How Companies Can Attract the Best People

People are looking for how to attract the best people to their company, are usually in one of two thinking:

1. They are fighting for coercion, desperately in need of yesterday's talent.
2. They scale – create a future team, trying to lay the funds now so that they do not regret this later.

In both cases, the bets are high. The best employees can 10 times your trajectory; The wrong can exhaust moral spirit, slow down initiatives and put you for mediocrity.

So, let's do it right. In this post I will lead you through five pillars that you must master in order to attract people that you need. And yes, at the early stage, many forward firms are in Search for non -operational director For the quality of leadership and maturity of management.

Magnetic promise: offer of the brand of the employer and employee of value value

You cannot “attract great people” if they do not know that you exist – or if they do not feel that you are worth their time.

The continuous brand of the employer is your magnet. According to Universum, investments in the branding of the employer provide higher filing indicators from high -quality candidates and reduce the costs of finding, because they begin to do hard work from lips to the mouth and reputation.

Then there is an EVP (a proposal for a valuable employee) – “What employees receive for what they give.” They give their time, energy, ideas, and receive rewards, development, experience and leadership. The trick is to make your EVP distinctive Instead of trying to be average in everything.

How to make your brand and performer real:

• Anchor on one or two things You can reliably provide better (culture, autonomy, mission, growth), and not mediocre in all directions.
• Show me, don't say it -Lo the real stories of employees, the absorption of LinkedIn, backstage content in life and metric, where it is possible (for example, “last year we promoted 25% of our team internally”).
• Check your public footprint: Careers Page, GlassDoor / Local Review Sites, social networks. If candidates visit and do not receive any signal about your culture, this is a lost opportunity.
• Launch experiments – a/b test – exchange messages on advertising work; See which value offers receive more clicks from candidates in Prime.

Did you know? Up to 75% of candidates study the reputation and brand of the company before applying, so your brand is more than “nice to have”.

Develop a hiring process that uses impulse

As soon as talent is interested, you have a narrow window for conversion. Long, bureaucratic processes kill impulse and enthusiasm.

Here is the structure that I saw is well scalable:

Stage	Target	Best practices
Search and coverage	Build a pipeline, including passive candidates	Use referrals, content marketing, LinkedIn and click on your A-Players networks
Screen and alignment	Quickly outputs inconsistencies	20-30 minutes of challenges for testing values ​​and basic fitting
Deep assessment	Technical / case / role specific to the role,	Keep it directly to the effect of one day.
Cultural interview	See if a person will prosper in your team	Instead of “Is the culture suitable?” Ask: “In what environment do you do the best job?”
Offer quickly	Avoid losing impulse	Candidates often accept the first strong offer; Dragushchiki lose
On the fight	Turn the first 90 days from risk to acceleration	Structured built -in, clear goals and early victories

The key to speed: Detection of hiring managers to make quick decisions, limit rounds to 3-4 maximums and devote themselves to terms.

⚠ Another warning: Talent, accumulation This is a real internal sabotage. A recent academic study showed that many managers resist, that high performers apply for internal roles (therefore they are “Feed” talent), which suppresses mobility and upset the star performers. You need incentives for internal mobility, not a gatekeeper.

Growth, culture and autonomy: what is the best talent really wants

If you think: “Great culture = ping-pong table and free snacks”, slow down. The next generation of Star Hires looks deeper. Actually, Harvard business -review It calls four things that the employees want: to feel valuable, to belong among those who deserve the trust of peers, the visible growth potential and flexibility in integration with life work.

This is how you build it in practice:

• Career stairs that do not force to manage -Lin to the deep depositors to grow up on a dispenser (for example, “chief engineer”, “senior researcher”), without requiring people's leadership.
• Autonomy + fences – Let people choose how to do their work, but determine clear results.
• Training budgets + time – For example, 10% of the time for experiments, payment of conferences, internal “hacker weeks”.
• Psychological safety – People should feel safe to fail, speak, repel.
• Rituals and signals -Reigular retrorers, all pens, celebration of small victories, a program of recognition of peers.

One friend -general director launched the internal program of the “Bright Ideas” microgrants (a small amount for the prototype of the project) to see which side jokes the team will build. Streams have become new products of the product. Growth, culture and entrepreneurial spirit in one turn.

Compensation, benefits and flexible retail spaces

Money will not buy loyalty, but a bad package or one that seems outdated repels people.

Some fences:

• Stay on the market. Use wages, comparison services or consult with local search companies.
• Think General compensation: Salary + capital + advantages + benefits + flexibility. Sometimes the provision of freedom matters more than money.
• Offer Flexible working models: remote, hybrid, asynchronous, where possible. Many companies are currently redesigning their culture in order to attract workers outside of traditional geography.
• Give “Soft” advantages It matters: child care care, Support for mental healthCreative vacations, wellness budgets and flexibility of the trustee.

You cannot be the best in all dimensions. If your brand and the ability to grow is strong, sometimes you can leave a slightly lower salary than a corporate competitor. But do not make a mistake that people say yourself.

Supporting the flame: retention and talent stream

Attraction is only the beginning. The cost of the loss of the one you just received is cruel.

Here are the mechanics of retention that share the winners:

• Continuing feedback loops: Frequent checks, reviews, meetings at the level of pass.
• Justice and clarity of promotion: Transparent criteria, early signals of the “following steps”.
• Rotation and stretching of the assignment: Move people to new areas, give them responsibility.
• Recognition rituals: Monthly screams, nominations for peers, Spot Awards is well-made, gratitude strengthens the connection. Even small acts of gratitude can create stronger loyalty.
• Exit and fence diagnostics: When someone leaves, treat him as learning. Also follow the early exhaustion (people leaving for 6-12 months) – which often signals about impaired promises.

Did you know? In some high -ranking firms, the internal movement (rotation, secondary) take into account a large share of retained people, because they see new options inside, and not outside.

When you break through – advanced movements (signals for+ talent)

After you have the basics, you can pave in the moves that they say: “We play at this level.”

1. Give independent control/mentors
   As I mentioned earlier, using Search for non -operational director Strategies (as connected above) not only strengthens your board, but also sends a signal to the highest talents: you create with a structure, accountability and long -term ambitions.
2. Leadership of social thinking/anchor
   Hire a recognized name or publish in your domain. “Hiring the Hero” can attract attention.
3. Research and development laboratories, internal incubators
   Let the internal teams deploy new products and invest a small internal capital. People join because they can be founders in your company.
4. Talent brand partnership
   Work with universities, competitions and awards – in your company of early believers.
5. Domestic mobility market for talents
   Make transparent internal programs “Boards of jobs” or rotation so that people can see what is possible. Do not hide opportunities.

Summing up: flywheel attracting-River

You do not “gain the best people” once. You create a system – flywheel – which turns visibility, values, opportunities, compensation and departure to the magnet. Over time, your strongest employees become your largest recruits.

If I entered into force in your company tomorrow, I would start:

• Audit of the brand of your state employer + EVP and moving around one unique force
• Maping the pipeline for hiring and reduction of waste (rounds, delays, inconsistencies)
• Introduction of internal mobility rituals
• Launch of small BET projects (for example, cultural experiments, microgrants)
• Investing, at least one signal employment or external manager of the level of the board to strengthen the reliability

You will be surprised, how only your flywheel rotates, even passive candidates will begin to knock at the upper level.