5 Unique Ways Businesses Can Recruit Top Talent

Attracting the best talent to a business is a key component in its success. A business will only ever be as good as the people it employs. With top talent being such a core tenant of success, it's no surprise that every business wants to have the best people working for them.

The problem is there is only so much talent to go around, and with every business competing for the hire it can be hard to figure out how to attract the leading applicants to apply and accept a job. Some factors are out of the direct control of the business—applicants are sometimes just drawn to one company for no easily discernible reason—but business can also do a few things during the searching and recruiting process to give them an edge.

Outlined below are some unique and different ways businesses can use to increase the chance of attracting the premier talent to work for them.

Have a Broad Outlook

With the demand for high-quality applicants and talent being so high, potential applicants will find any way to quickly dismiss a job posting they don't deem as being worth their time. Capturing the applicants' interest early is critical in ensuring the business ever has a chance of hiring them.

Sparse and vague job postings are a sure-fire way to have a potential perfect candidate rule a business out of the running before ever applying. A good job posting that is sure to attract the interest of applicants will provide a clear and deep insight into what exactly they can expect.

In addition to the standard and basic requirements (qualifications, experience, location), a good posting should also provide some detail on the type of duties and responsibilities the applicant can expect—don't assume the title is self-explanatory as different businesses assign different responsibilities to the same title. It can also be highly beneficial to provide a brief oversight into the businesses priorities and culture; these will often be the deciding factor for the top applicants with plenty of choices.

Campus Recruiting

New talent is entering the job market every single year from universities around the world. Getting in early and leaving a good impression on applicants is a good way for businesses to increase the chance the applicants will think of them when they go searching for a job.

Internships are a popular tool by many of the worlds largest companies, but they aren't the only tool available. Simple adverts in university newspapers, attending job fairs, offering workshops, and sponsoring events are all great ways for businesses to get their name known to the up and coming talent.

These efforts may not pay off immediately with an applicant today, but instead should be seen by businesses as a long-term investment in future talent recruitment. Businesses would also be smart to employ a dedicated team or member of staff, depending on size, who is a recent graduate and can therefore better understand how to appeal to this area.

Be Flexible

People are now more than ever putting a greater emphasis on maintaining a strong work-life balance. If businesses want to attract the talent they must be willing to work with hires to help them maintain that balance in a way that is both beneficial for the hire and the business.

Stefan Kaczmarczyk, sales director of Crystal Bathrooms explains “In order to attract and retain talent to our team, Great working environment, work-life balance, and career opportunity are essential. We want people to be able to enjoy their work, feel like part of the team, grow, and perform their best.”

Offering options such as time working from home, flexible working hours, open environments, and good amounts of holiday time and availability will all go a long way to help encourage talented applicants to apply. The overriding rule is for businesses to stay flexible and avoid getting stuck in their old ways of operating just for the sake of it.

Organise Competitions and Hackathons

When searching for jobs, people are moving more towards digital methods and media. Talent competitions can be an excellent way to challenge and engage with potential applicants that you may have otherwise missed on traditional job boards.

On top of this, you will be able to access potential applicants ready for different roles, as they work together in their teams, under a stressful environment.

Elias Haddad, Company Director of Cheapest Load of Rubbish mentioned “The fact that leadership is never about the technology — it’s always about the people.”

Increased reach isn't the only benefit of competitions and hackathons to businesses. Experiencing applicants working in a real and challenging scenario can offer unique insight into how they may fit into the business, and offers applicants a preview of what it's like to work for the business.

Have a Referral Program

Referral programs are an excellent way to help encourage existing employees to bring their contacts and friends onboard. It not only helps to increase the businesses reach by appealing to applicants with first-hand experience but can also create an overall better company culture and increase productivity by bringing in people who already know each other.

The rewards don't have to be mind-blowing for referral programs to work effectively. Gift cards for individual referrals are a great starting point, which can be scaled up to bigger rewards the more successful applicants an employee brings in.

There is never a guarantee that a business will be able to successfully acquire the best talent available to them, but with the right planning and preparation in the recruiting process, they can significantly increase their chances of finding the perfect candidate.

It's also important that businesses remember to stay flexible and fluid. The landscape of the job market is constantly changing and if the business wants to continue attracting high-quality candidates then it must be mindful of the current climate and adjust their strategies and offerings accordingly.