How to recruit talented employees

Want to find out how to recruit talented employees? There are strategies you can use within the recruitment process to ensure you find staff with the training and motivation needed for a job that’s beyond entry level.

For some roles moreso than others, you’re looking for talented employees who already possess the training and skills needed for the position. This is particularly true for senior roles; you’re going to need someone with more experience in the field, so applications from eager hopefuls aren’t quite going to cut it.

How to recruit talented employees: 5 top tips

Here are our top five tips on how to recruit talented employees who have the skills you are looking for and the motivation and potential to grow within your organisation:

1. Define the ideal candidate for the role

Each role you advertise for will likely require different skills and experiences, so the talented employee for that role will have certain required characteristics. Make sure you identify the ‘ideal candidate’ for the specific role; which skills and experiences are core for the role – and which are desirable but optional? You can then use this ‘ideal candidate’ as a benchmark to compare against the applications you receive, helping guide you towards strong choices throughout the candidate process.

2. Attract the right candidates through your job specification

Scoping out the perfect candidate for your role will help hugely when it comes to writing an effective job specification. Make sure to also include the following if you want to appeal to and avoid deterring talented candidates:

Make a clear distinction between required and desired skills: when you’re looking to recruit talented employees, it can be tempting to list every skill under the sun in the hopes of finding the perfect candidate – but remember, this is just a benchmark! List required skills and desired options to avoid switching off talented potential candidates.
Use accessible, inclusive language: try to avoid using company-specific or even industry-specific jargon, as what immediately makes sense to you may be confusing to potential candidates. Also make the spec as inclusive as possible to appeal to a broader spectrum of talented employees (and to avoid the potential for discrimination).
Include flexibility options: could the role be done part-time or with flexible hours? By not advertising flexible options, you may be deterring talented potential employees who need more flexibility due to care commitments or similar. Even when someone isn’t looking for flexible working, seeing this on a job spec shows you are a flexible and forward-thinking employer.

3. Make sure you’re competitive and appealing

Recruitment is a two way process – the business should be looking to appeal to the right candidate just as much as they appeal to the business! Check what your competitors are doing in their job advertisements to make sure you’re competitive in terms of salary and benefits for similar positions offered. Also, making sure you have a positive and healthy company culture is important for maintaining a good brand that will appeal to potential candidates.

Read our guide on how to create, communicate and improve your company culture to find out more.

4. Leverage your current staff

A great way to show company culture to potential employees is through leveraging the experiences of your current staff. Creating content around your current employees (such as video and blog post interviews) and sharing it on social media showcases your commitment to positive company culture and opportunities for employees. This will help encourage talented candidates to apply for your roles or approach you to register their interest.

Your staff can also help you recruit talented employees, as they can contact good candidates within their professional network who may not be considering a new opportunity unless it’s presented to them. Setting up an employee referral programme can help incentivise current staff to recommend talented candidates, as they benefit from successful hires too.

5. Learn how to retain talented employees

When it comes to having talented employees in your business, recruitment is the start of the process! For instance, cultural fit within the organisation can be just as important as the skills and experience the employee possesses – having a strong onboarding process (with the help of HR software for all the admin) can help all new employees feel right at home in their new role. Beyond that, offering incentives for growth (such as training and routes for promotion or new responsibilities) can help you retain talented employees, as they’ll be less likely to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Written by Camille Brouard

Camille is a Senior Marketing Executive for myhrtoolkit who writes on topics including HR technology, workplace culture, leave management, diversity, and mental health at work.