Creating A Recruitment Strategy: The Top 3 Things You Need To Know

Stepping into a Management role at Kit and Ace has been a career goal come true. With that comes a lot of new territory to navigate and challenges to take on. Right now I am working on the Recruitment Strategy for 2016 through to 2020. It’s the first time in my career I have taken on a piece of work like this and for the love of elevating the Talent Acquisition community - here are my top 3 learning's:

1) Collaborate + Share

I kicked off this project by doing A LOT of research — reading articles, blogs, templates and examples - spending hours online. There appeared to be literally hundreds of directions I could take this strategy and even more ways I could present it. Slightly overwhelmed I sat back and thought to myself I am certainly not the first person to take this on at Kit and Ace. Considering the caliber of talent surrounding me I knew some real guidance and inspiration was within a 10 foot radius of where I sit. It became really clear what I needed to do next, I booked meetings with Business Partners and started sharing my thoughts and ideas. I got immediate insightful feedback and had the opportunity to see their own prepared slide decks with tips, tricks and advice. It was by far the most effective use of my time and next time I will not wait so long to utilize the powerful resources sitting right next to me.

2) Data and Metrics

Inspired by our recent Key Note Speaker, Derek Isley at ‘The Gathering’ I knew I wanted to implement meaningful metrics that would help us tell a story. A story of where we came from as a Recruitment team, where we are now and where we are going — driven by data. I knew it was important to not only recognize the amount of hires we have made but really capture what that means and just how much work & strategy goes into making those hires. Having that insight from Hootsuites Derek Isley really opened my eyes to the picture you can create to really capture the true essence of what we do and be able to speak to it powerfully at the executive level.

3) Think Big

Once I had an outline, building a strategy that covered all of our basic needs with a reasonable budget to go along with that seemed very doable. But words like “basic” and “reasonable” don’t really cut it when you’re working for a company that has audacious goals and sets the bar high. It was time to stretch and get creative. This was my chance to create a blue print for the Recruitment team that really sets us apart. It was time to take myself out of current state and flash forward to the billion dollar company we are going to become and envision how our team will be operating…and not just functioning I mean BEST IN CLASS OPERATING. This meant digging deep, asking some tough questions and most importantly leveraging the Talent Acquisition Team for their ideas and insight. These creatives sitting right beside me know better than anyone what it’s going to take to set us apart and attract the best talent in the world.

So there you have it, my journey to my first recruitment strategy. Next up — The Presentation! I’ll let you know how that goes...

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Alisha Adams — Talent Acquisition Manager at Kit and Ace; wifey, bestie, hummus lover, throw pillow collector, weekday vegan, entrepreneur