How to Hire the Right People to Scale Your Agency the Right Way

00:00 - The pros and cons of using recruiters
00:50 - Why hiring based on core values is key
01:43 - Always trust your gut
02:02 - Test projects are a game-changer before making full-time hires
02:32 - Why lacking easy-to-teach industry skills is secondary to having the right values

Are you spending too much time trying to find the right talent for your agency? While I’ve typically avoided outside recruiters due to their large commissions, I’ve also realized sometimes the amount of time spent filling important roles equates to missed opportunities for the business. You have to figure out how much your time is worth.

Finding the right people is one of the biggest challenges in scaling any business, whether you're hiring for your marketing agency, bringing in a virtual assistant, or expanding your creative team. Making the wrong hire can be costly in both time and resources, which is why having a strategic hiring process is essential.

The foundation of successful hiring starts with clearly defining the core values you seek in candidates. For example, if resourcefulness is a priority, avoid hiring talent just coming out of a big agency because that’s not a skill they would develop in an environment with so many resources at their disposal. During interviews, ask targeted questions that reveal these core values. To assess resourcefulness, you might ask candidates to describe how they handled projects with limited budgets.

Try to figure out culture fit first, and then move on to whether or not they can do the job.

Once you've found a promising candidate, consider bringing them on as a consultant for a 90-day trial period. This way, both parties will get to experience the working relationship and evaluate long-term fit.

Also, ALWAYS listen to your gut. If something is telling you this person is wrong for the job during the first few weeks, don’t ignore it because you’ve already invested time into training them. You’ll likely regret it later.

Remember, you can teach a person industry-specific skills, as long as they have similar core values and are quick to learn. With foundation in place, technical skills can be developed over time.