As markets across all industries continue to grow with unprecedented speed, your business must equip itself with the tools necessary to compete with relentless competitors and the ever-changing expectations from consumers. Whether you are a multinational tech corporation or a mom-and-pop shop, preparing for the future is of the utmost importance if you hope to remain in the lead—regardless of your workforce size. 

However, most of your business efforts cannot flourish unless they are built on a foundation that actively supports your cause; in this case, your employees. In fact, companies with a higher quality of hire are three-times more likely to see an improvement in their first-year performance. No matter what your workforce looks like, acquiring industry top-players is the only guaranteed method to build a company that thrives. 

While the task of bringing in top-performers from your industry may seem like a daunting task, there are more than a few steps your hiring team can take to entice these A-players. By following the methods listed below, your business can finally form one of the most crucial aspects of its operations and prepare itself for the future. 

 

Create a Clear Hiring Strategy for Each Position 

Your business wouldn’t rush a new product into the market without a clear strategy to promote its success, and the same goes for your job openings. 

Regardless of what the position might be (don’t dismiss smaller roles in your company—those are still just as important!), your hiring team should have a clear picture of what their game plan is. Look over your strategy to confirm that it contains each of these key features: 

Include A Detailed Job Description 

A detailed job description won’t only help your hiring team understand what type of candidate they should seek out, but also attract new applications. (Tip: adding relevant search terms into your description will also help your job posting to rank higher on search engines).   

Create A Job-Map of Where to Find Candidates 

If you genuinely want the best of the best, your business can’t afford to waste time waiting for them to drop from the sky. Instead, take matters into your own hands and seek them out yourself. Note any relevant job meetups or organizations with attendees whom you can discuss your openings with. 

Know Your Details 

While role titles, keywords, Q&A’s and search keywords may seem like only a small part of the hiring process, they can make or break your success rate. Inclusion of these aspects won’t only help your job opening to rank higher on search engines, but also attract more professional job seekers.

 

Create a Candidate Profile in Addition to a Job Description 

If your hiring team doesn’t know precisely what type of candidate they’re looking for, then it’s likely they won’t find anyone at all. While job descriptions are an essential factor in attracting job seekers to your opening, it does little to help your side of things if you don’t know how to set applicants apart from each other. 

There’s a simple solution to this problem: a candidate profile. 

This method won’t only simplify your hiring efforts, but also improve the quality of candidates you receive. The profile you create should prioritize characteristics that fit the position (i.e., time-management, leadership skills, customer service skills, optimism). Additionally, you’ll want to highlight traits that are essential to the job—call these your “must-haves”—along with those that aren’t necessary but still appreciated—also known as “nice-to-haves.” 

Ultimately, a comprehensive candidate profile will answer most—if not all—of the questions you’ll ask of job seekers. From their educational backgrounds to their industry qualifications, your hiring team can effectively do twice the amount of work in half the time with an appropriately crafted candidate profile. 

 

Check Your Database for Candidates That May Still Be Available and Have Already Been Screened 

Some of the best candidates for your job could be those you’ve already met before. If you’ve had job openings in the past that saw multiple applicants, you already have an excellent resource for finding job seekers to fill your new opening. 

First, you’ll need to identify candidates who were second place to the previous position, as they are the most likely to be highly qualified individuals. (Additionally, they might even have gained more experience in the time spent between your job openings). 

After you’ve curated a list, you can begin forming unique messages to each candidate. Beware: don’t just send them your application invitation out of the blue. Be sure to personalize your message with everything you already know about the individual, rather than surprise them with a potential job offer—it’s just common courtesy. 

 

Measure Your Results — It’s All About Data

Your company relies on data every single day, whether it’s for product sales or brand recognition. The same should go for your hiring efforts. 

Measuring your hiring results can help you separate the strategies working in your favor from those that require fixing.  

Your team should regularly examine the following data points to ensure your strategies are performing efficiently: 

  • Number of candidates you’ve sourced
  • Conversion rates for your messages 
  • Ratios for how many interviewees had hiring potential 

Much like any large-scale project, your recruiters should understand which metrics are most relevant to your requirements and add any that would offer additional clarity to your results. 

While your hiring team might be eager to plunge into the sea of jobseekers without much preparation, this will ultimately waste their time—and your resources—in the long run. By incorporating the methods above into your recruitment efforts, you won’t only improve the quality of your hires, but the quality of your business’s overall output. 

 

The top-players of your industry won’t just settle for anyone, which means your company needs to work hard to gain their respect—and their interest. If you treat your hiring efforts with the same standards of performance and passion you hope to find in a candidate, you’ll subsequently attract individuals who value the same principles into your company.