How to Find (and Keep) Top Talent in a Job Seeker’s Market

In the current hiring market, there are more open jobs than there are candidates actively looking to fill them. In fact, the market hasn’t been like this since about 2006. This shift means that employers will have to shift their thinking about how they recruit, and even how they view themselves, in order to attract the best candidates to apply to their roles.

No More Passive Recruiting

Getting rid of passive recruiting techniques will require investment into the recruiting department. Ask yourself the following questions to find out if you are doing all you can to attract the right people to your organization.

  1. Are you supporting your recruiters with the right tools?

Access to tools like LinkedIn Recruiter allows recruiters to identify candidates and proactively reach out to the best talent in the area.

  1. Are you driving enough web relevancy through SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

If candidates are looking for roles, you want them to find you first.

  1. Are you budgeting the hire of an executive search agency to help you find difficult to fill roles?

Keeping high-level positions open for too long can be costly. Executive Search firms can typically fill such roles within 70 days.

More Transparency Please

Candidates value when companies are honest about their employment brand or Employee Value Proposition. Has your company created a culture that people want to be a part of? Take a look at GlassDoor.com and see what your alumni and current employees are saying. Take a good look at your employee engagement survey and come up with a plan to try to improve scores.

It Takes a Village

Recruiting top talent is owned by the recruiting department, but is really something the entire company should be involved in. Most companies believe that the best employees they have ever hired have come from a referral from a current employee. Do you have a robust enough Employee Referral Program? If so, when is the last time you re-marketed it or reminded your current employees of how it benefits them? Talk about it and it will drive candidate flow.

The Bottom Line

In this ultra-competitive hiring market, taking these steps will help your organization attract top talent before your competition can. It’s not enough to simply hope top talent applies for your open positions. Instead, focus on these three things:

  1. Build a strong recruitment strategy
  2. Create a culture that attracts great people
  3. Ensure the whole company is on board to bring in new talent

What else is your company doing to attract and retain your top people? Let’s talk in the comments section below!

Chris Dardis is the VP of HR Consulting and Executive Search at Versique, and has more than 10 years of recruiting and consulting experience, both on the corporate and agency side. He can be reached at chrisdardis@versique.com.