Challenges of Finding Top Talent
Picture this – you want to pick a top of the cream talent for your organization. Sure, you get applications, but as it turns out, pinpointing what you want isn’t smooth as you thought. Still, you have to hire somebody. Before you give up, here’s what you’re likely to encounter when trying to find top talent and most importantly how to overcome the challenges.
The Need to Hire NOW
So, your financial director got a job elsewhere. All of a sudden, you don’t have someone to supervise your finance department. You need to hire someone like yesterday. Do you know what this implies? Well, it means that you have to go through many resumes in a short time, and this can be frustrating. The ripple effect is that you might end up at loggerheads with other recruiters on who to give the job.
What to Do
Consider using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to help you with the recruiting metrics. That way, you will have what you require from your ideal candidate documented already. By extension, this enables you to pinpoint the perfect applicant for the post without spending hours on interviews.
The last thing that you want to do is to turn away a rising star due to lack of experience. Of course, you can always decide to outsource this and save yourself the headache of screening over hundreds of applicants. Hiring a PEO in China, India, and America is definitely one way to go around this problem.
Attracting the Right Candidates
One of the hardest things you’ll ever do (seriously) is trying to discover the right candidate in a selection of unqualified talent. Indeed, you will select the best applicant at the time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he/she is the best fit for the position. In essence, this means that you’ll be on the market soon looking for a replacement.
What to Do
You must craft job ads that spell out precise qualifications for the vacant post. Industry insiders PEO in China suggest that you should use a questions/answers format to prevent unqualified people from applying. You can ask, for example, “do you have a driving license?” Or insist that you will not consider any applicant without a Master’s degree from a reputable university.
Competition
See, recruiting in popular job fields isn’t the simplest of tasks. Why? Well, because talented individuals get numerous calls and e-mails from potential employers. The ripple effect is that it’s harder to make your proposal stand out. On top of that, applicants with a rare skill set often consider more than one job offer at the same time. You, therefore, have to try a little bit harder to persuade the candidate to choose your firm over your competition.
What to Do
Find out what motivates your target applicant before contacting him/her. Ask them what makes them happy in their job. The idea is to enable you to personalize your sourcing emails with a better offer.
Sticking to Data Driven Recruitment
Sure, there’s nothing wrong with companies referring to the employment trends to improve their hiring process. Even then,collecting, processing, and comparing information is exhausting. If you’re using spreadsheets, for example, you’ll need a lot of manual work. Besides, there’s every probability of errors, making it hard to keep up with the trends.
What to Do
Again, systems like ATS or Google Analytics will come in handy when trying to extract and store valuable recruitment data. You only need to figure out which metrics will work for you and your company.
Creating a Strong Employer Brand
Some companies attract top talent more than others. People love to work for organizations with a good reputation. Besides, statistics indicate that firms with a habit of spending money on employer branding have a 30% higher chance of making a quality hire. Okay, branding is expensive and, but it can help save time looking for the right candidate.
What to Do
Make sure that you have a robust social media presence. A potential applicant is like to visit your Facebook page or website. Also, reply to independent online reviews, whether good or bad. Encourage your current employees to give their experience of what it is like to work for your company.
Attracting Candidates with the Right Experience
You might find a good candidate, with the academic qualification required to fill a particular post. However, inexperience can hinder you from hiring him/her. While you can opt to let the person learn on the job, you’re better off with someone that has hands-on experience, especially in management.
What to Do
Determine the level of experience you’re looking for from the get-go and state it on the application form. At the same time, consider introducing qualified candidates to what you do for a week or two before hiring them.
The last thing that you want to do is to turn away a rising star due to lack of experience.
