The best ways to hire and retain top talent

When recruiting, it is important to be looking to hire the best person for the role. It is beneficial to hire top talent for your business as they are often the individuals that will develop and grow within your organisation. These professionals will have the drive and resilience to push for excellence in the workplace.

At any level and in any team, top talent will motivate others to work hard, and can often bring new innovative ideas to the business, with the aim to boost productivity. Management guru Jim Collins summed up top talent’s importance within a business with this quote: “… the single biggest constraint on the success of my organisation is the ability to get and to hang on to enough of the right people.”

The main difficulties when recruiting top talent

Businesses may find it challenging to hire the right people. Here are some of the main barriers that businesses can face during the recruitment process, and how to overcome them.

1. Identifying top talent

It can be difficult to determine what ‘top talent’ means for your business. It may be obvious to some hiring managers that they want the best, but defining this and identifying the relevant qualities within a candidate can be challenging. It is important to be persistent throughout your recruitment process. Have regular meetings with the heads of department and HR to outline the experience and attributes a candidate will need for a role as this ensures that everyone can envisage what an ideal candidate might look like. 

2. Remaining the first choice employer

Losing top talent to a competitor happens often when searching for top talent, this can be frustrating for businesses who have put time and effort into their hiring process. Keep your recruitment process streamlined to lessen the chances of a candidate being poached by a competitor.

3. Creating a positive recruitment experience

Make sure that your candidate feels valued, nurtured, and informed throughout the recruitment process. This will ensure they feel as though they are important to you and the business from the outset. If a candidate feels appreciated from the beginning of the process, it will give them insight into how the business will treat them as an employee, if they are successful. 

4. Building brand awareness and perception

Market your business as diverse, inclusive and understanding. It can be difficult to highlight the positive attributes of your business, however, if you spend time on promoting positive brand awareness and develop your tone of voice effectively, it will attract the best talent in your field.

5. Offering a fair salary package

It is crucial to offer a fair salary to the candidates you are hiring. If you are after a candidate with a more advanced skill set, you can expect to pay more. However, if you are unable to hire talent with a niche skill set, rethink your company requirements and the role you are hiring for to get the most out of the position that is in your budget.

Employee value proposition (EVP)

A solid EVP is essential for two main reasons:

• It offers a comprehensive insight into every job opportunity to make sure it will be attractive to talent. It also gives professionals a chance to decide whether or not they are suited to the role.
• Businesses can use an EVP for positive brand awareness. A strong EVP makes a business more desirable to top talent. If an organisation has a clear mission and plan to reach its goal, top talent will be drawn to apply for positions. 

Attracting top talent has always been a challenge, and it is important for employers to focus on their employee value proposition as it is becoming more important in today’s market.

Using technology in your recruitment process

As technology evolves across the globe, it is important to figure out how you can use these new technologies to develop your business moving forward. Consider how it might also be used to enhance your recruitment process, and implement these developments as they become available.

You can utilise many technologies in your recruitment process. We have seen developments in social media, such as LinkedIn to attract top talent to your business. Social media also gives businesses the opportunity to be available to candidates at any time. This is essential if you want to be on top talent’s radar.

What’s more difficult: attraction or retention? 

It is widely known that it is more expensive to recruit new talent than it is to retain your current employees. The result of businesses investing more in the retention of their current staff means that it will become harder to source top talent across industries. 

If you are looking for help to hire within the human resources sector, get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants today. Alternatively, if you are interested in finding out more about how to improve your business model, browse our management advice articles.