Recruiting Tips

You have planned carefully, had good help, and produced a great website. Just remember that you are not finished until you have recruited someone to maintain and update your site.

A dynamic website is designed so that it is easy to add or change content. Nevertheless, making sure that organizations provide for website updates has been one of my biggest challenges. Someone in the organization must be recruited and trained, and recruiting is a job that people love to hate.

Leaders will sometimes try to do a job themselves rather than take the time to get someone else to do it. If they are already overworked and do not have the time, the job does not get done. Unfortunately, out of date information is death to a website.

So here are some tips on recruiting website help, and recuiting in general.

Get help, in the form of a personnel committee.

Build it into your organization so everyone will know what to expect next time.

• Assign a chairperson (past-president?) to chair the committee and appoint one or two other people to help
• Set up a schedule (target specific dates) so you start working well ahead of the time you need to fill the job. You will need at least a second choice in case your first choice is unavailable.
• Schedule elections/get a committment early enough so the person can get some orientation before they have to take over.

Now the work begins:

1. You have to know your needs

Think carefully about what you want the person to do and develop a written job description. The specifics could change, depending on the skills of a particular person, but a written job description is an important tool for recuiting.

2. You have to know your people

Show personal interest in your members, new and old. Find out about their skills and interests in casual conversation. You could use a written questionnaire, but be sure to follow it up with a personal conversation.

3. You have to ask

Do your research and ask the person you think can best do the job. It is only polite, since you are asking them to donate their time and talents. Tell them about the job and how they could benefit from the experience as well as be of service to the organization.

General announcements– 'We need volunteers' – rarely get results, or you could end up with a person who is not qualified or undependable.

Avoid negativity – remember that you are not desperate to fill the job and there is no reason for them to feel guilty if they have to turn you down. (You do have a plan B, right?)

4. You have to provide orientation, training, and support

Your written job description is a good starting place. Make sure the person knows what is expected of them. Provide the specific training you promised them when they agreed to do the job, whether it is formal or informal. Assign a mentor to provide support.

Make sure everyone knows when the new person is doing a good job. The rule is: correct in private, praise in public.

Include in the written job description the responsibility to help recuit and train a successor when the time comes.