4 Smart Tips for Hiring Top Talent

Are you struggling to land quality talent for the open positions in your company? You’re not alone.

In fact, 40% of employers globally report difficulties filling jobs due to lack of available talent, according to the 2016 Talent Shortage Survey, released by ManpowerGroup in October.

The Hardest Roles to Fill

•      Skilled Trades
•      IT Staff
•      Sales Representatives
•      Engineers
•      Technicians
•      Drivers
•      Accounting and Finance Staff
•      Management/Executives
•      Production/Machine Operations
•      Office Support Staff

Employers cite lack of applicants, lack of hard skills, and lack of experience as their top three roadblocks. However, instead of simply settling on a sub-par candidate, over half of surveyed employers are choosing to invest within their organization, with 53% of employers offering training and development to their existing employees.
[Need help attracting and hiring talent? Our HR Advisor team can help.]
Looking for more tips on how hiring talented prospects? See below:

1. Make Your Company a Fun Place to Work – and Make It Known: Does your office take birthday celebrations to the next level? Or do you offer killer perks?  If so, spread the word – and spread it far. Use your company website, social media channels, and current employees to showcase what a great place your company is. A fun company culture goes a long way when it comes to attracting and hiring talent.
In fact, a 2015 Gallup survey notes that “best place to work” awards can play a significant role in attracting employees. According to Gallup, 8 in 10 U.S. adults who are open to a new job or who are actively seeking a job say that they are at least somewhat more likely to apply at an organization that has recently won a great workplace award.

2. Employee Referrals: Current employees have the best sense of what type of candidate will be a great fit for your company, so if you can get an employee referral, your chances of finding talented candidates can skyrocket.
And here’s another plus, JobVite found that 46 percent of referred hires will remain with a company for at least one year after hire, a significant figure when compared to the 33 percent of people hired through career sites and 22 percent hired through job boards.

3. Politely Poach: Oftentimes, the best candidates already have a job that they’re extremely happy with. So, they won’t necessarily come looking for you – it’s up to you to actively find them.
“Do you think LeBron [James] would find a job on a job board? The best people are working,” explains John Sullivan, a professor of management at San Francisco State University during a Wall Street Journal interview about hiring top talent. “You have to steal them. Poaching is a polite word. But you steal their customers every day, so why don’t you steal their best employees? And, by the way, when you steal their best employees their customers will come with them.”
Have recruiting questions? Our HR Advisor team can help.

4. Always Focus on Recruiting: Whether you’re anticipating growth or just developing backup plans for unexpected turnover, cultivating a pipeline of qualified and interested candidates makes hiring easier and faster.
Here’s why: The nationwide average time to fill a position is 28 days and climbing, according to research from the labor-insights firm, DHI Group. One way to avoid waiting 28 days – or even months for harder-to-fill roles, you should constantly run job postings on your website and job boards for positions you generally need. You should also stay in touch with talented candidates, former employees, and industry networking contacts – folks you can always reach out to should a suitable position become available.