8-13-2014
This is a crucial area that for many companies has never been a line item. The time has come for radio owners and operators to take this vital part of your success seriously. It is the number one concern of most companies ? without a strong sales staff you are not making budgets, current teams are overworked causing turnover, and your managers don?t have time to hire effectively while training their current and new sellers. To top it all off, local sellers hear what a sweatshop you run and they don?t want to join you either. Whew, what a vicious and expensive circle.
Sound familiar? The first step in turning around your hiring efforts is to be more proactive. Hiring quality sellers is not easy, it will get more difficult and you will have more turnover than in the past. Why? There is more competition to hiring those outstanding sellers and with the younger generations coming into the workplace, expect more turnover as statistics predict Millennials having new jobs every 3-4 years. You need to add a budget line for recruiting. Below is a list of areas that you should consider when establishing a budget:
? Travel ? career fairs, conferences out of town, or interviews where you need to bring someone in to meet your team;
? Materials/Brochures/Web ? every jobseeker out there is doing their homework, make sure you have an active career page on your site and recruitment materials to hand out at events;
? Signing Bonus ? not common in the past in radio, but it could be integral in the future;
? Relocation ? you may need to help someone come to you;
? Referral program ? a great way to find new hires; use your staff, clients, and community to refer candidates to you;
? Recruiters ? don?t have time? Need professional experience? Many companies are using outside help to find those stellar sellers;
? Ads/Postings ? not only is this required, but you now need to use more outside sources to reach potential hires, especially via social media;
? Registration for Fairs ? or hiring events, some of the best people to go after are those also looking to hire;
? Internship programs ? it?s not free anymore, screen and hire interns who can grown into your future employees;
? Training ? last but most important, an essential part of success that many did away with during the recession. With the short tenure expected of Millennials, you need to ramp them up and move them out to the streets ASAP while also ensuring that your current team is up to speed on selling strategies.
Hiring is just as important as targeting new accounts and not doing it effectively will drastically affect your bottom line. Without a serious approach and consistent attention, it just won?t happen. The days of having top quality people walk in and present themselves to your managers have all but disappeared.
Laurie Kahn is Founder and President of Media Staffing Network and can be reached at 480-306-8930 or via e-mail at laurie@mediastaffingnetwork.com. Visit the Media Staffing Website www.mediastaffingnetwork.com
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