Be the Business Top Talent Wants

Employees are choosing the businesses they will work for and the businesses they won't put up with. Fewer employees are staying in their positions out of obligation and even fewer are enduring a work environment that is considered unhealthy. Bottom line - employees are holding the cards.

Fewer employees are staying in their positions out of obligation and even fewer are enduring a work environment that is considered unhealthy.

I have no problem with this workforce shift. After all, who wants to work for an employer or organization that makes life miserable? It's a good thing for organizations to be pushed to evaluate their workplace and its impact on the lives of their employees.

Organizations that have an up-to-date workforce strategy have become a refreshing workplace oasis in the middle of a scorching dessert. These organizations are attracting top talent, building an incredible brand, and experiencing growth in every significant metric. Organizations that do not have an up-to-date workforce strategy are struggling with low retention rates, inconsistent operational performance, low employee morale, poor employee attendance, and so many more frustrations. The up-to-date workforce strategy I have mentioned is what I am calling a Talent Acquisition Strategy.

Organizations that do not have an up-to-date workforce strategy are struggling with low retention rates, inconsistent operational performance, low employee morale, poor employee attendance, and so many more frustrations

Every business needs a Talent Acquisition Strategy. To take it one step further, every business needs an up-to-date Talent Acquisition Strategy. This strategy will create harmony and add intentionality throughout your recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, development, communication, operations, and culture processes. By necessity, these high-impact elements are already a part of your business because every business recruits, hires, onboards, communicates, and has a culture. By your choice, developing a Talent Acquisition Strategy is how each of these high-impact elements combine to make your business a desired workplace for top talent.

Developing a Talent Acquisition Strategy is how each of these high-impact elements combine to make your business a desired workplace for top talent.

My recommended Talent Acquisition Strategy has three pillars that provide your business cohesive strength and focus.

Pillar 1: Attract Top Talent

Attracting top talent requires you to have an attractive business and workplace. The best businesses attract the best employees and your goal within this first pillar is to create a business environment that attracts top talent. You can do this by being strategic with your culture and brand. Employees want a culture that features genuine care, excellence, and growth.

Employees also want to be associated with a brand that signals success, impacts their industry, and makes a bigger difference in the community.

Your business can create this desired culture and brand by being deliberate with your actions, benefits, practices, and procedures. Treating your employees as equals, giving them a platform to speak out, communicating openly, and maintaining workplace equipment are a few examples of actions you can take. This is where my recommended Talent Acquisition Strategy becomes so beneficial. I will provide a guide to evaluate your current practices, recommend new practices, and stay focused on the strategy through the entire process.

Pillar 2: Values Focused Hiring

Attracting top talent requires you to define what 'top' talent means to your business. The steps you take to implement Pillar 1 in your business will attract top talent - but you will also attract low level talent. Simply put, being an amazing workplace attracts everyone. Your business will only be able to hire and retain top talent by identifying your company values and having a gold standard for your 90 day onboarding process. In the step of the process you will identify and enforce your business values, use reinforcing language in your recruiting, be strategic in your screenings and interviews, host values-focused orientations, train for long-term success, and create loyalty from the beginning of their employment with your organization. Again, this is where my recommended Talent Acquisition Strategy can be so beneficial to your company.

Pillar 3: People Centered Performance

Attracting and retaining top talent requires your business to have a people-centered approach to business operations. Many businesses are struggling to make the transition to this people-centered approach and are experiencing low retention rates and poor employee performance as a result.

Beginning in 2021, employees now demand a work environment that is focused on them rather a work environment that uses them.

Using employees to accomplish business goals is a business approach that employees have thrown onto the trash heap of history. It's important for you to recognize this shift and make the necessary adjustment. The business strategy that attracts and retains top talent is an earned influence model with a missional approach to operations. Establishing this new strategy will require specific development and training for your leaders, a strategic approach to business goals, and a strategic development and communication of operational expectations. The Talent Acquisition Strategy I developed will provide a guide for your transition to this business strategy. Separately, I also work with business leaders to develop and train their leaders to use the earned influence style of leadership.

Gallup surveys tell us that 76% of employees in the United States feel their organization doesn't care about them. 33% of new hires leave their job within the first six months and each month 3-4.5 million employees leave their current job. These statistics are devastating and costly for businesses. Why is this happening in our country and in your business? Because employees are now holding the cards and companies are not strategically adjusting.

Employees are now holding the cards and companies are not strategically adjusting.

The Talent Acquisition Strategy I have developed came by listening to employees, studying business practices, hiring people through the above-mentioned employee shift, and current hands-on implementation through my Chick-fil-A restaurant. This Strategy is a package that I offer to businesses who are serious about creating or improving their Talent Acquisition Strategy. It begins with a free one hour overview session that I present to the Talent Team. Companies who find the overview session helpful can schedule a half or full day development meeting with me and their talent team. This meeting will include a presentation, a printed guide, discussion of current and potential practices, a plan for the development of the new strategy, and a weekly one hour coaching session with your Talent Lead for the four weeks following the meeting. You can also take a virtual path toward the development of the Talent Acquisition Strategy using the video series being released weekly on the Elevated Leadership Group YouTube Talent Acquisition Strategy playlist.