Top Ways for Recruiting Best-In-Class Talent

By Amy Collett

Recruiting top talent is essential for any organization interested in achieving its goals and succeeding in a rapidly changing environment. However, this process has become a real challenge that needs to be addressed from multiple angles using creativity and sometimes out-of-the-box methods. Today’s tips are for hiring managers who want to attract top talent and keep them in the company for the long haul.

Use technology to build internal talent pools based on skills 

Sometimes the best person to fill out a vacant position is someone already working inside your organization. By recruiting internally you can decrease costs and time associated with the hiring process. But what is the best way to easily identify those candidates fit for your open position?

By using a platform like Nestor, you can start by conducting a skills assessment, setting proficiency levels, and mapping the required skills with the ones already existing. In Nestor, each employee has a unified skills-based profile that helps you to easily spot those high potential employees and match their compatibility level to the open roles you need to fill. 

Ultimately, by using skills, you gain overall visibility at the organizational level that will allow you to deploy talent fast from one position to another. You might discover that the competencies you need might be already at your disposal but hidden away or never taken into consideration. 

Use upskilling and reskilling programs to empower your people to take on new job opportunities  

Understanding and gaining visibility over the skills you already have in your organization and the skills you need to drive your organization forward should be an important part of your recruitment strategy. 

Once you identify areas with skills gaps, you should see them rather as an opportunity for taking action and start planning on how to build the future necessary skills and career paths for growth. The next step would be to focus on continuous development programs and act on upskilling and reskilling that can benefit both your people and the organization. 

This way, people who might not be ready for certain tasks or jobs at present, will feel empowered to develop, learn new skills or adopt new productive behaviors that will help them size new job opportunities in the future. 

Leverage the power of social media to stand-out

Stand out in front of potential candidates by leveraging the power of your social media channels. Used correctly, they might turn into powerful tools that will help you build your narrative in front of the people that matter most.

Start by understanding each channel’s specific, where you can find your audience, and which are the optimal ways to engage with them. Compared to traditional recruiting efforts, social channels like LinkedIn allows you to reach more effectively a targeted pool of candidates based on skills. 

To pursue a social media recruiting strategy requires a solid and constant presence on social media sites as a way to boost brand awareness, showcase the company culture, and, ultimately, interest people in applying for jobs.

Think outside of the benefits box

When recruiting top talent, make sure you have a competitive benefits package, that might include extensive health care or additional vacation time. But, according to People Keep, the most sought-after benefits include things like remote work, paid family leaves, and free food in the office.

You’ll also win over people by offering expanded childcare benefits, which can help offset the burden for your employees having to balance professional and family obligations.

Understand personality types

Enneagram, Big 5, and Myers-Briggs may not mean much to you now, but these personality tests can give you valuable insight into your potential future employees’ personalities. You should easily be able to see whether your interviewee is compatible with your current employees and if they can handle a fast-paced work environment.

One piece of advice here is to be open to all personality types. You might see Enneagram 8 (The Challenger) as a potential aggressor, but know that these assertive and confident individuals are motivated leaders with a “get the job done” attitude.

Don’t shy away from background checks

Background checks are important for all businesses, especially since hiring the wrong candidate means losing time and money. Markel Insurance explains that background checks are your “first line of defense” against all kinds of unpleasant situations. 

Before our final thoughts, listen to Mads Faurholt sharing his insights on how to start recruiting top talent and the negative impact it has on the company hiring the wrong person.

Final thoughts

Recruiting top talent is no easy job as employees’ expectations are shifting towards bigger goals than just a simple paycheck. They want growth opportunities, a positive environment, and to find job opportunities that match their capabilities, goals, and interests.

The good news is you can give them all of these things and more with the tips above. From using technology to build internal talent pools based on skills to deep diving into their individual personality types, the extra steps you take now will help reduce the turnover ratio and create an environment where your employees are proud to clock in each day.