In August 2018, nearly 130 million people were employed full-time in the US.
If you’re to employ the best, that’s a lot of potential candidates to sift through. Without going through 130 million resumes, how do you know you’re attracting talent?
Attracting top talent requires clear communication and focused goals. It’s also about engaging the people you already have. But for all of the ways to attract talent – and retain them – keep reading.
1. Attracting Talent With Clear Communication
People don’t apply for jobs where they’ll be mediocre. They apply for jobs based on their skill set and a role that fits their experience. Employees want purpose from their work.
That means it’s your job to define that purpose and clearly communicate it. Attracting top talent requires that you can communicate how your company makes a difference, how the employee contributes to that goal, and how you’re going to help them get there.
Consider using different media to get this message across. Your mission can be defined through video and career pages. It can also be delivered as a message from your senior or C-level leadership.
Using your employees to help articulate your message is especially powerful. Your employees can share how the mission is lived at the company every day. They can also provide authentic insight into the employee experience.
2. Manage Your Reputation
Whether you’re a big corporation or a small business owner in a small industry, you have to promote your company and manage your reputation. Prospective employees will do their research and know who you are before they ever step in for an interview. And your reputation will play a big role in their decision whether or not they join your organization.
When you’re looking to attract talent, managing your reputation is important. Engage the help of marketing professionals on your team. Use their talent to help create your brand and position yourself as a good employer.
This might include recruitment strategies. When advertising to potential employees, make sure you talk about your culture. Relate what you’re looking for in terms of skills and attitudes to that culture.
You might also consider using social media to manage your reputation. Using social media, you can demonstrate what life is like at the company. Make sure to fill your profiles with employee events and other culture-related items.
3. Engage Existing Employees and Leadership
Leadership is an important aspect of a businesses’ success. Leadership can be your founders, senior executives, C-level management, or managers.
These people should be a part of your campaign in attracting talent. They can communicate the long-term strategies of the company. They provide valuable insight into the company for high-quality candidates.
But your everyday employees are also an important part of attracting top talent. Consider having them create talent ambassador LinkedIn profiles. Through these, they can reach out to candidates and engage in a dialogue.
You might also ask employees to review the company on employee review sites. Sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed can be part of managing your reputation. Ask your employees to describe the culture of the company and how they feel fulfilled in their role.
4. Be Unique
Since 2015, the millennial generation has made up the bulk of the US workforce. And by 2025, they’ll be 75% of the workforce worldwide.
The millennial generation is tech-savvy, educated, self-aware, and entrepreneurial. Attracting the top talent from this generation requires being unique.
One component of this is moving away from the conventional office environment. Take a page out of Google’s book and create a cool office. Your space should offer both comfortable and ergonomic workstations a well as places for leisure and socializing.
Being unique also extends to your compensation. Traditional benefits don’t have the same appeal to this generation.
Instead, show that you emphasize a work-life balance. Give them the opportunity to work from home. Be creative with vacation policies.
5. Make Education and Career Development a Priority
Similar to the need to be clear about your mission and how a prospective employee fits into that, top talent also places a high value on learning opportunities and career growth. They want to know that there is room to move up or to grow their existing skills.
Career-pathing is no easy task. It takes time and resources to create these opportunities and to plan in advance.
Nonetheless, you should demonstrate what opportunities are available within your organization. You should also tell candidates how you’re going to help them get there.
6. Allow Employees to Problem Solve and Think Creatively
Nobody wants to go to a job where they perform the same menial tasks day in and day out. They want the autonomy to solve problems. They also need to think creatively to feel that they’re making a contribution – and to keep boredom from setting in.
Leadership should be comfortable with giving employees this autonomy. It shows that you trust your employees. It also shows that you value their opinions and insights.
One way to achieve this is to create Innovation Labs. In these open labs, your employees can contribute ideas to the projects you’re working on. You can also give them a chance to share ideas that will improve the company or the community.
7. Practice Recognition
Not recognizing your employee’s achievement will lead to high turnover. In fact, most people will leave a job if they don’t receive recognition for the work they do.
There’s some confusion between incentives and recognition. Incentives are typically set before a project or assignment. They offer x when your employee achieves y.
Recognition focuses on your employee’s intentions and hard work. When an employee receives recognition from leadership it boosts their confidence. It also leads to a better employer-employee relationship.
And recognition doesn’t have to cost a fortune. It can be as simple as writing an email thanking someone for their hard work or creating cards for your staff.
More Business Resources
Attracting talent doesn’t require a big budget. All it takes is knowing your target audience and tailoring your recruitment and retainment strategies to their needs.
One of the most important needs of high-quality candidates is to know where they fit into your mission. They need to feel valued and like there is room for them to grow with your company. You can engage your current employees as well as online resources like reviews to help you communicate your mission and the culture of your workplace.
And for more business resources, be sure to check out our blog.