How To: Attract and Retain Top Talent

How to Attract and Retain Top-Talent: 

“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” “alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” Having digressed in the compulsory proverbs, in reality, we all know how important it is to hang on to the best people you have and possess the ability to attract greater talent to bolster your team. 

Ultimately, these issues boil down to the satisfaction of employees’ needs or a lack thereof. We will dive into the topic deeper though and offer an insight into how you can practically restore or create harmony within your organisation, transforming your company into a magnet for the best and brightest. 

Attract: 

The current job market is hyper-competitive and with an ever-growing number of organisations switching to attract-and-retain-friendly models, that competition is only set to increase. To be successful in your pursuit for top-quality candidates, it is imperative you first clearly define your company culture and employee development structure. These are the things you need to convey on all recruitment material. Maintaining clear and consistent messaging on everything from your website’s recruitment section to your job postings is also crucial. 

Put Care and Attention into Job Descriptions: 

If a job seeker is not excited by your description of the role, why would you expect a top 10% candidate to apply for the position? They will not. You not only need to sell the day-to-day aspects of the job (which may need to change if they cannot be spoken about emphatically), But you also need to clearly explain how you offer growth to your employees. Top-level candidates became that way through development and risk-taking, they want to continue that above all else. 

Share Employees Development Through Digital Channels: 

A Well-presented recruitment site and LinkedIn profile affirm your company takes initiative in employee development, taking the recruitment process seriously and treating job seekers with respect. Dedicate some of your social posts to shout about your employees' developmental journeys, do not just talk about it – show it. You will be surprised at how many candidates this material influences. 

Make the Application Process Easy and Respectful: 

Ask some of your current, top performers to apply for a position through your digital portal. Ask them how they found the experience, honestly. If they hate it, something needs to change. It may seem counterintuitive to make the application process easy to attract better candidates, but they appreciate that you value their time. Convoluted application processes and awkward candidate portals turn top-quality candidates off an organisation faster than rude email communications. 

Retain: 

This section can be summarised by simply saying – follow through on everything you read in the Attract section above.  

For example, defining a company culture is just the start. You need to work out what that means to your current practices, do they align with your current values? If not, they need to change, or your cultural values need re-defining. Your company culture needs to extend beyond stencilled writing dotted around company HQ. The values you decide upon, need to be present and visible in the daily operation of your company. 

Employee Growth: 

Again, heavily referenced in the Attract section, a whopping 83% of employees desire career advancement and consider it a crucial decision factor when joining or leaving a company. So, how do you retain employees by offering career progression? 

Make growth, personal and professional, integral parts of your company culture. Which, as you now know, needs to be put into practice. Offer real development courses to your staff, make them free and offer an hour a week to log off and use them. Conduct regular lunch-time meetings with guest speakers or employee-led development sessions. There are endless possibilities in facilitating this growth, they just need to be put into action. 

When you hire for new or open positions, actively encourage applications from within. Offer regular progression meetings, asking employees to identify positions they would like to move into, put a plan in place to upskill the employee to get them there. It is a simple strategy, it keeps the best people around and reduces your hiring costs. It just makes sense. 

You should also be open to career changers from within your company. If an employee wants to make the jump from sales to graphic design, encourage their enrollment in graphic design courses. Give them exposure to the Design department, offer a part-time, on the job training experience. Encourage them to find the most meaning in their work possible and make it easy to do so. 

By empowering and encouraging your employees to be the best they can be, taking the approach and execution seriously, committing to continuous improvement and communicating honestly – you will retain the best people in your organisation, you will authentically attract new, brilliant people and over time, the top talent you currently want to hold on to, will be impossible to differentiate from any of the empowered, incredible employees you will have.