7 Innovative Talent Attraction Strategies

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An effective talent attraction strategy can make or break a company.

You want to hire the best possible candidates, the kind that will help bring success and growth to your organization.

Without the right strategy in place, you will be disappointed with your choice of candidates. This will lead to issues with the quality of work and high turnover rates. You will be back where you started, in need of talent that will help keep your company competitive.

Key Takeaways:

• Make sure you have a clearly defined recruitment and application process.

• Promote flexibility to attract a wider pool of candidates.

• Build up a network through your clients and your employees to refer talent.

• A company with a poor reputation is going to struggle to attract talent.

• Attraction strategies are as much about retention as they are about recruitment.

7 Talent Attraction Strategies

You can attract talent through many different strategies, or even a combination of strategies. Whatever you choose, you want to work with your needs and the resources available to you.

1. Have a clear process. Your candidates should not find the hiring process difficult. This means clear job descriptions that efficiently and effectively describe the skills and responsibilities of the position. The job description should entice the applicant to learn more about your company.

   Make it easy for talent to learn about your company through online research. Also, the application process should be streamlined so that applicants can provide the necessary information and documents in as few steps as possible. You don’t want to lose an applicant just because they never finished applying!

2. Be accommodating to build trust. As you try to obtain new talent, understand that people are complex and come with different needs. Make your company a place that can accommodate the needs of your employees. This accommodation has to be within reason, but many people’s needs are quite reasonable. Most people just want to feel valued at their job, so look for ways to show how you value your employees.

3. Focus on your brand. Looking for new talent is a lot easier when the talent is looking for you. Conversely, your recruitment gets a lot harder if your company has a negative reputation. Make sure your brand is reputable and use the media to promote your attractive qualities.

4. Use your client networks. You probably already know networking is key to recruitment. However, you may not have considered that you can expand your network to include your clients. Tap into this resource. If you are seeking talent, let your clients know, and through word of mouth, you will find candidates.

5. Use employee referrals. Much like your clients, your employees have networks you can use. With employees, you will want to set up an employee referral program that provides a financial incentive. Offer bonuses to those employees who help place candidates.

6. Establish an internship program. An internship program allows you to cultivate and grow talent from within. What’s more, this helps attract candidates who see an opportunity for growth within your company.

7. Recruit through social media. Social media is the dominant form of digital media, so use it to your advantage. Social media allows you to both promote content about your company, as well as connect with talent and start conversations. It is also important to use social media to manage your brand and image, thereby influencing your recruitment success.

Why Talent Attraction Strategies Fail

As you develop your talent attraction strategy, it is important to keep in mind why some fail. Reasons include:

• Unclear job descriptions and application process. Companies lose talent when their job descriptions and application process are too confusing. The clutter acts as a barrier that prevents you from connecting with potential hires.

• Poor branding or reputation. If people don’t know about your company’s opportunities, or if they know about your company in a bad light, then these candidates will look for jobs elsewhere.

• Outdated methods. The modern economy is dynamic, so don’t let your strategies be bogged down by old habits. Keep an open mind to new ways of doing things.

• Too rigid. A rigid strategy is doomed to fail. You need to be able to adapt to circumstances, especially to those that arise from the complexity of human nature.

Recruiting And Retention

The best talent attraction strategies go beyond recruiting. Your company wants to see long-term success, so it should attract great talent and keep it.

Regardless of your strategy, it is important to consider the dynamic between recruitment and retention:

• Recruiting. This is the process of getting your candidates. It requires outreach and a marketable position the candidate is willing to accept.

• Retention. This is the process of maintaining your employees. It requires flexibility that meets the needs and values of your employees.

Together, recruiting and retention act as the pillars of successfully attracting talent.

Author

Conor McMahon

Conor McMahon is a writer for Zippia, with previous experience in the nonprofit, customer service, and technical support industries. He has a degree in Music Industry from Northeastern University and in his free time he plays guitar with his friends. Conor enjoys creative writing between his work doing professional content creation and technical documentation.