Your firm relies on a top-notch team to represent each of your clients in their best light. As you take on more accounts, you must also increase your workforce. If you do it right, the rewards far outweigh the challenges.
Follow these four tips to grow your PR firm:
1. Audit your existing workforce.
Moving forward should start with taking a look back.
Make sure your PR firm can smoothly transition to a larger team. Take stock of your current team before stepping up your hiring efforts.
Your firm should track PR metrics to measure success, so review quantifiable data about individual staff members and your overall team.
Have your team set goals, then look at their results and discuss achievements and failures. When you audit your workforce, keep an eye on level of improvement. Pay attention to decisions your team members make after analyzing their performances.
Conduct employee reviews to see if your PR firm is ready for growth. Employee reviews are a good way to check in on your staff’s happiness and engagement levels. Talking with them can also help you work out kinks in workflow.
Once you’ve gathered the information you need, ask yourself these questions:
- Are your processes efficient?
- Is everyone working in their most ideal roles?
- How much does each team member contribute to the firm’s success?
Make adjustments to your current workforce. If there’s no question after the audit that you’re ready to grow, start expanding your team.
2. Decide what you need.
Your eagerness might make you want to dive right into hiring, but hold off on posting positions to job boards and making phone calls.
You should first home in on the role you want to fill.
Many different skill and experience requirements fall under the umbrella of PR. Locate the gaps in your existing workforce to see which areas are lacking. Do you need more writers, graphic designers or salespeople? Are you looking for someone with a communications background to speak with clients or someone with tech skills to optimize your efforts on digital platforms?
Make a detailed list of skills, experience and education you want candidates to have. Rank items on your list in order of importance, then use the list to craft a well-written, appealing job description. Your job’s ad should accurately describe the candidate you are looking for and detail the responsibilities of the role.
For the most reach, post the ad on multiple channels, such as your website, social media profiles and job boards.
3. Invest in the right tools.
Your firm’s technology must keep pace with your growing team, so provide your staff with the tools they need to complete an increasing workload.
In PR, who you know can often open doors. As your firm grows, your team will handle a valuable media list of contacts. Provide your workforce with a contact management solution to keep track of their communications.
You don’t have to spend vast amounts to get the tools your PR firm requires, either. Google offers a variety of free cloud solutions. Here are a few examples:
- Drive enables staff members to create and share documents and spreadsheets online, erasing the necessity to download or print.
- Alerts can notify you when your pre-selected keywords appear on the internet.
- Calendar shares each team member’s schedule, so your staff can better connect and collaborate.
Depending on the roles at your PR firm, you should use several different tools. Ask your team what features they’d like to see. Streamlining your processes with the right solutions can help you grow.
4. Carefully select candidates.
Growing a PR firm doesn’t necessarily mean hiring a bunch of new employees. Instead, adding a few quality hires can have a huge effect on your agency’s success. Hire the cream of the crop, and you can see lasting results.
However, finding top talent is easier said than done.
You must thoroughly screen candidates for the best shot at securing communicators who can boost your agency’s success and bottom line.
Don’t choose the first acceptable candidate you find. Get to know your candidates through multiple communications. Use phone screening and interviews to fill in any gaps on a candidate’s resume. You can also use applicant tracking system features to parse resumes and keep track of your best candidates.
Once a candidate accepts your job offer, make sure you successfully onboard them. On the new hire’s first day, have them fill out new employee forms and walk them through the training process. Provide everything they must have to get the job done.
It’s important for your staff to work together and share ideas. Introduce your new employee to the rest of your team and take them out to lunch so they can get to know each other in a casual setting.
What additional tips would you say are necessary to grow a successful PR firm?
Amanda Cameron is a content writer for Patriot Software. A version of this article originally appeared on Spin Sucks .
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