It is a difficult task for any company, especially small to mid-market companies, to attract and hire top tier employees. How does a company attract this type of candidate to their organization? I suggest the following steps be followed.
Develop a Hiring Strategy
A company should be searching for top tier employees year-round regardless if there are open positions in their organization or not. The top tier type of people are only in the job market for a very short period of time until they find or are found by an employer that has a hiring strategy to constantly upgrade their staff. I am sure that you rather have top tier employees working for you instead of competing against your company. Searching for talented candidates for open positions or positions that may be open in the future, is a little like the National Football League draft. The successful teams find the most talented player in the draft, regardless of the position and select that player even if they have a strong player already for that position. The most successful companies in business have top tier management teams and employees. If you want your organization to also be successful, develop a hiring strategy that recruits and hires only the best candidates.
Be Very Clear About Your Needs
You need to be clear and precise about the type of candidate that your organization is searching to hire. Skills, experience, education and personality are the categories that should be defined. Skills, experience and education may be found on the candidate’s resume but the most important category, personality, can only be determined with a comprehensive interview process including a background, credit and reference checks. There may be a candidate who has great skills, experience and a strong education, but if that person does not get along with the rest of the employees, that candidate would be a bad hire and could be a cancer to your organization. I have a philosophy about hiring that you may have heard before, “hire slow and fire fast!” Great care should be exercised with hiring new employees, especially managers for your organization.
Announce Your Needs to Everyone!
If you are looking for top tier employees, let everyone know that you are hiring, or planning to hire only the most talented people for your organization. You should join and participate in organizations like the local Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Clubs, etc. Let it be known to everyone in these organizations that your company is constantly hiring talented people for your organization and you would appreciate referrals. Also, post openings on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) that would draw talented people to your company.
Evaluate Your Organization Against the Industry Standards
Evaluate your organization’s interview, hiring, compensation, employee benefits, on boarding and performance evaluation processes to ensure that they are comparable to the industry standards. The goal is to have candidates applying for a position be impressed and draw them to want to work for your organization. Hiring top tier candidates is very important, and keeping them, therefore eliminating employee turnover is the key to a successful company. Review your organization’s salary structures, benefit packages and working environment compared to your competitors’ so you do not lose your best employees because of your organization’s possible weaknesses. Read your organization’s employee handbook to ensure that it is current and accurate. Be aware, when you are interviewing top tier candidates, they are also interviewing you.
I’m Bob Curry, CEO Business Coach and Turnaround Specialist. Please watch for the announcement of my first published book: “From Red to Black, a business turnaround.” I solve business challenges and maximize profitability for my clients. As always, I welcome your comments and requests at: [email protected].