Simple Tips For Recruiting and Retaining Top Talent
Do you find yourself struggling to recruit top talent? You’re not alone! The war for talent is heating up, and finding the best employees can be a challenge. Well, it’s time to reevaluate how you approach recruitment and start improving your ability to attract top talent. This post will give you some great tips on how to improve your recruitment strategy.
Attract talent by painting a clear picture of the company culture.
This is especially important in today’s red-hot job market, when your candidates may have more enticing job offers to choose from. By communicating a clear vision of what it’s like to work for your company and the benefits that come along with it, you’re much more likely to attract top talent.
To get started on making these changes, think about which aspects of the company culture you want to improve. How can you better empower employees? Do you need to remove barriers between departments? Is there room for people to be themselves at work? Take a look at the benefits offered and determine if anything needs updating. Never overlook the importance of communicating all this information clearly through your website and social media channels, as well as during interviews.
Maintain an online presence people want to be part of.
A website, along with a social media presence, is your company’s chance to demonstrate what makes it a great place to work at. Don’t skimp on content here—make sure you have pictures of the office and past company events. You might also consider including testimonials from current employees or videos that give prospective candidates a better idea of what it’s like to work at your organization.
This is another opportunity for you to show off your culture and differentiate yourself from competitors. Consider the kind of content that would resonate with your target audience, and focus on putting out only quality material. If you’re not able to give these efforts the attention they need, you may want to hire or contract with someone who can focus on maintaining an online presence people want to be part of.
Offering a competitive compensation package is crucial, but it's not everything.
Competitive compensation packages are the backbone of top talent recruitment, but you can’t bet on money alone. In fact, when asked about their greatest regrets in life, many people say not taking enough time off work. As such, offering additional vacation days may be more attractive than a slightly higher salary for some candidates. Others may appreciate the sense of security that comes with a retirement plan or health care benefits; those who value flexibility may jump at the chance to telecommute or work part-time.
Include a variety of perks in your compensation package so that you appeal to different types of people. If you offer a range of options and benefits, you’re more likely to find candidates who are interested in working with you no matter what their priorities or preferences are—and they’re likely to perform at a higher level once they’re hired as well.
Be flexible.
Companies that want to attract the best talent, especially in a tight job market, will need to consider what they can offer candidates beyond salary and benefits. Additional perks that make your company stand out may include:
- Telecommuting or flex time.
- Allowing employees to personalize their workspace.
- Excellent health benefits.
- Generous vacation time.
- Training and development opportunities (such as college tuition reimbursement).
- Dress code flexibility, including casual Fridays (or everyday work-from-home dress code).
Ask employees for referrals.
- Make it easy for employees to refer. For example, if you have an online application process for your job openings, include a section about employee referrals. This can be as simple as asking applicants to enter the name of the employee who referred them and giving that employee credit.
- Offer incentives. As mentioned above, money isn’t always the best option because it’s not something every employee desires or needs. An alternative could be additional PTO, a gift card to their favorite restaurant or store, etc. Just make sure the rewards are meaningful to employees and show them you value their help in building a great team.
- Give credit where credit is due! This should go without saying (but I’m going to say it anyway: don’t forget to give credit where it’s due). When one of your employees refers someone who gets hired with your company, make sure that employee knows about it and is thanked appropriately.
Conclusion
The key takeaway is to think long and hard about what makes your company appealing to prospective employees. Perhaps it’s the culture you’ve created for yourself, or maybe it’s the quality of life you offer your workers. Whatever it is, have a plan in place to get that message out there and make sure that you’re living up to your promises. Then make sure that managers are on the lookout for candidates who share these values and can thrive within your company’s unique atmosphere. When building a team, it’s important to surround yourself with candidates who fit with your organizational culture .
