Another word for strategy is "cost effective planning". With the extraordinary number of opportunities to spend and rapidly growing budgets, most recruiting shops need a plan on which they base their success. If a company's approach is jettisoned each time a new vendor emerges, the real Recruiting endeavor never gains traction. A number of firms, including our own interbiznet Consulting Group, have emerged to carry some of the weight.

The key elements of a Recruiting Strategy include:

• A clear picture of current and future staffing requirements (five years is a good horizon line)
• An assessment of the skills, demographics and workload requirements of current employees
• A solid definition of regional expansion plans
• Training Requirements for Recruiting competency
• Established communications patterns for hiring decision making
• Clear criteria for hiring decision making
• A clear understanding of regulatory requirements
• A relationship with a team of creative copy writers
• A detailed understanding of current and future marketplace trends
• A process for identifying demographic targets
• A conceptual map of the communications vehicles available for reaching demographic targets
• A compelling story about the reasons this particular workplace is attractive
• A job communications budget
• A plan to measure the effectiveness of dollars spent on Recruiting
• A database in which to collect data about potential employees
• The ability to match job requirements against potential employees
• A clear understanding of the supply-demand dynamics in the regions that will be recruited
• Hiring Timeline objectives and a system to measure performance
• A formal "vetting" process for new vendors

- John Sumser

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