Attracting the right talent for your company

by Ann Connor

Having Trouble Finding the Right Staff?

Are you having trouble finding the right staff?  Have you had too few responses to your ads, or too many, not so qualified candidates?

Maybe you need to put some thought to creating an Employee Acquisition Plan.  A good employee acquisition or talent recruitment plan will consistently generate more than enough leads and attract high quality employees.  It should include the use of multiple recruitment strategies to market for employees in creative ways.

You’re probably saying to yourself there are a lot of people looking for jobs these days—and you’re right.  But how do you know you’re getting the best people for the job.  Unfortunately, young companies often spin their wheels trying to find employees who are perfectly suited for their jobs, including management positions.   Seeking employees with the right combination of skills, personality and drive can be very hard to find.  And when the hiring process fails, companies typically spend an average of 67 days and an additional 30% of the salary trying to replace a bad hire.

Bad Hire

The residual effects of a bad hire can be costly.  A recent study sponsored by Price Waterhouse Coopers involving six different industries found a “significant” link between employee retention and the retention of customers.  On average, 60% of the 3,000 customers interviewed were dissatisfied with the service they received, citing turn-over as a “crucial factor.”  Most respondents state that lack of employee continuity and poor training impeded high-quality service.

Job Descriptions

A successful talent acquisition plan starts with a definitive job description that supports the function needed and the culture of the environment as well.  Have you ever gone grocery shopping without a list?  You get the point.  To recruit top talent, begin with a clear job description and then design a process which allows you to recruit the very best talent available.  This process will include a step where the candidate sells themselves to you.  The process will also include phone screenings, an “on the job” interview to see how they react in real situations and proper reference checking.

See the Human Resource Course page for more great tools & resources!

Tags: hiring, interviews, job descriptions, recruiting