How to attract top talent: 9 unbeatable tactics
As a recruiter, this notorious "war for talent", which is the subject of so much... ink, can be a real headache! Sometimes you find yourself at a loss when faced with the sheer volume of CVs received, while the quality of the profiles is not always up to scratch.
So you're wondering what you can do to attract more (and better, please) talent? To counter all these recruitment difficulties, the secret is to become an attractive company in the eyes of candidates. 🤩
Gone are the days when an attractive salary was the only criterion of choice for a candidate. What if your field of action was wider than you thought? Today, there are other opportunities for you to stand out from the competition and win the hearts of candidates!
We're talking about inbound recruiting, methods inspired by our marketing colleagues, which you can incorporate into your recruitment strategy without moderation.
Let us show you how to stop potential nuggets slipping through the cracks, thanks to these golden rules of recruitment!
# 1 - Unmask your targets
... and speak directly to them! Do you want to talk to the profiles you want to recruit, seduce them, touch them right in the heart? 💘
The first objective is to get to know your recruitment targets well, so you can clearly define the message you want to get across to them, while adopting an appropriate communication approach.
💡 Here are a few ideas to help you define your candidate persona:
- What motivates your ideal candidate?
- What are their life goals, both professionally and personally?
- What are their interests, hobbies and passions?
- What are their digital habits?
- What obstacles might they encounter in your company or field of activity?
- How important is work/life balance to them?
- What is their professional maturity and level of experience? etc.
The idea is to sound out all your target's aspirations and expectations, the better to capture their attention.
☝️ If you're asking yourself: " How do I recruit young talent?", it's exactly the same approach: get interested in them first, and find out what they're sensitive to! A great way to innovate your recruitment process. 🌟
# 2 - Light the flame
... to better arouse the interest of the candidates you covet. Your mission here is twofold:
- both to make them want to work with your company,
- and get them to commit to the application process.
To this end, your hr marketing department already serves your interests to a large extent by highlighting your company's vision, history, mission, as well as its products and services.
💡 Here are the levers at your disposal, to encourage them to apply:
- Communicate on the salary package: the remuneration offered is all the more motivating, as it includes a whole range of additional benefits (days off, RTT, profit-sharing, CE, etc.).
- Unveil the working environment: give them a glimpse of what awaits them in their day-to-day life with you: a pleasant working environment, unlimited fruit, team after-work parties, a gym, but also their future colleagues.
- Work on the promise: make them dream! The missions and the company project itself must be made attractive. Rely on their motivations, as identified above. For example, if the profile you're looking for is motivated by the technical nature of the project, emphasize their taste for challenge and adventure.
- Provide as much information as possible: enrich your blog, add articles to your career site, be transparent about your recruitment process, etc. In short, provide targeted content. In short, provide targeted content that meets their expectations!
The vast majority of candidates search for an employer on Google before applying. By creating a customized career site for your company, you can attract candidates' attention and explain why they should apply to you.
That's where a tool like softgarden comes in:
- create and personalize your career page: be transparent and display your recruitment KPIs, so candidates will trust you more,
- gain visibility on Google,
- collect opinions and comments from candidates and employees and publish them on this page.
# 3 - Defend your values
... to promote your employer brand.
As you're no doubt aware, job applicants are increasingly sensitive to major social and environmental issues. In search of meaning in their work, they want to embark on a professional adventure alongside ethical, socially committed companies concerned with the well-being of their employees. Affirm your company's positioning with communications centered on your values.
Transparency and authenticity are essential: candidates don't hesitate to find out about your company, via various sources of information at their fingertips: former employees, opinion and rating platforms... 💯
So make sure you align your messages and actions and look after your e-reputation, a major issue in the digital age!
💡Here are a few tips to implement, to highlight your values:
- Create engaging videos that spread inspiration, emotion, and reveal your company's DNA;
- Deploy storytelling to reveal your brand's history, raison d'être, mission, vision, etc. ;
- Promote key events in line with your values on social networks;
- Feed your career site with a dedicated page or content reflecting your values, etc.
# 4 - Sharpen your secret weapon
We call it corporate culture!
Closely linked to your values, it must also be reflected in your communications: what do you have to offer the talents who are considering you?
Flexible working hours, management styles, work/life balance, emphasis on collaborative work, performance bonuses... The implicit message: "Come on, we're good!" Give an overview of everything that characterizes you as a company, and which contributes to the well-being of your employees.
💡 Keep these tips in mind:
- Taking care of your corporate culture is the best investment you can make ahead of your recruitments. To do this, start by listing the elements that make it up (the ideal time to take stock?).
- Develop your own tone of voice, so as to forge a bond with candidates who will recognize themselves in what you have to say.
- Pay particular attention to the onboarding of your new recruits, to help them familiarize themselves with your company and, in short, acculturate! An essential ingredient in successful recruitment. ✨
This is valid even (and even more so!) at a distance, at a time when hybrid working and dispersed teams are tending to democratize.
# 5 - Diversify your fields of conquest
Multiplying your job offers on as many job boards as possible is basic. But what if you thought of your candidates the way your marketing colleagues think of their leads?
At that point, you open yourself up to the possibility of testing different approaches, offbeat, unexpected, innovative. What's the best way to maximize your chances? Multiply the points of contact with your recruitment targets.
Don't be afraid to get out there and see things from a new angle. What's more, you'll gain new skills!
💡 Here are a few ideas for reaching out to your ideal candidates:
- Assert your presence on social networks: define the communication channels most relevant to your target and create appointments to keep their interest ;
- Participate in professional events (networking, trade fairs, etc.), as well as cultural, humanitarian and sporting events, if your company is a partner or sponsor;
- Communicate internally: going out to find candidates also means creating links with the people in your company, and creating interaction to encourage collaborative recruitment.
Need a helping hand? Taleez is an online recruitment solution that automatically multicasts your job offers on over 70 recruitment sites and 15,000 higher education courses. It identifies the most relevant ad sites according to your needs, and maximizes your chances of finding the ideal talent!
# 6 - Focus on the candidate experience
... to make it memorable! Do you want to leave a lasting impression? Then the candidate experience you offer must be second to none.
Make sure your candidates have a pleasant experience during recruitment, an engaging way to begin the professional relationship that already speaks volumes about you!
💡 Here are some avenues to consider to improve the candidate experience:
- Define a clear, structured recruitment path, where each of your employees knows his or her role.
- Provide information throughout the process, about the job and the recruitment stages, eliminate friction points, and reassure them.
- Personalize your exchanges with candidates as much as possible, to show that you value all applications, and be responsive in your exchanges.
- Take care of the online user experience: on your website, application forms, landing pages, etc. Encourage the user to carry out the desired actions in a fluid manner.
- Offer new experiences: to stand out from the crowd, you're free to use innovative recruitment techniques based on gamification, pitting candidates against each other, challenges, etc.
And anything else you think will leave a positive impression on your candidates!
# 7 - Protect your talent from the competition
... to attract them, but also to retain them once they've joined your company. To do this, maintain the bond you have with them, and remain attractive to them.
In other words, to keep your talent from turning on your heels in search of new adventures, make sure you provide them with benefits, but also allow them to evolve and increase their skills.
💡 Some tips for retaining talent in your organization:
- Integrate new challenges : to remain a source of motivation, and aim for their fulfillment at work, develop their sense of challenge... and reward their progress and successes.
- Rely on continuous training: set up training programs adapted to their needs and missions, to help high-potential employees progress.
- Encourage a learning culture: share know-how internally, co-development workshops, team learning or coaching sessions, etc. Skills can be both technical and soft skills.
# 8 - Train ambassadors
... so that their enthusiasm is contagious! What could be better than employees who themselves convey a positive image of your company?
Employee advocacy is the very term used to describe the way in which employees speak out about their company, and it's up to you to encourage them to do so.
If your workforce is motivated and speaks up for the company, you can be sure of multiplying the impact of your recruitment campaigns!
💡A few tips along these lines:
- Highlight office life on your communication channels, and encourage positive interactions.
- Encourage your employees to become ambassadors, and even influencers on your social networks. To do this, you can define a real strategy that will support this approach.
- Align your missions and your vision with the day-to-day life of your internal teams.
# 9 - Become emblematic
... in order to attract the best talent, without the effort. Eventually, the right candidates will come looking for you!
This is the coveted Holy Grail: your company's reputation as a role model will have spoken before you do!
In a nutshell 📝
As with any battle, don't go to the front without proper preparation. 💪
Here, your key assets are inbound recruiting strategies. In other words, methods borrowed from marketing to be implemented outside the recruitment process.
From highlighting your corporate culture to working on your employer brand, without forgetting to emphasize the value of your assignments and to offer advantageous working conditions, your different assets will be as many elements in the recruitment process as possible.These are all elements that will create interest and attachment to your brand among candidates from the outset.
Convince them to become part of your collective adventure... and make them want to stay!
Article translated from French