With candidates being more educated and experienced than ever, attracting top talent has become difficult in recent years. To set their organizations apart in a competitive hiring landscape, leaders must commit to elevating current recruitment efforts within their businesses.
From taking a critical look at your current candidate experience to leveraging social media to share open roles, even the smallest of changes can be effective in getting new eyes and increasing action on job postings. Below, 20 Forbes Business Council members share additional steps any business can take to take recruiting efforts to the next level.
1. Enhance The Candidate Experience
Focusing on the candidate experience is key. It's about creating a positive impression at every touchpoint by including structured interviews, a strong employer brand showcasing company culture, streamlined processes with modern recruiting platforms and transparent communication. Even with the best practices in place, always strive to elevate the candidate experience to draw in exceptional talent. - Johnny Hecker, Consensus Cloud Solutions
2. Optimize The Business's Online Presence And Branding
One simple yet highly effective step any business can take to elevate its recruiting efforts is to optimize its online presence and employer branding. By doing this, you create a compelling narrative about your company that can attract high-quality candidates who are a good fit for your organization. - Rodney Milbourne, RCNL, LLC.
3. Leverage Social Media
Utilizing social media has been our company's game-changing move when it comes to hiring top-tier talent. With culture and communication styles so prominent in social media content these days, displaying upcoming roles and new hires on social media has given us a plethora of options and candidates. Why pay for leads on Indeed when you can make the hiring process entirely in-bound thanks to social media platforms? - Willow Kai, Becca Luna Education
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4. Invest In Company Culture
The physical and relational environment within any organization has the potential to attract, motivate and keep talent. Optimism, positivity, cleanliness and attention to space are attractive. Conversely, pessimism, negativity, disorder and working in a space that you don't want to invite others to see are all unappealing. - Hugh Breland, U & I
5. Create Compelling Job Descriptions
Craft compelling job descriptions outlining responsibilities, qualifications and benefits to attract top talent. Highlight the role's uniqueness and the company's ethos to engage candidates effectively. Providing comprehensive details aligns candidates with the company's vision, improving applicant quality. In essence, prioritizing well-crafted job descriptions is key to attracting the best talent. - Sahit Muja, Albanian Minerals
6. Prioritize Industry Experience And Skills
To improve recruiting efforts and attract top talent, it's important to prioritize candidates' industry experience and skills. Utilizing your current employees’ networks to recommend candidates who align with the company’s culture and goals can ensure a better fit within the company. - Ajamu Kambon, Deep Root Records
7. Have Employees Post Roles On LinkedIn
Have your most talented and industry-recognized team members actively post about available roles on LinkedIn. Employees and managers who actively solicit their networks will typically draw out similar, outstanding talent. You can even make it simple by providing the copy and images to go with their posts, meaning all they have to do is copy and paste to spread the word. - Marc Minor, Higharc
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8. Create Employee Referral Programs
Encouraging and incentivizing current employees to refer qualified candidates can enhance recruitment efforts. Referral programs can speed up the hiring process since referred candidates are pre-vetted by employees, reducing the time spent on screening and interviewing. Offering rewards for successful referrals can boost morale and make employees feel more involved in the company's growth. - Nevila Dudaj, Adriatik Tours LLC
9. Improve The Interview Process
The best approach is to improve the candidate interview process so they can become brand advocates. Regardless of the decision to employ a candidate or not, a positive interview will make them recommend others and provide referrals. This practice provides more positive feedback from the candidates, improving the company's reputation among the talent community. - Maneesh Sharma, LambdaTest
10. Adapt To Changing Standards
Different generations have varied priorities, so understanding these generational differences and tailoring policies to fit the demographic of your team is crucial. For example, IT professionals may find traditional industries less attractive, so adapting policies to meet their expectations can help. Ultimately, fostering an environment that aligns with your team's diverse needs builds loyalty and retention. - Karan Singh, ACG Associated Capsules Private Limited
11. Consider Working With Agencies
If financially possible, it is in your best interest to consider working with agencies that assist in finding the specific person your business needs. While the agencies may cost a bit upfront, their strategic effort to fill specific roles can save time and money in the long run. - Lourdes McAgy, Total Nutrition Technology
12. Showcase A Positive Work Environment
Show you believe and commit to a positive work culture. Consider an organizational ombuds who can help diffuse conflict and provide a positive informal resource for employees. These employees provide leaders with information on patterns and trends that can help them understand where the problems are and help mitigate lawsuits and PR nightmares. - Ellen Miller, International Ombuds Association
13. Leverage Role-Specific Tests
One key factor in improving the recruiting process for any company is the use of role-specific tests. These tests should be carefully prepared to assess candidates' skills and abilities. By assigning points to each answer and using a data-driven approach, managers can accurately score candidates. Many companies still rely on generic interview questions, which can lead to poor hiring decisions. - Yuri Kovalov, PFLB, Inc.
14. Focus On Making A Good First Impression
Businesses can define their culture and brand in a way that will attract the right employees. Any prospective applicant’s first stop is a company’s careers page where open positions are posted and a company can make a great first impression. Include information on what it’s like to work at your company, employee testimonials, company values and any other details that help you stand out. - Kelly Helfman, Informa Markets
15. Prioritize Employer Branding
One simple step any business can take to elevate its recruiting efforts is to prioritize employer branding. Employer branding refers to how a company is perceived as an employer, including its reputation, culture, values and employee experience. By strengthening the employer brand, businesses can attract better talent. Define and communicate values and create a positive candidate experience. - Mystique St. Hill, New Deal Logistics LLC/The St. Hill Foundation
16. Offer Various Ways To Access Wages
One tactic I highly recommend to separate yourself from competitors hiring from the same pool of candidates is to provide access to different ways of earning wages. For example, some companies give employees access to their wages at the end of their shift without any migration into payroll, and this service can be free to the employer and employees. If you put in your ad that you can pay daily rather than bi-weekly or monthly, you win. - Shawn Hull, Blue Coast Savings Consultants
17. Create A Culture Book
An effective but seldom-used tool that any business can leverage to increase the effectiveness of its recruiting efforts and attract better talent is to have a culture book. A culture book is a presentation that tells the story of the unique culture of the company through pictures and words, highlighting its personality, core values and unique offerings in the industry to its employees. - Tina Corner Stolz, LXCouncil
18. Foster A Culture Of Learning And Development
Many of our current employees joined us because we value constant learning. We foster a culture of learning and development and clearly state it on our site and in job postings. After salary, candidates care about their professional growth. Create clear career paths, offer an annual training budget to your workers and then communicate these initiatives during the recruiting process. - Christine Pilkington, Crisp Media Inc.
19. Invest In Family-Friendly Policies And Programs
Today's savvy workforce expects top-tier benefits and offerings. Invest in family-friendly policies and programs for mental well-being, paid parental leave, childcare and more to not only recruit but also retain existing talent. As an added bonus, you'll reduce rehiring expenses and boost internal company morale. - Dirk Doebler, Parento
20. Provide Opportunities To Make A Difference
In terms of attracting the best web3 talent, I would say that top developers and engineers are drawn to opportunities that give them the chance to work at the cutting edge and make a difference while showcasing their talent. This is actually true of most roles within blockchain since the field attracts people who want to challenge the status quo or otherwise use technology to institute change. - Deng Chao, HashKey Capital
