Five Best Practices to Acquire Top Talent in 2024

Does the thought of filling your open positions for 2024 sound like a daunting task?

Employee recruitment, or attracting the most qualified candidates with the greatest potential for success, can be challenging and time-consuming. Hiring the wrong employee can prove to be extremely costly. Studies show that, on average, a bad hire can cost up to $17,000, factoring in recruitment expenses, training, lost productivity, and potential severance payments. That’s why strong recruitment is a cornerstone of any successful organization.

Here are five tips to help you find the right fit for your team.

1. Craft Compelling Job Postings

The job description and Job Posting are totally different! Job descriptions are for internal use, but job postings are opportunities to appeal to your ideal candidate. Who wants to wade through endless lists of responsibilities and generic soft skills on Indeed? Let’s face it, to break through tens or hundreds of job postings, your posting must stand out from the crowd. A posting should not only outline the duties or requirements of the position; it should also sell the company. This means, the more creative the post, the more you will grab the attention of prospects.

Your posting should be sure to do the following: highlight exciting projects, team outings, and growth opportunities, and share your company’s unique perks, benefits, company culture, and any special features that set your company apart. Does your company offer paid time off for employees to volunteer in their community? Make it known! Flexible schedule or a hybrid work environment? Spell out the details! Today’s job seekers value work-life balance and community involvement more than ever. Also, be sure to include a few words about the hiring timeline. How quickly are you looking to fill the position?

Even with this information make sure the posting is not too lengthy. A LinkedIn report showed that candidates will spend just 14 seconds deciding whether or not to apply to your job posting. That’s why short job posts (1-300 words) tend to do much better than longer posts.

2. Be Explicit About What’s Important for the Position

Recruitment is not a one-way street. While you are searching for the right employee, the candidate is also looking for the right company culture fit. Define the position’s “must-haves” and the “nice-to-haves” before posting. Make a clear list of qualifications that are non-negotiable, focusing on candidates who meet all the must-haves and check the boxes on as many nice-to-haves as possible.

In order to provide information about the company culture, consider linking to a landing page on your website that showcases your company’s values, environment, and employee interactions at social events. This will help applicants get a feel for how the company works, not just what you do.

3. Harness Your Existing Employees’ Networks

Do your current employees know about the new job opening? You should spread the word through emails or even flyers in the breakroom. Encourage employees to share job postings on social media and with friends and family. In fact, one study found 79% of job seekers use social media when conducting their job search.  Your employees are a valuable resource; they know the company and culture, and often have connections in the same professional circles. Employee referrals often lead to longer job retention and better job performance. In addition, initiating an employee referral program with incentives, like bonuses or additional paid time off for successful referrals, increases the likelihood of employees referring great candidates.

Keep in mind that employees will dig deeper into their social networks if there is something in it for them.

4. Build Connections with Educational Institutions and Professional Associations

Fostering relationships with educational institutions, student clubs, and faculty members at colleges, universities, and technical institutions in your area is a great way to connect with entry-level talent as well as professional alumni. Sites such as Handshake (joinhandshake.com) are free to post and provide another avenue to get your opening to additional candidates. Stay in touch with their career centers by participating in organized career fairs and informing them of openings you have. Their goal is to help students find jobs, so they are always eager to build relationships with great employers.

In addition, engaging with professional associations and networks is a powerful strategy to elevate your visibility and expand your network in your field. Online professional social platforms like LinkedIn offer a plethora of free, location-specific groups tailored to various professional affiliations. By joining groups like these, you can tap into local talent pools within your industry. These associations serve as an additional avenue for connecting with high-quality talent networks, giving your recruitment efforts a significant boost.

5. Plan Ahead: Always Have a Back-Up Candidate

Don’t rely on luck when posting a new position. To ensure a successful recruitment process, establish a solid recruitment plan, including where you will advertise positions and the interview process, before posting the job. As your recruiting effort moves forward, it is best to choose at least two, and perhaps three, qualified candidates to undergo the interview process in the event one becomes disqualified during the hiring process or refuses the job offer you extend. You want to avoid restarting the recruiting effort because of a candidate’s disqualification.

Recruiting the right talent can be time-consuming, but ARI’s skilled Recruitment Team is here to ease your burden. We specialize in developing a tailored recruitment process for various organizations, filling niche positions, and supporting clients in diverse industries. If you would like to discuss your recruitment needs, contact us today. We’ll help you find and hire the perfect candidates for your job openings. To learn about outsourcing your human resources management, click here.

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