By Dudley Balan
John F Kennedy said “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” This is a great motivational and inspiring phrase to engage a population into contributing to the development of a country, but I challenge you to think of the recruitment for your club in the same capacity, because it is not so different.
Even during this COVID – pandemic, it is still possible to recruit new members. Researching strategies, I realized how similar recruiting new talent is to recruiting new members. Let me share three strategies to help your recruiting and team building efforts be more effective.
In the article titled “13 Top Recruiting Strategies to Use in 2020” (https://www.digitalhrtech.com/recruiting-strategies/#Pool), the first tip highlights how it is important to an organization’s survival to have a talent pool. Do you have a list of 10, 20, 30 people in your network who have never been part of a club meeting? Each of these individuals has skills to share with you, and skills to learn from your fellow club members. Together, all your club’s members will be enriched with different talents.
Second, invest in maximizing your social media recruiting strategies. Does your club have a Facebook account, Meetup, and / or Eventbrite? How often do you post or advertise club meetings or special events? Is someone ensuring an excellent turnaround response time between potential new candidates and your club? These are great questions to ask to improve your social media footprint. 70% of information seekers search for opportunities on mobile devices. In addition to a great social media presence, is your Vice President Public Relations prepared to adapt responses to various types of individuals and know how to put the finishing touch on a well planned social media campaign? Ensure guests can find you, understand what Toastmasters is about and reach you!
Third, in the article “Your approach to recruiting is all wrong” (https://hbr.org/2019/05/recruiting), the emphasis is on human touch and human contact to find the right fit between a prospect (guest) and an organization (your club). Reach out to guests and invite them back. Talk to them about their goals. Initiate a conversation, rather than an email.
Whether to inspire a population to engage and participate in the success of a nation, or an organization to recruit the candidates that will be engaged and deliver quality work, the strategies utilized for effective recruiting are all interchangeable. Allow John F Kennedy’s quote to inspire you to serve your club in its recruitment efforts. Together you and your club will achieve greatness! I wish you all much success on the Smedley Award program and look forward to celebrating new members.