Finding the right talent – whether for management, creative or digital jobs – will ultimately involve taking a close look at your business and asking the question: why would the best candidates want to come and work here?
Agency hiring managers understand that today’s job seekers are not attracted by salary alone, but by what a company actually stands for and what kind of work culture they promote.
An agency that wishes to hire the best digital gurus can make themselves considerably more attractive if they’re perceived externally as a company which operates at the forefront of digital media, technology and design.
Likewise, an agency who wants to bring in new advertising or PR talent can draw on the finer points of their client portfolio, award winning projects and their company’s ethos of fostering and promoting creativity to appeal to the best that’s out there.
Agency job seekers still need to demonstrate their technical and creative know-how in order to succeed, however attracting talent is definitely a two-way street. As a business, if you can demonstrate what sets you apart from your competition, you’ll always stand a better chance of landing the talent you’re looking for.
At its most basic, employer branding is no different to client assignments; consider your objectives, what you want to be recognised for, and then what kind of people you need to do that.

You can start by answering the following questions:

  • What do we stand for and why should people be motivated to work for us?
     
  • What kind of work culture/ethos do we promote?
     
  • How do we recognise and reward achievement?
     
  • What are the challenges available to high achievers?
     
  • Do we offer attractive career development opportunities, competitive pay, work/life balance initiatives and/or company stability?

Tweaking the job interview for talent

A series of carefully placed behavioural or competency-based interview questions will disclose a great deal about a potential employee’s likelihood to fit in and their ability to perform as part of your business model.
Questions such as: “tell me about a time you identified a new approach to a problem” or “what was the most difficult work-based decision you made in the last year?” can give hiring managers an insight into how a candidate thinks and how they define a creative approach, work as part of a multi-disciplinary project team or scope a project.
With more than 35 years’ recruitment experience, our specialist consultants can help you through all stages of the hiring process, advising you on how to find the right talent for your business needs. Get in touch with Daine Ferguson to find out more.