Effective leaders and managers ensure that recruitment strategies align with the organization's goals and values. To maintain successful talent acquisition processes, leadership should be actively involved, providing timely and meaningful feedback to candidates and leveraging technology for efficient hiring practices.

Attracting and hiring top talent requires strategic planning, clear communication, and an engaging candidate experience. Leaders and managers must support identifying great candidates, assessing fit, and ensuring the onboarding process prepares new hires for success. Leadership’s role in engaging candidate experiences is crucial for enhancing employer branding, talent attraction, and, ultimately, employee retention through positive initial interactions.

Perspectives from Thought Leaders on How to Attract and Hire Talent

To provide actionable insights on this crucial topic, we have gathered perspectives from thought leaders who have successfully led their organizations through attracting and hiring talent. Their advice highlights the essential strategies and approaches leaders and managers can employ to ensure their teams are equipped to attract and hire the best candidates.

Jadey Ryndak
Recruitment Consultant at Vocation

The key differentiator between hiring managers with highly successful teams is their commitment to ongoing talent development. If you have a reputation for making your team and the individuals on it better, you will be sought after as a boss and mentor. This growth and development mindset is also beneficial in the recruiting and interview process, enabling effective, authentic, and value-added communication with prospective candidates.

It is crucial to clearly understand the team, its role in the organization, and how it contributes to the organization’s larger goals. Strong and clearly defined alignment allows a hiring manager to articulate the role, the need, and the ideal attributes of the right candidate. They can also highlight the added value elements that make someone a stellar fit. Upleveling talent, a cultural addition, or specialized industry experience may be key factors that elevate the team.

Writing it down—having a clear scorecard—makes evaluating candidates easier and reduces bias. It keeps even the best hiring managers “honest” and laser-focused on the items that matter. It also provides the team and other stakeholders transparency in the decision-making process.

See recruiting as a continuous part of your role. Share your brand, be visible, and be open to informational interview conversations even when you are not hiring. Building a pipeline of talent or referral sources is a huge advantage.

Share your successes. People are attracted to winning teams. Publicly share your team’s success. Praise your people on social platforms like LinkedIn or industry sites. Be the leader people want to work for.

Best practices for HR professionals working with leaders on interviewing:

• Interviewing is best when you clearly understand the position and its role in the team and the larger organization. Clearly define the position and the key factors that will make someone successful.
  
  
• Create a scorecard and share it with the hiring team. Use the hiring team’s strengths and expertise. Give them an assignment—have them focus on specific elements. Being responsible for assessing each candidate against a specific element allows each hiring panel member to maximize their time and stay engaged and accountable.
  
  
• In interviews, be transparent and authentic. Provide a solid overview of the opportunity, including the challenges.
  
  
• If you have concerns, address them immediately. Don’t assume that you understood the candidate correctly. Probe deeper if you need clarification.
  
  
• Use the same core line of questioning with all candidates to reduce bias and ensure you can assess responses fairly across candidates.
  
  
• Provide ample time for the candidate to ask questions. Often, the candidate’s questions will provide more insights than their answers.
  
  
• Provide a clear understanding of the process and timeline. Set expectations for follow-up.
  
  
• Write up your notes immediately following the interview. Don’t stack interviews on top of each other. Your memory is not as good as you think it will be. Fresh thoughts are best.
  
  
• Debrief with the hiring panel to gather their thoughts. Reserve your comments to avoid influencing their points of view. This provides great insights that may influence your ultimate decision.
  
  
• Move quickly. Your best judgment now is often better than spending six months waiting for a potential “perfect candidate.” Time is costly. Not filling a role stresses your existing team, reduces productivity, and can impact the company’s ability to deliver on its objectives. Strong candidates move quickly, and you will miss them if you delay.

Eddie Stewart
Principal Consultant at ES Talent Solutions

There is a tendency for hiring managers (and other stakeholders in the organization) to think in a self-centered way. They focus on how many people they need to interview the candidate or are not flexible in determining what job qualifications are must-have rather than nice-to-have.  A better approach is to think from the candidate's perspective. This isn’t hard to do. We have all been candidates at one time or another. As a candidate, would you be concerned if you had to meet 15 interviewers through the process? Would it bother you if the company asked you to visit their office four times for interviews? Or does it matter that the entire process takes six months? Some candidates are so motivated by the company/opportunity that it may not matter. But for the vast majority, these red flags invite them to look elsewhere for work. As a hiring manager, what if the best candidate for your role is in that group? The idea is that companies must create a favorable experience for the candidate to ensure they get all their questions answered to make the right hire.

The solution is for hiring managers and recruiters to set up the process they want but adjust it with the candidate’s experience in mind. Marketers often talk about “Buyer Persona,” building the profile of the distinct groups buying the product (Where they live, where they shop, what sites they visit, etc.). This concept has recently been picked up in the talent acquisition space. By thinking about the potential employee personas that companies want to hire, they can understand where to find the best candidates and how they need to be recruited. Candidate experience cannot be ignored if hiring managers want to attract the best candidates. Creating an efficient interview process, being timely with communications, and being empathetic to candidates’ needs are important steps in attracting great employees, but these aren’t the only benefits. For most companies, candidates can also be potential buyers of goods and services. A good candidate experience creates a positive view of the company. For every hire, the group of candidates (who can be potential company customers and advocates) who do not get offers is far larger than those who do.

Miranda Leurquin
Founder & Strategic People Leader at 12 HR Consulting

In a dynamic and competitive job market, organizations must prioritize the establishment of an authentic employer brand to attract and retain top talent. An employer brand serves as the cornerstone of a company's identity, encapsulating its values, culture, and unique offerings that make it an appealing place to work. However, merely offering competitive salaries is no longer sufficient to attract prospective employees. Instead, candidates seek more profound connections with organizations, focusing on factors such as company culture, career development opportunities, interpersonal dynamics, and alignment with personal values.

When developing or assessing an employer brand, several key questions should be considered:

• Organizational Values and Beliefs: What do the organization and its employees stand for and believe in? Articulating core values and beliefs provides a foundation for the employer brand and helps candidates understand the company's ethos.
  
  
• Points of Differentiation: What sets the organization apart from others? This extends beyond industry competitors and encompasses unique aspects such as company culture, mission-driven initiatives, and employee experiences.
  
  
• Employee Testimonials: How do employees perceive the organization's values and branding in their day-to-day experiences? Authentic stories and testimonials from current employees bring the employer brand to life, offering insights into the workplace culture and reinforcing the organization's values.
  
  
• Retention Factors: Why do employees choose to stay with the organization? Are they actively involved in shaping the employer brand? Engaging existing employees in brand-building fosters a sense of ownership and strengthens employee retention.
  
  

While compensation is undeniably important, creating a balance between competitive pay and a positive work environment is crucial. Many candidates prioritize aspects like company culture, career advancement opportunities, and alignment with personal values over monetary compensation. Therefore, investing in employee well-being, professional growth, and a supportive workplace culture can significantly enhance an organization's attractiveness to potential hires.

Operationalizing corporate values and branding requires deliberate effort, starting with the candidate engagement process. Recruiters play a key role in shaping candidates' perceptions of the organization. They must embody the company's values and brand, establishing trust and rapport with candidates from the start. Assessing the effectiveness of the hiring function involves evaluating factors such as recruiter engagement, alignment with job roles, and consistency in communicating the employer brand across all touchpoints.

Key considerations for assessing the hiring function include:

• Candidate Relationship Building: Does the recruiter invest in building relationships and setting clear expectations for the hiring process?
  
  
• Role Understanding: Does the recruiter possess a deep understanding of the job role and its day-to-day responsibilities?
  
  
• Brand Articulation: Can all stakeholders involved in the hiring process effectively articulate the organization's value proposition and employer brand?
  
  
• Interview Preparedness: Are hiring managers and leaders adequately trained and prepared to participate in the interview process? Is ongoing support provided to ensure consistency and professionalism?
  
  
• Candidate Experience: Does the organization prioritize timely and transparent communication with candidates throughout the hiring process? Consistent follow-up reflects positively on the organization's reputation and enhances the candidate experience.
  
  

Organizations can position themselves competitively in the talent market by implementing a robust hiring process aligned with an authentic employer brand. Candidates who resonate with the organization's values and culture are more likely to be deeply invested in its success, even if they require additional skills development. Prioritizing career development and fostering a culture of personal investment signals to employees that they are valued as individuals, not just assets, creating a loyal and engaged workforce.

Jacquie Hughes
Senior VP Human Resources/Consultant at JacquieHR

A critical mistake employers make is forgetting what it's like out there looking for a job. Often, hiring managers and recruiters who have worked somewhere for a while and have not been out of work can forget that these candidates are human beings with families to support and mortgages or rent to pay.

Here are a few reasons why it is critical to be sensitive about this. Communication with candidates is essential. It shows who you are as a company and, more importantly, as a human being. Remember, just because you're on the other side doesn't mean you should demonstrate or have more power. Be respectful of the time the person has taken to apply for your position, and be empathetic to the situation that they might be in. Whether you are employed or not, looking for work can be exhausting and humbling. When you set up interviews, set candidates up for success. Take steps to give them items like contact information should they get into trouble logging on to a video call or where to park if you're interviewing in person. You don't have to hold their hand through the whole process, but it’s nice to show respect and set them up for the best possible experience. Remember, this interaction is your first impression for the candidate.

Consider that your time is not necessarily more valuable than theirs. Just because you have a meeting pop up or somebody knocks on your door and needs to talk isn't a good reason to be late to a pre-set interview. Most likely, this candidate has made schedule arrangements with their children and partners, perhaps shopped for a new outfit, got a haircut, or other tasks to be their best for the interview time you set up. Make sure you're there, prepared, and on time out of respect for them as a human being. For companies to nonchalantly cancel or show up late is very disrespectful. You're dealing with somebody who's most likely worried about how they will pay rent or their bills. They already have a lot on their minds and are sometimes in survival mode. How you treat applicants and candidates directly reflects who you are as a company. That becomes especially important for brand reputation when the tides shift, and companies scramble for help getting talent.

Again, remember that candidates are people with lives and families. Treat them as you would want to be treated if the roles were reversed because someday, they just might be.

Other Articles in the Series on How to Attract and Hire Talent

Gaining impactful advice from leaders and managers is crucial, but it is also important to consider other aspects of recruitment. This includes understanding the lessons learned in attracting and hiring talent and recognizing the critical cultural elements needed to support this process. These perspectives offer a comprehensive framework for organizations aiming to attract and hire top talent successfully.

Enabling Practices and Resources

Emerging Recruiting Strategy and Sourcing Practices to Streamline Talent Discovery.

Exponential technologies such as Artificial intelligence (AI) continue to evolve in their application across functions and industries to solve complex problems and automate a broader range of activities.

Accessing Full Talent Marketplace Ecosystems to Increase Engagement and Career Growth.

A "talent or opportunity marketplace," most recently enabled by the use of AI-powered systems, matches individuals to existing job-related opportunities, including full-time positions, projects, gigs, coaching relationships, and even learning based on their experience, skills, interests, and other traits.

Forming Agile Collaborative Recruiting Networks and Programs.

Agile is commonly associated with the methodology for iterative solution development through collaboration between selected cross-functional teams.