talent. Not at all levels, mind you, but in some spots, these organizations are having a tough time discovering the correct men and women.

So, it’s critical you not only have a retention plan in location for these folks within your orgnization but you’re also working tough to identify and cultivate the next wave of talent you require and want for your business.

How do you do it?

A few ideas:

* Keep the pipeline full. Just due to the fact you are fully staffed now doesn’t mean it will usually be that way. Obviously, on the agency side issues can change speedily. One new account and you might want to add 2-three men and women–quickly. If you have a pipeline full of potential hires, this method won’t be nearly as painful–or lengthy. I love what local Minneapolis branding agency, Quick Horse, is doing along these lines. Using Facebook to maintain in contact with future hires, so when the opportunity comes along, they have a number of candidates to pull from.

* Network where the geeks live. An additional way to keep that pipeline full? Attend local events where people with digital talent hang out. In Minneapolis that generally means events like the monthly MIMA sessions, Social Media Breakfast or any number of the local tweet-ups around town. In order to make positive you’re making the right hire, you need to get to know these people. Discover out what inspires them. Where their long-term interests lie. What they get pleasure from doing in their free of charge time (bear in mind, culture fit is as massive as skill fit). Understand all this and far more by investing a couple of hours a month attending these networking-kind events.

* Commence a dream employee list. Agencies have dream client lists–why wouldn’t they have dream employee lists (and the exact same thing applies on the brand side)? Think about it. If you want to be the best–you require to employ the very best. And, chances are they don’t *all* currently work for your team. So, start a dream list. Why is this important? Due to the fact it stretches your thinking. So often, we stop at “well, we’d love to have (insert individual here) but he’s happy over at (insert agency/enterprise here.” Instead, believe about how you may stay in contact with that person so when the opportunity presents itself, you can supply your help. Remember, life happens men and women. Marriages. Kids. Family illnesses. Spouses change jobs. All can lead a rock star to think differently about his/her current employer–even if they love what they do. Larger point: Begin by thinking about your dream team and figure out creative methods to bring them on board (with out being devious and out-and-out recruiting your competition; I’m not condoning that here).

* Get to know the next generation. Typically, 1 of the bigger requirements on the agency and corporate sides is at the junior level. After all, the higher you go in any organization, the fewer jobs there are obtainable. So, start cultivating these relationships by obtaining to know the children who are still in school. Much more importantly, get to know the professors (or, if you have the time and wherewithal, BE the professor). The professors know the rock stars. Add these stars to your dream list. Track their progress. And maintain them on your radar until the time is correct.

* Make your own game. Don’t like the techniques above? Fine. Make your own game then. Kinda what we did with HAPPO last year. Positive, our major motivation was to support PR pros across the country in a number of methods (finding jobs being the principal MO). But, I also gave thought to what HAPPO might mean to my organization. As an organizer, I would be able to get an insider glimpse into who was looking for work. Crucial as I need to identify and discover a particular kind of sub-contractor that can work within my organization–they’re not simple to locate (got lucky with Scott Hale–accurate diamond in the rough). Making your own game is one of the large lessons I learned from Keith Ferrazzi a while back–and you can make it work for your agency/firm, too.

Originally published at ArikHanson.com