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Thunderclap | Advertising and Marketing Recruiter

When you bring business development strategies to recruiting, it's the perfect storm for success.

By SteveCongdon

How to make Human Resources more valuable to the agency

I wrote a version of this post years ago for a new business audience. But as this website reflects my humble shingle’s recruiting capability, this post needed revisiting… Enjoy!

Your human resources function. Nothing could be more important in the billable ad agency world than the people you have working at your agency and on your clients’ businesses. All of those tired old quotes about talent are true. Word!

But you know, there just might be opportunities to make HR work a bit harder when it comes to impacting new business and agency revenue. Today’s post will share a couple of new business thought-starters around new staff hires and the onboarding process.

We should, of course, mention when you bring someone new to your team, there’s potential for a slippery slope here with regard to confidentiality, non-compete clauses, ethics, etc.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting you participate in shenanigans that wouldn’t please your mother. Or get your new employee in any legal trouble with their old agency. But a new hire can lead one to ask questions that can impact the new agency’s new business efforts:

  • Does this new person know a client not working with their past shop that might be looking for an agency in the future? It could be at a shop before their last one. Or it could be a rumor they’ve heard. Or related to a job they’ve heard about before they took yours.
  • How might the new agency leverage this intel?
  • What’s the sense of urgency here?
  • Is this just a chance to fatten up your agency’s mailing list, or could something else need to be done?
  • Are there resources or suppliers the new person might know that are worth meeting?
  • Should this hire have an understanding how new business was done at their previous agency, how were they successful? (And what can that mean to you?)
  • Is this a chance for the agency to announce to clients you’ve made a new hire?
  • Might this be newsworthy to the media? It is a blurb for your website? Your social media?

Asking questions like these will pay off with more senior hires, as it will bear fruit faster. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask that young millennial or freshly minted grad the same questions. You need a mixture of people in your network of lead generators and “friends of the agency” to earn more referral pitches. And who knows, that millennial may move client-side one day.

So, consider adding a new form or two to your new employee onboarding process. Yours truly has had the pleasure of working at two great big shops: Ogilvy and FCB. And neither one of them leveraged the many intersections between agency HR and new business.

Many agencies don’t bother. Yet so long as it’s above-board and not getting anyone sued, it’s definitely worth exploring.

Filed Under: Agency Recruiter Strategies, Uncategorized

Intrigued and Wanna Learn More?

Thanks for reading. And glad this got you thinking!

If you’re an agency…
Give us a shout to talk about your next hard-to-find search, a thorny retention or diversity leadership challenge.

If you’re a candidate…
You can give us a shout, too. We know terrific agencies that are looking to hire great people.

Regardless of who you are, feel free to share this post with anyone it might help. Thanks!

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What Others Say

  • "Thunderclap was a great partner in our search for a business development leader. They were thoughtful and transparent throughout the search and took time to understand our organization at a very deep and authentic level. Never once did it feel like a rehash of candidates who tick boxes on paper. Each candidate they presented was thoroughly vetted to our needs and our organization which made the entire process a pleasure. I look forward to working with Thunderclap on future hires."
    Director of Talent, New Business Leader search, mid-sized agency
  • “My search was for a new business leader at a mid-sized regional agency. While candidates are open to relocating to that market, it’s not on everyone’s radar screen. Steve Congdon at Thunderclap gave me a terrific candidate that the agency loved. She’s now on their Executive Leadership Committee.”
    President, leading southeast US recruiting firm
  • “We gave Thunderclap a search for a Senior AE that needed agriculture experience, which is hard to find. And they delivered."
    Senior Recruiter, regional office, global agency
  • “I’ve given Thunderclap several recruiting assignments over the years across three departments: account management, planning and new business. It’s a pleasure working with them. They know our industry and our agency very well. Their candidates fit our requirements and I know they’re a cultural fit when they come from Steve's firm.”
    Managing Director, multiple searches, global network agency
  • “The agency was looking to hire a new Group Account Director that was going to be on a plane every week. Steve found just the right professional for this Top Ten Holding Company Account. I had several great options and they were well prepared.”
    Recruiter, Group Account Director search, global holding company agency
  • "After briefing Steve on what was needed, his company was able to quickly source several well qualified candidates that matched the jobs specs. Thunderclap screened them and submitted the best of the pack. One was hired and continues to be one of our top performers. Couldn't be more pleased with Thunderclap's quick response, professionalism and [I] look forward to working together again."  
    Recruiter, New Business Leader search, 300-person holding company agency

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