Tips for Attracting and Retaining Top Talent in Your Organization
It’s no secret that today’s labor market is incredibly competitive. Across every industry and all skill levels, it’s hard to recall a time when it’s been this difficult to fill open positions and keep the employees you have. Candidates hold the power in today’s job market. So, it is more important than ever that employers take proactive steps to differentiate their company and positions to attract and retain top tier employees.
In this article, I will provide twelve tips your company can use to position you well for short-and long-term talent attraction and retention.
Tip #1: Stand Out from the Crowd
Many of the benefits companies offer today look like they were pulled from the same menu every other company is using. Our shared experience over the past few years has led many people to reevaluate their relationship with work, the office, and long commutes. Take steps to exceed their expectations in work-life balance and offer flexibility. This could include the opportunity to work remotely part time, or other creative PTO solutions that demonstrate you care about employees outside of the 9 to 5.
Tip #2: Know What Works and What Doesn’t
Do you know why your best people chose to come to work for you? Do you know why they’re still working for you? Top performers are a great asset for making sure that you’re focusing on the right things when recruiting new talent. Talk to them. There’s no shame in opening up and being willing to learn what your best people like (and even what they don’t like) about working for your company.
Tip #3: Be Clear and Transparent
With the plethora of job opportunities available today, people want to know what they’re getting into. Ambiguity about roles, direction, and upward mobility will only make things more difficult. Be clear about your company’s mission. Be transparent about your culture and values. And make sure there’s a defined career path to bigger and better opportunities associated with the role you’re hiring for.
Tip #4: Make People Your Priority
It’s been said time and time again that your people are your most important resource when you run a business. Great leaders don’t make decisions in a vacuum. They consider the impact of every decision on their team. They differentiate themselves with employee-focused benefits packages that align with what their people value. They foster and preserve a culture of mutual trust, respect, and accountability.
Tip #5: Define Your Employer Value Proposition
What value does your company bring to the people who work for you and how does it make you unique? Being able to articulate your value proposition and demonstrate how you live it each day can go a long way toward communicating the vision and mission of your company.
Tip #6: Understand the Target Audience for Each Position
It’s valuable to define ahead of time the ideal candidate for any open position. If you know who you’re trying to attract, you can tailor the position and offer to the audience who will value it most. Figure out what your brand can offer to that target audience, and you’ll be well on your way toward a good match.
Tip #7: Think About the Full Candidate Experience and Lifecycle
If you think a new employee’s experience with your company starts on their first day of work, you’re possibly thinking several weeks or months too late. The employee experience starts when they apply and extends long beyond when they leave. Every touchpoint along the way becomes an ingredient in how they feel about and talk about your company to others. Creating an exceptional recruiting experience goes a long way toward converting a candidate when it’s time to make an offer.
Tip #8: Write Down and Evangelize Your Company’s Purpose
People are looking for careers that align with their values. Your company’s purpose is the reason you exist. It’s what the world would be missing if you weren’t around to provide it. It should be the centerpiece of every conversation you have with a potential hire. Knowing your purpose will help them self-select or self-eliminate themselves from consideration, and help you avoid making a bad hire you regret later.
Tip #9: Utilize Social Media Effectively
This tip is less about posting available positions, and more about showing candidates your culture and leadership style. When a candidate is making a career decision, it has more to do with the people than it does the company. So many of them research company leaders on LinkedIn to learn more about how well their actions align with their words. Use social media to congratulate employees on a milestone or a job well done. Share photos from company events. Shed light and perspective on news stories applicable to the work you do. Show some personality. These things matter when candidates are doing research.
Tip #10: Empower Your Team to be Brand Ambassadors
Your best recruiting assets aren’t your website or a well-written job description. The best recruiting asset you have is your people. Look for ways to incentivize your existing employees to talk to friends and family about available job openings. Great employees typically associate with other people who would be great employees too.
Tip #11: Invest in Training and Development
Most people are looking for more than a job. They’re looking for a place where they can advance and write the next chapter in their career story. Employers who are great at retaining top talent recognize this and provide opportunities for their team to hone and develop their skills, talents, and interests.
Tip #12: Lead with Authenticity
Nobody likes to be fooled. And when a candidate has been sold a bill of goods about a position or company, only to find out that it’s nothing like they were promised, they’re not going to stick around for long. If you’re finding you need to embellish things about your culture to make a hire, it’s probably wise to take a step back and recognize the opportunity for improvement. Wishing isn’t a strategy. If your company isn’t offering the experience people are looking for, it’s probably time to make some changes.
We’ve talked a lot in the past few years about the “new normal”. Whether the current competitive labor market is a temporary blip or here to stay, the strategies in this article will serve you well for the long term. Your people are your greatest asset. Use these tips to ensure you’re doing everything you can to attract and retain the ones who can elevate your company to new heights.