Everyone wants to have the best in the business working for their company. With burnout and job-hopping becoming the new norm, it should also be easier than ever to find top talent looking for a new place to work, right? If you’re ready to start attracting and retaining talented employees, here are some hiring and retaining essentials you need to know.
Creative Ways to Find Employees
While listing a job posting on popular sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Glassdoor is important, it shouldn’t be your only step. If you’re serious about finding and attracting top talent, here are some tips to get you started.
- Head Hunting: Do you see someone who embodies the perfect employee but they work for someone else? There’s no harm in making an offer, or asking if they’re interested in another job. If you can offer more than they’re earning now, odds are they’ll be happy to talk.
- Networking: Do your employees have connections within their field? If so, use them! Ask your employees to reach out and use their contacts to find new hires just as amazing as they are.
- Present at Job Fairs: Colleges and High Schools host job fairs all the time, and if you’re looking for fresh new talent, that’s a great place to start. You can also host your own event if you’re looking to fill a lot of positions at once.
- Present at Schools: You don’t need to wait for a job fair if you’re looking to hire quick and hire local. Depending on the level of experience you need, ask your local High School or College if you can put up a booth on campus to spread the word.
- Have a Career Page on Your Site: Along with posting job listings on regular job sites, you can cut out the middle man and have a careers page on your site. That way, if anyone is interested in working for your particular company, they can quickly and easily find what you’re hiring for and how to apply.
- Use Social Media: Social media is a free and fast way to spread the word about anything regarding your business, including job hiring. Make posts directing people to your careers page or job listings, and if you hire regularly, post regularly.
Pro tip: If you’re looking for employees in-person, nothing will help you stand out from other offers like branded gifts! A stylish pen or a quality travel mug can help show your generous side, offering a preview into what you’re like as an employer while also leaving them with a physical reminder of your brand.
Tips for the Perfect Job Posting
Ready to share your latest job posting? Don’t publish it just yet! One of the most essential strategies to attract talent is to craft the perfect posting. When describing your company and the position, make sure to keep in mind the following:
- Be Transparent With Pay: If you want to avoid awkward haggling or unrealistic expectations later in the process, be transparent right up front about how much you’re willing to pay. This will help people who are interested in that pay level find you and save you time from those who have different needs.
- Be Thorough: What exactly do you need them to do? What are the hours? Can it be done from home or is it strictly on-site? Any important details about what you need from the employee should be included in the description.
- Avoid Unnecessary Qualifiers: Does a house cleaner really need a college degree? Do you really need 3-5 years of experience to answer your phone? Excessive requirements can scare off excellent candidates and will also raise the pay expectations. If you want a qualification but don’t need it, label it as optional.
- Don’t Call Everything Entry-Level: If someone requires a college degree or several years of experience, it’s not entry level. Entry level should be reserved for jobs where you will provide training for the entire job, not for jobs that require professional experience.
- Show Your Personality: Are you a shop full of book enthusiasts? Do your employees often go out to lunch together? Do you all watch The Office during your breaks? Share your company culture in your listing so the right employees will be excited to work with you.
- Talk Yourself Up: If you have something that employees want, list it! Do you offer great benefits? Free lunches? A don’t-skip-your-break policy? Frequent promotions? Make sure people know what’s so great about you when they apply.
What To Look For in Top Talent
You’re going to have a hard time attracting top talent if you don’t know what you’re looking for. While you think about the job and what it requires, here are some key characteristics that make the perfect employee for any industry.
- Integrity: Good employees are honest in their work. They don’t take credit for other people’s accomplishments, and they take pride in what they do. They also will be more attracted to companies with ethical practices and strong values.
- Passion for Learning: An employee that loves to learn will quickly adapt to new roles and new tasks, taking the initiative to teach themselves as they go.
- Proactive: Employees don’t like being micromanaged, and great employees will manage themselves well by prioritizing tasks, anticipating needs, and working to get in front of problems before they happen.
- Personable: While you want a diverse team, you also want to find employees that work well with your culture. Avoid toxic personalities that could cause problems for your other employees and encourage a friendly, inclusive atmosphere.
- Reliable: Good employees will meet deadlines, perform consistently, and keep you updated on important developments. If a reliable employee is missing in action, you know it’s an emergency.
- Self-Aware: Good employees know their limits and will communicate them. When they feel overworked or need a break, they will do what is necessary to take care of themselves so they can continue to perform well.
What Top Talent Wants From You
If you’re serious about attracting and retaining talented employees, you need to make sure you’re offering what they’re looking for. While you may have an awesome business with great and exciting ideas for your industry, these key elements are what will make the difference between your talent staying or going.
- Security: Employees want to feel secure about their health and life, which makes benefits like affordable health insurance essential. 401K matches also give a sense of financial security for the future, which will help encourage employees to stay.
- Work-Life Balance: Employees don’t want to be blindsided with excessive overtime, and effective PTO is a must for a healthy home life. Not sure how much PTO is enough? Check out our other blog post all about creating effective PTO policies.
- Affordability: Yes, in the end, you will find that even the best employees are in it for the paycheck. A consistent and affordable salary is how they are able to take care of themselves and those they care about, and responsible employees care deeply about both of those things.
- Loyalty: Employees are the ones who make your company function. In exchange for their hard work, employees expect their company to be loyal. This means standing by them during their hard times as well as the good, being understanding of emergencies, and doing your best to meet their needs.
- Sound Management: Employees don’t always get to be the decision makers, so it’s important that they know that the decisions made regarding their work are sound. Be thoughtful in your decisions, consider the impact on your employees, and seek their input when their expertise is needed.
- An Inclusive Culture: Nobody wants to be where they don’t feel wanted. If your workplace allows behavior and language that makes people uncomfortable, those people won’t stay long. Make sure everyone is kind and respectful toward people of all genders, races, levels of ability, etc.
- Growth Opportunities: If an employee wants to grow in their field, encourage them! When you offer new promotions, new ways to expand their expertise, and new educational opportunities, your company is likely to grow right along with them. Want to help them make the right goals? Check out our blog post featuring goal setting tips for your employees!
- Transparency: Employees thrive when they are kept in the loop, so make sure you’re being transparent in your decision making process, your pay policies, your performance measurements and expectations, and anything else that may affect them.
- Just Rewards: More than just surviving, employees want to thrive just as much as you want your company to. As your employees help your company grow, make sure you reward them with growth in their salaries, bonuses, and benefits. This ensures that your successes are to their benefit as well as the company’s.
Pro tip: Looking for ways to help employees feel appreciated? Check out our blog featuring the best gift ideas for employees!
More than anything else, employees need employers who will meet their needs. Whether that’s helping them achieve their goals, earning enough to care for themselves and others, or working in a safe and inclusive environment, companies need to be proactive in how they are attracting and retaining talented employees. It may seem daunting at first, but when you’ve got the best working for your business, you’ll find the extra effort will quickly pay for itself.
