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Sample Recruitment Strategy Planning Template

Strategy
Strategy is
Designed to
Close this
Gap:
Description Possible Tactics Team Action Items
Individual/s
Responsible
Deadline/s
nline
Recruiting
Not reaching
majority of
applicants,
especially
young college
grads
A large percentage of employees hired
by human services agencies for entry
level jobs are seeking their first career
job. Many are young, either fresh out
of college, looking to establish a new
career, or relocating to a new area. he
newspaper want!ads are not an
effective recruitment source for most of
today"s applicants. #lacing vacancy
announcements online is more effective
and economical than using most
traditional forms of advertising.
www.Monster.com
www.$areer%uilder.com
www.&obs.net
www.'otjobs.yahoo.com
(hiresocialservices.com )job site speciali*ing
in human services jobs+
www.,ocialworker.org-joblinks )speciali*es
in human services jobs linked to the
National Association of ,ocial .orkers
website+
www.NA%,..org / National Association of
%lack ,ocial .orkers

Campus
Recruiting
and !ob
"airs
Need to
improve
overall
applicant pool
%oth professional and paraprofessional
applicants can be effectively recruited
at job fairs sponsored by state
workforce development agencies.
$ollege recruiting can be a very
effective method for attracting
applicants for professional jobs.
,end team of '0 representative with an
e1perienced social worker or frontline
supervisor to fairs / provides an opportunity
for job seekers to ask both job specific and
hiring process-benefits 2uestions.
,end an ambassador from the agency to
classrooms of social work majors to guest
lecture or provide an agency overview.
,chedule e1perienced employees or
supervisors to speak on a hot topic in the
human services field at a brown bag
luncheon at a local college or university.

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Strategy
Strategy is
Designed to
Close this
Gap:
Description Possible Tactics Team Action Items
Individual/s
Responsible
Deadline/s
#niversity
Partner$
ships
Not enough
applicants with
speciali*ed
social work
degrees
4eveloping a variety of recruitment
strategies with area universities,
community colleges and ,chools of
,ocial .ork to encourage students to
pursue careers in the human services.
$ollaborate with university deans and
professors to help generate student interest
in the field.
4evelop stipend program partially covering
college tuition and other e1penses of
college students who agree to work for the
human service agency for specified periods
of time. ),ee an e1ample by the 5entucky
$abinet for 6amilies and $hildren and ten
university social work programs

Targeted
Recruit$
ment
7ack of
diversity in
targeted job-s
8ou may need a more diverse
workforce that better reflects the client
population you serve. 6or e1ample, you
may need to recruit employees with
specific language skills, or with
speciali*ed degrees )e.g., M,.s or
$riminal &ustice+.
arget community job fairs to increase diversity
among new recruits. ,ee an e1ample by the 9l
#aso $ounty, $olorado, 4epartment of 'uman
,ervices who created a 4iversity $oalition to
recruit and retain minority staff. )see
www.cpshr.us-workforceplanning-documents-:;.
:<=si1=doable=steps.pdf +

Internships
Need to
improve
overall
applicant pool
(nterns sometimes are paid a stipend,
but in most instances interns are
fulfilling an academic re2uirement of the
college or university. Although
supervisors and-or casework staff must
spend time supervising and training
interns, the potential payoff is having a
known applicant who is familiar with
agency operations.
,ee the 9l #aso $ounty, $olorado, 4epartment
of 'uman ,ervices for an e1ample )see
www.cpshr.us-workforceplanning-documents-:;.
:<=si1=doable=steps.pdf+

>
Strategy
Strategy is
Designed to
Close this
Gap:
Description Possible Tactics Team Action Items
Individual/s
Responsible
Deadline/s
%ord o&
'outh
Need to
improve
overall
applicant pool
(f current employees are happy in their
jobs, they become one of the best
sources of recruitment. ,ome human
service agencies are so well regarded
as a great place to work that they turn
away 2uality applicants.
9ven if employees are not actively referring
vacancies to friends and ac2uaintances,
their positive word of mouth about the
agency is a powerful recruitment source.
?reat frontline supervisors in organi*ations
that engage and value employees are
critical to being considered a great place to
work.

(mployees
as
Recruiters
Need to
improve
overall
applicant pool
he ne1t step beyond word of mouth
recruiting is encouraging employees to
recruit others.
(ssue periodic reminders to staff that
vacancies e1ist and their referrals are
appreciated.
@ffer recruitment bonuses to staff that
refer applicants who are eventually hired.
ie the bonus to the successful completion
of the probationary period.

)eeping
!obs "illed
oo many
unfilled
vacancies
Many human service agencies carry a
large number of vacancies relative to
the number of filled positions. here are
many reasons / bureaucratic approval
processes, heavy workloads preventing
hiring managers from having the time to
go through the selection process, and
failure to anticipate vacancies. (t is
critically important to keep positions
filled. Aacant positions increase the
workload of all employees and add to
the stress of already stressful jobs.
'ire employees in anticipation of vacancies that
are projected to occur. ),ee e1amples by the
4elaware 4epartment of $hildren, 8outh and
6amilies and the Michigan 4epartment of
'uman ,ervices / they have significantly
reduced their vacancy rates by recruiting and
hiring new recruits so there is a ready pool of
trained workers to step into vacancies as they
arise. )see
www.cpshr.us-workforceplanning-documents-:;.
:>=tomorrows=vacancies.pdf +

B
Strategy
Strategy is
Designed to
Close this
Gap:
Description Possible Tactics Team Action Items
Individual/s
Responsible
Deadline/s
'aintain a
pre$
screened
applicant
pool
oo many
applicants get
hired with only
the minimum
credentials
,ome human services organi*ations
delay hiring until staff vacancies reach
crisis proportions. hey then initiate a
recruitment process that is designed to
bring new employees on board as soon
as possible. he unfortunate result is
hiring employees who meet the
minimum re2uirements, but nothing
more.
'ave a pool of pre!screened, interviewed
applicants always available to be called for
a second interview with the hiring
supervisor. .hen using this approach, it"s
important to minimi*e the amount of time
between the initial interview and the second
interview to prevent top!2uality applicants
from being hired elsewhere.
'uman 0esources will need to do
continuous recruiting and screening, even
when there are no current vacancies.

Realistic
!ob
Previe*s
+R!P,
Cnwanted
turnover
among new
workers who
did not
understand
their job when
they were
hired
0ealistic &ob #reviews are designed to
prevent applicants from taking jobs that
they have little knowledge of, or are not
suited to perform. A 0&# is a recruiting
tool designed to reduce early turnover
by communicating both the desirable
and the undesirable aspects of a job
before applicants accept a job offer.
0&#s can be in the form of videos, oral
presentations, job!shadowing
opportunities, and pamphlets or
brochures.
4evelop a 0ealistic &ob #review )0&#+ / )see
The RJP Tool Kit: A How-To Guide for
Developing a Realistic Job Preview +

Improve
-iring
"le.ibilities
in -ighly
Centrali/ed
Systems
'iring process
takes too long
! high 2uality
applicants are
looking
elsewhere for
jobs
Many public!sector human service
agencies are regulated by merit
systems that make it difficult to attract
and maintain the interest of top!2uality
applicants. op applicants in today"s
economy are searching the (nternet for
jobs that are available now. hey aren"t
interested in taking a civil service e1am
and sitting on eligibility lists for months.
(n some systems, rigid re2uirements
and lengthy infle1ible scoring processes
wash out well!2ualified applicants.
,eek central '0 agency approval for hiring
fle1ibilities
Move to online recruiting
,ee Michigan as e1ample of a merit system
that has transformed their recruitment away
from written testing to online recruiting.

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Strategy
Strategy is
Designed to
Close this
Gap:
Description Possible Tactics Team Action Items
Individual/s
Responsible
Deadline/s
Additional
Strategy:

Additional
Strategy:

D

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