Recruiting Tips for Finding Top Talent

Recruiting top talent in a candidate-driven marketplace can be difficult, which is why it’s important for organizations to train their employees to identify and assist in bringing in top talent. Easier said than done? Here are tips for embarking on the journey of vetting top talent within your organization.

Mission and Values Are Important

It is essential to have solid mission and value statements that not only promote but represent your organization as a great place to work. Make sure that, as part of day-to-day operations, you have employees dedicated to building both passive and active pipelines of talent. That means current employees are engaged in the process and able to identify talent.

Receptionist to CEO— Recruiting Takes All

Teach all levels of employees what the company is looking for in the next candidate for current and upcoming job vacancies. The most effective recruiting involves everyone in the organization—from administrative level to C-Suite. Being able to assess prospective hires on a blend of their soft and hard skills, as well as hiring for best fit and training for the skills, is necessary.

Competition Is Fierce: Application Process

The competition for talent is fierce with all the technological advances and accessibility to open jobs funneled daily to millions of candidates. Attracting talent to apply for your open positions is the first step. Make sure your brand is attractive and makes it easy to understand what market you are in and what you do.

Once the candidate can identify what position you are advertising and what your company does, it is imperative that your application process doesn’t deter the candidate from applying. Make sure what you ask when someone applies is relevant to that step in the process. You won’t need to know Social Security number or references until the candidate is past the preliminary application. After you review the resume, you can assess career fit by asking detailed questions in a phone screening.

When the candidate gets the green light to proceed to the face-to-face interview, you will want to openly communicate the organizational culture and career advancement opportunities. This allows the candidate to make an informed decision on whether it will be a long-term fit to work with a company that is invested in their future.

Strategy

To be an effective recruiter, have a strategy so you are clear on accountabilities within your organization. Who is in charge of salary negotiation? Who is in charge of final decisions on who gets hired?

If part of your strategy is to partner with a search firm or agency, you should choose someone that has in-depth knowledge of the market in which you operate and knows where to source the best candidates. You want a partner that will not only sell, but represent your brand well.

Tips for Recruiters

1. Listen to your candidates and understand what they seek in a career.
2. Understand your brand and company strategic direction, and believe in the company and its mission, vision, and goals. If you don’t believe in it and can’t talk to it, then you shouldn’t be the brand ambassador representing and marketing the company to the future workforce.
3. COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE. Close the loop with all candidates you come into contact with and be responsive! That doesn’t mean you must get back to them within 24 hours, but communicate when you expect to let them know about next steps in the process or will make a decision on which candidates will advance. Most candidates are not waiting around for you to call them, but if they are, it leaves a bad taste for your company and their experience. Since they invested their time to interview with you, take time to get back to them and share feedback on why you chose a different candidate.

Authored by: Sarah Friede, MBA, Executive Recruiter, Health Dimensions Group