RECRUITING TOP TALENT!

RECRUITING TOP TALENT!

As Europe has finally seen the end of a double recession the market and its recruiting activities are on the increase. The trend over the past 18 months has seen that it was truly a company driven market with hundreds of hopeful people applying for the same position. However, things are changing and companies now have to compete hard to attract and retain the best people for their roles.

So how can you as a company attract the best in the market?

There are 3 main things I think that need to be done from a company’s perspective:

1) Enticement

2) Branding

3) Innovation.

Enticement:
This all starts with your advertising methodology. As a veteran of recruitment nothing frustrates me more than the standard template job descriptions which are just cut and paste into an online format and offer no insight into the position, organization or most importantly what they can offer you as an employee.
The first rule of advertising is ALWAYS to entice the applicant into what you can offer. So start with selling the company, the benefits, the prospects, travel, the salary and career development.
No candidate on the planet is bothered by what you want initially; its about what you can offer. Humans are selfish by nature, so showing what you can provide is the first step in wetting their appetite.
I always suggest a format which is dynamic, appealing and very much different to the competitors. Standing out from the crowd is what you need to do as a company; especially if you want to attract the elite candidates which are also not part of the majority.

This being said, I also don’t suggest advertising in the car sales man way….. Corny slogans trying to get peoples interest also turns them off to a position and the company. So I strongly recommend against headlines stating things like “LOOKING FOR AN AMAZING COMPANY WITH SUPER SALARIES, THEN LOOK NO FURTHER!”. This screams cheap to an applicant and with this style of advertising, cheap candidates are what you will attract; not the top talent.
The job description you write as a manager and as an HR department is also a reflection on the effort you have put in. Although 80% of companies have core competencies they seek in candidates, this does not mean that all job descriptions look the same. I recently had a client give me two very different roles for a Finance manager and a Sales manager. The only difference on the requirements was 2 bullet points out of 10. This meant that as a recruiter and a company looking for top people, the applicant pool would be huge as there has been no effort into the fine detail of the position.
This shows a lack of interest and effort on the part of the company and trust me when I say people notice these things. Company competencies should a separate requirement and should also be reasonable. You cant expect every human being to be confident, dynamic, driven, passionate and have a natural affinity for technology. Some people are strong in other areas like technology development and those people are very different to sales professionals. So even though you want it all, remember your position and the fact that it takes many different parts to make a car work. Companies are very much the same way.

Branding:
This is a topic I could talk about forever! Employer branding, corporate branding and also personal branding is so important in this ever competitive market. I recently went to an interview with a top branded organization and was really pleasantly surprised with the whole experience. This was a company which previously had a negative imagine within the recruitment world; yet over the past 12 months they told me as an organization they had invested in employer branding, assessment development and also market perception.
Upon arrival their reception area was clean, funky and inviting; all of which reflected the brand they are selling. The front desk staff offered myself and every other arrival after me a coffee, a smile and an update on the time of arrival of the person they were meeting. TICK, Great first impression!

Companies in the past decade really have evolved in the mindset of the first impression and in the job I do visiting a lot of companies the companies that have that welcoming atmosphere do get the higher level of applicants and pick of the crop.
The first impression alone made me want to work in this environment without even starting the interview. Personal branding which is something I will talk about in my next article is also very important; know who you are and sell your strengths. As an employer you need to sell the company and benefits, but this works both ways.

It’s the small details that really make a huge difference in the interview experience and benefits of roles are generally the same across all organizations; but the atmosphere, team spirit and working conditions are something you can compete with.

Innovation:
This is always a tenuous subject because defining innovation in itself is not easy. The literal dictionary definition is “something new or introduced”.
People always want to work for the latest technologies, mindsets, methodologies or philosophies; so I recommend standing apart from the competition.
This can come in many forms. It could be your daily free fresh fruit; it could be the latest ground breaking technology, your dedicated approach to philanthropy or simply your approach to how you treat your workforce. Innovation within an organization coupled with employee branding really is what helps not only with recruiting the top talent in the market place; but also retaining it within the business.

So in summation if you are looking to find the best people in the market just follow the three simple steps I outlined above and really look at how you portray your organization.

Recruiting top talent, starts with YOU as a company; not the candidates.
If you put the right message out there, the candidates will automatically come to you.

Written by:

Rachel Wardle
Director Recruitment and HR Projects.