How to Attract & Retain Talent that Sets You Apart

Tired of an arduous hiring process that makes you hopeful, but only leaves you disappointed in the end? 

Building a team is no easy task. If you want to attract, retain, and reward talent that sets you apart, build these 4 techniques into your talent acquisition process.

#1: Make Your Culture an Asset That Shines Through In Your Interview Process  

In Culture Driven Recruiting, author and talent acquisition expert Lee Anne Edwards stresses that company culture is increasingly critical in the job market. Job seekers compromise less than ever before. 

But you can use this to your advantage. Here are our takeaways from Edwards’ book: 

Culture starts with values. Not just what your values are. But more importantly, whether or not you actually live them out.

Your potential hires will be able to sniff out whether you practice what you preach. One way to show them that you do?

Craft a hiring process that reflects your values. Don’t make your interview process generic. Put some flavor in it. What makes it your company’s process? This should carry over into how you invest in each team member after you hire. 

If you find your team could use some work in setting up behavioral standards aligned with your values, put in that work with them. If one of your values is “honesty” what does that practically look like? If collaboration is important to you, how does that translate into your meeting agendas? 

#2: Hire For a Well-Defined Role In the Context of Your Team 

The more well-defined your job description and responsibilities are, the better. 

If you’ve done the above work with your team and know how your team operates, you will know not only the exact objective skills you need in a new team member, but also the soft skills. 

While you shouldn’t rely on them completely, various types of personality and behavioral tests can be helpful when you’re building a team. Predictive Index, Criteria, and Mettl are highly-rated behavioral assessment tools. 

Using assessments as a way to collect data on recruits is helpful when assessing how that person will work in the context of your team. 

A hire will sometimes look great on paper and have all the hard skills you want, but the interview process will show that the potential hire won’t be the best fit with your current team.  

You aren’t just filling a role. You’re building a team. 

#3: Build Mutual Trust and Respect Through Openness

Foster transparency and avoid silos in communication. 

Instead, encourage transparency by modeling it. Let your team know what’s going on. Even when you don’t require their input, allow them to have a voice and contribute. 

Doing so builds mutual respect and trust between you, your experienced team members, and your new team members. 

Similarly, celebrate the successes of your team. It might seem like a “given” to do this, but if you’re a busy founder or leader with a lot on your plate, positive encouragement and recognition may fall to the wayside unless you form a habit.

Remember, you don’t just want your top talent to feel valued for selfish reasons. You want your team members to derive true satisfaction from their work. Recognizing their achievements and good qualities is a key element in this process. 

If you foster openness and recognize the contributions of your team members, you’ll have a much better chance of retaining them. 

#4: Set Clear Expectations with Rewards and Follow Through 

When you hire, set the correct expectations for raises and bonuses. Be honest. 

By setting clear expectations from the get go, you will give new hires a goal to work toward.

Bonuses and raises are no light matter. But if your new hire continues to be a good fit on the team, works and communicates in alignment with your values, and drives their department forward, do two things:

Step 1: Recognize that this is a high-value team member that doesn’t come along every day. You want to keep them. 

Step 2: Reward them in line with the expectations that you have already set.

Easy, right?

"The single biggest investment you'll make is in people." - Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. 

People are the foundation to culture. That’s why talent acquisition is a crucial part of building your business. 

Consider how you will implement each of these 4 steps to better your business’ culture.