Five proactive things to do to up your recruitment game and attract top candidates to your company
For your business to succeed it’s vital that you hire the top talent, but knowing what attracts top candidates to a company like yours can be hard.
One thing is for certain: if you want to attract and hire the top candidates to your company, you need to have a strategy. But there are lots of different things that can attract high performers – or put them off for good.
Attracting people to your company is just good marketing. It’s important to remember that your socials shouldn’t just attract clients but candidates too!
And if you ignore your public image entirely, you’re not going to attract the best people.
What attracts top candidates to your company?
1 – The recruitment process
Firstly, I know that if you’re reading this post you’re wanting to hire some high performers soon. So let’s start off talking about your job descriptions!
Job descriptions and adverts are a great way to advertise your company to the kinds of people you want to work with. People will read what you write if they really want the job!
And because every good job description includes some information about you, your company, how you work and your clients, it’s a great way to get your brand out there!
But it goes beyond job descriptions. When your candidates have a great experience trying to score a job with you, they’ll hopefully leave with a great image of your company.
This should hopefully turn them – and their network – into fans, applicants or clients too.
So by writing a good job description, you get your name out there and get more people wanting to work with you.
By running a great application process, you’ll form a closer bond with your candidates and hopefully attract their network – and them again – in the future.
2 – A lesson in progression
The top candidates want to stay at your company long-term. They want to commit to their role and grow in it.
So when you don’t communicate progression and development opportunities in your vacancies, they can’t imagine themselves at your company long-term.
It’s always a good idea to invest in the development of your employees. So sign them up for courses, allow their roles to take on momentum, grow their responsibilities and eventually change their job titles to reflect that.
This goes for interns and managers that you hire. No one likes hunting for a job every year or so, so make it hard for your employees to leave by investing in their futures.
3 – Pay fair
There’s lots to be gained from being a fair employer beyond just a clear conscience. Social media has amped up the importance of employment issues like fair pay.
So if you’re considering hiring an unpaid intern, not being open to salary negotiations, underpaying your staff to save some pennies or simply not adding the salary band to your job description, think again.
When you offer a competitive salary, you’ll also see more job applicants and more happy employees. If your hires are paid enough to live, they won’t be pushed to look around for better opportunities prematurely.
4 – Spruce up your socials
A great social media presence can do wonders – that’s why there are so many social media marketing jobs around all the time.
Having someone manage your social media accounts to keep them looking well-loved is a good idea. Your top candidates will probably have professional social media accounts themselves, so if you can post some topical, newsworthy content you should have a good chance of getting noticed and hopefully shared.
When I’m researching a company before applying, the first things I look out for are their website, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. So that’s where I would recommend you start!
5 – Champion fair practice
What undoubtedly attracts the most top candidates to a company is the things it stands for.
When you – as a company and an individual – campaign and post about things like appreciating your employees, giving feedback to applicants, fair pay and diversity, you’ll shine.
These pillars of being a fair employer should ooze through every single previous step on this post – your job descriptions, hiring process and social media accounts. You should mention all of these things and be genuinely concerned about them – I hope!
When you are open about caring for these things, you’ll attract likeminded people. You’ll attract the people that want their values to match their employer’s.
These are the people who will have the most in common with you and your company in the long-run. These are the people that think deeply before applying for a job. Hopefully they will also think deeply while on the job too!
If you need any more help figuring out just what attracts the top candidates to a company, check out our hiring resources.
And if you’re still struggling to attract the top candidates to your company, have you tried DigitalGrads? Let us attract the top candidates for you so that you can get on with hiring the top talent.