Is your organisation talent-centric? If your answer is “No”, “I don’t know”, or “I don’t care”, then you will have difficulty with hiring, retention strategy, and succession planning, to name a few challenges.

– Carol Schultz, Founder & CEO at Vertical Elevation, Recruitment specialists for growing technology companies

Finding and hiring top performers has become a growing challenge for many organizations

Top-tier professionals know how in-demand they are, and if you don’t market yourself properly as an employer, you might lose your dream employee to a competitor.

– Forbes Human Resources Council

The way your company differentiates itself in the market has become increasingly important for star candidates. The performers of today care deeply about your company’s mission, vision, and values, as well as being surrounded by the right people, culture, and opportunities to progress. 

What does that mean for growing companies?

Hiring ‘crème de la crème’ candidates means connecting with them on a much deeper level. 

As recruitment expert Carol Schultz explains, in order to hire promising candidates, you need to put your best foot forward and position in a way that appeals to top performers. 

Are you the type of company who puts, “we’re hiring” on your LinkedIn profile? Top talent rarely responds to this type of post because top talent isn’t looking for a job, and if they are, they reach out to a confidante directly to help them.

– Carol Schultz, CEO at Vertical Elevation

If you’re looking to hire top performers and aren’t sure where to start, here are a few tips to help you get started:

1. Clearly communicate your company’s mission, vision, values, and culture

Top candidates want to work for organizations they feel aligned with. 

Being transparent about your company’s mission and values will go a long way in helping them connect with your true workplace culture and understand why you’re in business. 

2. Use your existing employees as role models to show the potential for progression within your company

Often, well-informed candidates will look to your current employees to understand what it’s really like to work for your company. 

This is why it’s so important to create a genuinely engaging and supportive workplace culture that helps existing employees thrive and attracts top performers to start a new chapter with your company. 

For example, assigning a buddy to new hires when they first join (or even during the interview process) can be a great way to make them feel at home from day one. 

3. Figure out what makes your company different from other companies

Understanding your company’s ‘superpowers’ goes far beyond your ability to attract and retain clients. 

To bring the right employees on board, you’ll need to clearly articulate why they should pick you over the dozens of other offers they have on the table (and embody this in your day-to-day employee experience!).

That means: updating your job announcements, careers page, and interview process to clearly embody your company’s differentiators. 

4. Value your people and nurture your teams on an ongoing basis

It starts with you!

If your future candidates can see that your current employees are satisfied, engaged, and supported, they’re much more likely to want to join your company! 

Develop an ‘inside-out’ approach to workplace culture and start taking great care of the employees within your organization, with regular 1:1s, frequent constructive feedback, and transparent communication

5. Never lose a great candidate

The best companies understand that keyword scanning is not the way forward. 

Hiring the best candidates is all about putting the systems in place to let the best people rise to the top. 

With CVs often getting lost between emails and multiple inboxes, using the best tools, such as an ATS (applicant tracking system) will go a long way in ensuring you find and hire the right candidates for your company.

Keen to find out more?

Get in touch with our team to find out how Exelero can help you create a harmonious and high-performing workplace environment that helps your employees (and business!) reach further.

Written on December 11, 2020