You know that your company is a great company to work for. You’ll get no argument from me. But the bottom line when it comes to attracting top talent in the marketplace is that it doesn’t matter if you know.
It matters if the talent knows.
Below are six tips for communicating effectively with candidates and making your company more attractive to top-notch talent:
- Understand how you’re perceived in the marketplace. This is going to require research and homework, but it will be well worth it. Some companies are clueless about why they’re not able to attract top candidates and also why they’re not able to retain those types of employees. Don’t be clueless. Be informed, and act accordingly.
- Create an outline of expectations of the first 100 days for all new employees, along with a solid orientation program. Communicating expectations is the first step toward making sure that those expectations are met—and hopefully exceeded.
- Construct an easily understood, concise, and timely process for screening candidates that is adhered to and decisive. Candidates can tell something about the company during the screening and interview process. In a way, you’re being interviewed, as well. Make sure that your process not only accomplishes everything you want it to, but that it also portrays an accurate and positive image of your company and its culture.
- Draft a well-defined value proposition; in other words, reasons why top candidates would leave your competitor and join your company. “We’re better” just isn’t going to cut it. Candidates want a detailed list of why they should join you and not Company X, and this list of reasons needs to be communicated to every prospect consistently. This will help to attract the candidates who share your company’s vision and values and will eliminate candidates who will not be an asset.
- Communicate a clear and universal understanding of the personality traits and skills necessary to be successful with your company. This information needs to be communicated from the executive level down to the hiring level, and it must also be shared with human resources and the recruiters who source the talent. The key is to be both thorough and specific.
- Utilize the budget and the means to attract and hire the best. If you’re communicating effectively, you also have to back up what you’re saying. Be prepared to offer top-notch candidates what they’re looking for in terms of salary, benefits, opportunities for advancement, etc. You have to talk the talk and walk the walk.
Time and time again, companies have lost top talent because of their inability to effectively communicate to the candidate not only what they can offer, but also what the candidate can expect once they become an employee.
Don’t be one of those companies. Stick to the tips listed above and make sure that you attract (and keep) the talent you want.
