5 Ways to Attract Top Talent

Attracting top talent can save an organization time and money. More importantly, it can catapult an organization’s reputation, outcomes, and knowledge base. Every organization should value the recruitment and retention of top talent. The ability to have the best applicant fill a job position can be designed through effective recruitment strategies. Look at the list below for five ways to attract top talent.

1. Recruitment objectives

Great outcomes come from clear objectives. A recruiter must be aware of the objectives to do their job well. Without clear recruitment objectives, a recruiter may be “lost in the desert”, fulfilling needs blindly with a lack of direction. Questions a recruiter can ask to clarify, and pinpoint recruitment objectives include:

·         How many positions need to be filled?

·         What type of positions need to be filled?

·         What type of applicants are wanted (e.g., education, knowledge, skills, and abilities, diversity, etc.)?

·         Have we completed a forecast for labor and supply?

Of course, many objectives in this area can be created around analysis such as a Markov Analysis. Recruiters should use as much data as possible to suggest potential outcomes to the team. Remember, objectives must be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound) to be useful.  

2. Create a sustained interest

A recruiter wants the right applicant, in the right position, at the right time. The best way to achieve this result is to make sure the position is highly attractive! When you have looked at a job posting for too long, you can truly start to believe that it is perfect and answers all potential questions. A job description/ posting is one of the biggest impressions you can give to an applicant. However, the job posting itself can steer top talent away. A sustained interest can be fostered through the following:

·         Outlining compensation and benefits

·         Outlining unique responsibilities and duties

·         Outlining the culture of the organization

·         Making sure the knowledge, skills, and abilities truly align with the position

Tactics may vary based on the intended audience. For instance, let’s say a mentor position is posted as “part-time” and the hours are unconventional. Perhaps the audience would be geared towards retirees because they may have more flexibility in schedule. It would be vital for a recruiter to utilize websites and posting methods that match the demographics of the audience. Doing so can create a sustained interest in the organization and/or its positions.      

3. Be Specific

Speaking of creating a sustained interest; being specific is the best way to display the organization’s honesty and transparency. These are qualities that top talent may appreciate greatly during the exhausting process of finding and applying to new positions. Put yourself in the applicant’s “shoes” while reading through the following phrases that some organization’s use in their job postings.

“great benefits”

“at X, we care about our employees”

“competitive compensation”

“salary range $37,500-100,000+++”

“must be able to change gears quickly”

None of these are specific and are up to the subjective thoughts of everyone involved. Concrete language is far more helpful in painting an accurate picture of the job.

4. Measure, Measure, Measure

Make sure data is collected! Without data there is truly little information to analyze. Improvements should be based on facts, not feelings. Metrics to track include all of the elements related to “time to hire” such as, how long was the position posted?, how many applicants?, how many of those applicants were pre-screened and interviewed?, where were the applicants sourced?, how many passed the background check or reference checks?, offers accepted or declined, etc.

This information can often be covered through an applicant tracking system (which can flow into a CRM) however, small businesses may need to track this in a simple excel or google sheet.  

If most applicants are passing the application review and pre-screening but 45% are withdrawing their applications shortly after their interviews, there may be some investigating to be done to figure out what is happening at that stage!   

5. Employee Referral Program

Every organization should have some form of employee referral program. Here are the benefits of a program:

1.      Current employees can provide “insider” knowledge (job specific) to candidates

2.      Current employees have a perspective of the vision, mission, values, and culture of the organization that can be shared in a way that an organization’s website/job description cannot.

3.      People are not likely to refer someone who will make them look bad!

Referrals reduce the front load of attempting to present a perfect picture of the workplace’s culture and expectations. Current staff become part of the recruitment team when there is a formal program in place. Think about this…how hard would it be for you to describe the ecosystem (internal and external factors) of your entire workplace in one to two sentences? It would certainly take a lot more than a few sentences on a job description. A few pages on the organization’s website would not do it justice either. Employees who can have conversations with acquaintances and friends can dive deep into work culture, practices, expectations, mission, and values of an organization in an invaluable way.   

With these tips, you can make sure your organization is on its way to attract top talent through recruitment strategies that draw people in, instead of steering them away!

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