Making Your Company an Employer of Choice

With unemployment rates the lowest since 1969 and the official unemployment rate at or below 4 percent for more than a year, attracting the best talent to your company can be a challenge.  Not being clear about how and where to find the best employees can lead to high turnover and wasted resources.

How can you attract the highest quality talent to your company and be recognized as a top employer?  Here are some strategies for encouraging the best employees to seek your company out.

Start from Within

Get really clear on your corporate culture.  Take the time to investigate which current employees are thriving and why they do well in their positions.  Build a structure and corporate culture around how you envision your employees doing their best work and enjoying coming to work.  Be clear with candidates on what works for the most successful employees at your company so they can see if it’s a good fit for them.   

Define Your Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is much more than a set of skills and experience on a resume.  Instead of using canned HR interview questions, take the time to create meaningful questions for the hiring manager or interview team to ask candidates.  Define the qualities, work style, right fit for your culture, along with the experience criteria.  All of these other factors rate highly in whether an employee will sparkle in their position or fizzle out.  

Shout Out Your Amazing Culture

You’ve taken the time to build a company and work culture that you can be proud of and that will attract the candidates you want.  Now, make sure your social media and Google presence reflects that culture.  Take the time to review your Google and LinkedIn profiles.  If you don’t have one, create one.  Employees, past and present, who have great things to say will rate you.  If you have negative ratings and comments, respond to them.  Create a social media campaign that shows off your excellent corporate culture.  

Think Retention

With the current low unemployment, great talent can be hard to find and harder to keep.  With the rise of the economy and the number of opportunities top talent can pursue, companies need to be mindful of how to attract and retain skilled employees. Attract high performers by communicating the value of their position, the various hats they could wear and how they could grow over the years with your company.

Consider Training

Today’s world requires quick thinking and adaptability. It’s critical to find people with creative mindsets who are able to innovate and adapt. Instead of being rigid about your candidate criteria, consider thinking out-of-the-box.  Notice all the various hats one person might wear in performing their job and think about other skills sets that might perform well in those areas.  You may be able to find a candidate with competencies in other areas who you can train to complete other tasks. 

Get Out in Your Community

Hold an event to celebrate your employees at a local restaurant and post it on social media. Sponsor professional development events for the community.  Nominate employees to receive career boosting awards or recognition in local media. Create opportunities for potential recruits to get to know your organization by being an action leader in the community through volunteer days and other events. 

Consider Working with a Recruiting Firm

Recruitment agencies that specialize in your needs, have an advantage over what your HR department can do.  A good recruitment agency already has a network of engaged, skilled and friendly candidates to approach with to fill your vacancy.  A specialized recruitment agency keeps up to date with news, salary information, and industry trends for the talent you need.  They are just better at recruiting in general because it’s all they do.  What this means to you is that you’ll get the best resumes sent to you without having to go through a pile of candidates who don’t fit your criteria.