What You’ll Learn: Find out more about recruiting top talent in today’s workforce. See what it takes and how you can get started to fuel your business and push it forward.
In today’s challenging job market, it’s critical for companies to work on recruiting top talent. Factors like employer branding, an appealing work culture and personalized recruiting can help. Businesses need to consider culture fit. They should also offer growth, flexibility and purpose to attract strong employees. Ultimately, smart hiring and employee retention are essential to helping a business thrive and prepare for the future.
According to economists, the job market has become more competitive in recent years. As a result, attracting and retaining talented employees has become a business imperative. In fact, recruiting top talent and retaining it is now more critical than ever. The right employees can improve a company’s performance while driving innovation and creating a culture that people want to be a part of. Unfortunately, finding and keeping high performers isn’t as easy as one might expect.
Companies need more than just a polished job description or a competitive salary; they need the right best practices and a proven talent retention strategy. In this article, we’ll explore how to attract top talent. Plus, we’ll cover how to retain top talent so you can take your business to the next level.
With the right talent retention strategy, your business can reduce turnover, improve productivity and build a workplace that naturally attracts driven, values-aligned individuals.
How to Recruit Top Talent: Best Practices for Hiring Success
When looking into how to recruit top talent, you need to know more about the best practices for hiring success. Below, we’ve shared what you need to know about attracting top talent that will benefit your company:
Strengthen employer branding
Your company’s reputation matters. Before you develop a recruitment strategy, investigate what past and current employees say about you online. After all, when candidates consider a job offer, they’ll conduct their own investigation. What do Google, Glassdoor and LinkedIn tell people about your business?
So, by investing in your employer brand, you get to shape the narrative about your company culture, values and leadership. To strengthen employer branding, have a consistent message across platforms and channels. You can highlight testimonials on your website, share team wins on social media and keep your values visible across all platforms.
Using Social Media and Networking for Recruitment
Today’s savvy employees consider their mental health, values and beliefs as they relate to the workplace. They are looking beyond the employment itself. They might be looking at the company culture, benefits, vision and more and whether they align with them and their values.
As people continue to leverage social media in their job searches, you can use it to your benefit. In fact, using social media and networking to recruit and appeal to potential employees can be a powerful strategy.
You can begin by using the social media tools at your disposal, like TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. On these platforms, you can showcase why your workplace culture is attractive, build trust, tell your story and generate interest from active and passive candidates. You can also use social media to generate interest to open roles. Connect to online application tools or the company’s application portal to streamline the process for potential employees.
Then, when it comes to networking, you can attend both in-person and virtual events to connect with potential hires. If you build a strong presence on social media and at networking events, top talent will know you exist and may be more likely to want to join your company.
Offer Competitive Salaries and Benefits
Company culture matters, but compensation still plays a massive role in attracting top candidates. You need to ensure your salary ranges and benefits align with the market. To ensure you are doing this, conduct regular market research.
However, the big picture goal is to have more than just a competitive salary for the top talent you want to attract. Consider the overall salary as well as benefits package. Think about including elements such as tuition reimbursement and wellness stipends. This way, you’re offering your potential job candidates more than a job: You’re offering them a future. If you offer a package that’s even better than the competition, you may be more likely to attract top talent.
Streamline the Hiring Process
Top candidates don’t wait around. Long, confusing or disorganized hiring processes can cost you valuable applicants. So, start with clear recruitment goals. Leverage the power of technology to help streamline processes. Consider using candidate scorecards and candidate feedback forms. In addition, audit your hiring funnel for bottlenecks. Aim for timely, transparent communication at every step.
The best talent may walk away if they don’t feel respected during the hiring process. Therefore, it’s important to ensure clarity and professionalism during the hiring process. In turn, you’ll send a strong message about your company culture—and why they will want to work there.
Real-World Talent Recruitment Strategies From Industry Leaders
Visualizing how employee retention and recruitment strategies work can be challenging. To help we’ve included a few examples from industry leaders. These highlight how some companies have successfully attracted employees. This can help give you a few ideas on how to attract talent for your company.
Nancy Hua, Former CEO of Apptimize
Company: Apptimize, a mobile A/B testing software based in Mountain View, California
Tactics: Identify the best in the industry, take the time to truly get to know them and position the company to each recruit’s personal needs
Results: Apptimize has successfully lured engineers from Google and Pinterest. Nine months after launching, it counted customers from top apps in every major category.
During her time at Apptimize, former CEO Nancy Hua says she worked to “figure out what is essential to each person” in the recruitment process.
Hua continues that her recruitment strategy was personal and focused. She says: “I start by focusing on whom I want to hire. To find these people, I ask everyone I know for the name of the most intelligent person they know, and eventually, I start hearing the same names. Those are the people I reach out to.
“Even if they’re not ready to switch jobs at that point, I keep in touch with them, messaging them periodically and friending them on Facebook, where I share updates about the company. They’re invited to our team dinners and get a sense of the family environment they probably don’t have where they work.”
Hua shares that part of this recruitment process in hiring for top talent involves patience. It means going beyond the surface level and getting to know people. It also involves employer branding. She says, “I take my time and really get to know someone. I figure out what stage of life they’re in and what their interests are. Then, it is up to me to show them what a cool company we are, how great our technology is and what it would be like for them to work at Apptimize. Sometimes, a month or two after I initially contacted them, I’m able to show them an update.”
Additionally, Hua’s approach allowed her to identify strengths in potential candidates. This could open the door for better matches or a stronger company culture fit. She explains: “Because I genuinely get to know them, I can also identify their strengths and show how those will allow them to excel working for us. For example, I might see that they are really good at math and explain how they could use all their skills at our company.”
Jeff Oddo, President and CEO, City Wide Facilities Solutions
Company: City Wide Facilities Solutions, a Kansas City-based building maintenance franchise
Tactics: Seek out personality fits that promote positivity, especially dynamic leadership, and commit to mentorship and training
Results: Under Oddo’s tenure, the company’s sales grew from $3 million to nearly $400 million in 2020.
Jeff Oddo, president and CEO of City Wide Facility Solutions, has also used specific recruitment strategies to help the business grow. He explains how he quickly realized the importance of focusing on employees: “I took over the family business in 1996 and soon realized that the only thing that sets a company apart from competitors is its people. So, I set out to hire the best people in the industry. But, like in any other business, doing that is increasingly complex. Plus, we are a non-glamorous service industry…. I have to focus on what sets us apart.
“It starts by hiring the right managers—people want to work with people they like. We aim to identify magnetic people…. We first… see if they are a cultural fit for our organization. During the interview process for positions at all levels, we spend much time discussing what differentiates us.”
Oddo continues that the values and vision of the company also play an important role when it comes to recruiting. He explains how he highlights these aspects: “We discuss our commitment to service through charitable giving and volunteer projects, leadership development through classes and mentoring and the fact that our smaller organization is less bureaucratic than bigger companies. All of these values are reflected throughout our marketing and social media messages. I’m always surprised that so many candidates mention how impressed they are with our values.”
Additionally, Oddo touches on the power of networking and referrals: “We also put a lot of energy into peer recruiting. All employees are eligible for referral rewards, and they participate in our ‘I’m impressed’ campaign. Each worker gets a stack of cards imprinted with the words ‘I’m impressed’ and information about the company. When our people are at lunch or church, interacting with someone they think would be a good fit at our company, they can give that person the card to start the recruiting process.”
Creative Ways to Retain Employees and Reduce Turnover
Thinking of how to retain talent after you’ve attracted your preferred candidates? Below is a brief list of creative ways to retain employees and reduce turnover.
- Personalized career development plans: Employees are generally more likely to stay with a company if they see a clear path forward. To show them that there is one, you must work with every team member to build a growth plan that matches their goals. This plan should include mentorship, measurable milestones and skill development.
- Flexible work arrangements and hybrid schedules: Hybrid schedules, remote options and flexible hours might have been perks in the past, but they aren’t anymore. These arrangements generally have become expected. If your company offers autonomy and trust through flexible work arrangements, you’re more likely to retain top talent.
- Unique employee perks and benefits: When it comes to employee perks and benefits, you need to go beyond the basics. Consider offering monthly wellness budgets, paid sabbaticals and travel stipends. To maintain costs, these can be based on performance and the number of years of loyalty to the company.
- Leadership development programs: If they can’t grow with you, they’ll grow elsewhere. Investing in your employees’ leadership skills is a powerful retention strategy. Offer internal training, shadowing opportunities or executive coaching to help employees see their future within your company.
Building a Strong Workforce Through Smart Hiring and Retention
Recruiting top talent and keeping them is no longer a simple HR checkbox. Rather, it’s a necessity if you want to remain competitive. Attracting and retaining top talent is a strategic priority with a long-term impact on your brand, growth and culture.
Focusing on employer branding, thoughtful hiring practices, and creative retention strategies are key. They allow you to position your company as a place where talented professionals want to remain and thrive.
If you’re ready to take the next steps to set your goals higher and build a powerful workforce for your business, check out our Goal-Setting E-book! Start transforming your business today with clear goals and practical steps.
Or, learn how to uncover your strengths and lead your business with more confidence by taking our insightful DISC assessment.
Photo by Branislav Nenin/Shutterstock
