The Ultimate Guide to Boost Your Hiring Strategy Now!

The Ultimate Guide to Boost Your Hiring Strategy Now!

The #1 factor for businesses to achieve their goals of delivering the services and products that attract and retain clients is to attract and retain the top talent that make it all happen. Hiring success does not happen by accident, luck, nor through the algorithms and software programs that offer to sift and filter through the people interested in your company, weeding out or passing along the people that it determines should go one way or the other.

Let’s explore some of the unique ways in which companies can attract the right people with the talent and cultural fit every company is looking to hire. The right ultimate hiring strategy, consideration of the specific needs of your team, is how to achieve the goal of bringing on great people, so you can drive the success of your business. Let’s Dig In and explore hire boost product to enhance your hiring Roadmap.

Perks & Benefits that Attract Top Talent

Both common and newer, unique benefits are what the latest, now the largest demographic of talent, is seeing and now expecting, when considering the companies to apply to, and more seriously think about staying long term.

• Flexible Structure:

  • As evidenced by the Billions of users on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Linked In, and others, growingly people have reduced attention spans, which is not exclusive to social media, but translates to all aspects of work and life. The flexibility of schedule is one thing. Employees increasingly want to know that they will not be held captive to an 8-5 Monday through Friday schedule. The ability to step away mid-day to handle personal obligations, to decompress, manage child-care, etc is critical for great talent to consider a company. With the willingness and assurance that employees can and will complete work and projects on time and at a high level, employers are wise to allow and encourage such flexibility which will increase employee satisfaction, freedom and simple work/life balance that New Talent is looking for.

• Work and Responsibilities:

  • Flexibility is most often implemented as it relates to its structure, schedule, and willingness to give employees the down time they seek. But changing work is a key piece of what flexibility means to people. Belief that they will not be stuck in a role for the next five years, or the duration of their time with a company, is paramount to both attracting top talent, and retaining good people long term. Building an environment that includes organizations and teams responsible for a specific aspect of a business allows for such task-flexibility. Cross-training and upskilling to the tasks each team member is responsible for can allow for change of work periodically. For example of team of ten people, with the right training, can build the flexibility to move people from one task to another, essentially swapping roles and assignments within that team, and keep work interesting for people without suffering or setting back the vision a company has for each organization.

• Diversity:

  • According to Glassdoor, 37% of job seekers would not apply to a job at a company where there are disparities in employee satisfaction ratings among different ethic and racial groups.
  • Also, 66% of employees and of job seekers trust employers most when it comes to understanding what diversity and inclusion really look like at a company, which is significantly higher than senior leaders at 19% and the company’s website at 9%.
  • Glassdoor also ranked LinkedIn as one of the companies on it’s Best Places to Work list for 2023. LI’s employees have left positive reviews about the company’s flexible work environment, supportive management, career development opportunities and collaborative environment.

• Unlimited Vacation Time:

  • With the proper parameters in place, any employer can add this to the list of perks and benefit it offers. A business does not have to lessen a workload, increase timelines, nor risk over-paying for people who are out of the business more than in it, should they offer unlimited time off. Business that offer this are most commonly paying for ‘some’, but not all, time off, and maintaining the targets they need to achieve, and finding that their people are still achieving the amount and quality of work they need, while providing the ability for employees to manage their work and personal life.

• Wellness Programs:

  • The investment a company makes in its employees correlates with the benefits it offers. To gain the loyalty and belief in a company mission, the holistic approach it takes to caring for the whole of the employee will be obvious and attractive when benefits show to spill over from exclusively ‘work’ benefits and touch on ‘personal and life’ benefits. A strong Wellness Program is one way to show this to prospective Hire Employees Online, including exercise and nutrition regiments that promote good health, psychological care and life-coaching, and counseling or Employee Assistance Programs that offer help to those with challenges, or even in crisis, due to addiction, domestic issues or sever financial situations.

• Development Opportunities:

  • Most people that join a company want to know that they will not be stuck in any role, regardless of how interesting or flexible it may be. Knowing that a company invests in its people, has set development and training programs that build skill and raise the value of it’s people is the first step. Seeing how that investment translates to internal growth, not only in words, but in highlighting the people who have moved along, become part of the upper management or executive team, will greatly increase the interest and consideration of a top prospect.

When that candidate comes through your doors, and proves to be the cultural fit and subject matter expert you believed them to be based on their resume and initial outreach, don’t let them go. You want to use every tool in your toolbelt to give them enough reason to stay. You have made sure to discuss the interesting, flexible work environment, all of the unique and special benefits and perks that come along with their employment. Now it’s time to tell them that not only is your company bringing in the best people in the industry, but how they are thriving, creating competitive differentiators, but are also here to stay.

Sharing data on your employee retention rates can be a valuable recruiting tool. It is important for a business to recognize that top talent is always in high demand, thus instilling the belief that while other companies, competitors, in your industry are averaging, for example, 20-25% attrition, you are at 5%, etc. And per your exit interviews, most are leaving to retirement, personal reasons, relocation, with very few due to dissatisfaction. Be transparent, particularly when this data works in your favor and exhibits a culture that people have flocked to and happily remain.

The Best Offense is a Great Defense!

Driving Employee Retention

According to a 2019 Gallup-http://www.gallup.com, employee attrition, and the cost of replacing workers will exceed $1 Trillion. They cite, and we agree, that such turnover is brought on by the employers themselves. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the turnover rate to be over 26%, and climbing since. The cost of replacing, including the hiring, training, onboarding, as well as the lost time without the previously departing employee  can be more than half to even twice an employee’s annual salary. Thus a $50,000 employee on average costs a company at least $25,000 up to $200,000 to backfill, or simply get back to how it was before the employee left the organization.

The Gallup article also points to simple employee engagement as a critical factor to employe retention. Companies and leaders that prioritize engagement have far greater success in attrition rates than those who think it’s a ‘nice to do’, not a ‘must do’. 52% of employees surveyed cited no discussion with their direct leadership regarding their job satisfaction, nor their future with the company. The longer that happens for employee, the less likely they are to believe they even have a future with a company.

What drives employees to look and move elsewhere?

• Money:

  • While it may surprise some, money is not the biggest factor, and not even in most surveys top five factors. While obviously a factor overall, most companies understand the need to provide a competitive wage, and thus, money is not among the main drivers for employee turnover. Still, companies are wise to do cost of living analyses to remain competitive and attract, as well as retain, good talent, and to create pay scales that show opportunity for increased salary and bonuses for performance, tenure, achievements, etc.

• Disconnect from Team:

  • For the most part, people need people, and interaction. Feeling part of a team requires regular contact through the form of meetings, events, in person meetings and conferences, and remote options as well for those in our ever-increasing remote-only and hybrid environments. A company that sets the structure for regular, daily or multiple times weekly, for such interaction through a variety of mechanisms, will see employee satisfaction and engagement feedback to be much stronger than those who believe the right formula is to give people their assignments and leave them alone. As much as some employees say their preference is to be left alone, most actually want some level of interaction, and also do not rate employers less favorably if such interaction and engagement on the higher side. (i.e. – Less is Not More when it comes to employee satisfaction).

• Leadership Engagement(or Disengagement)

  • While people certainly value the opportunity to connect with others on their team, and their peer group, it is as, or more, important for people to stay connected to their leadership. The time given to employees from leadership is invaluable to making an employee feel valued, secure, assured that they’re doing the right thing, and a good job. Without a planned cadence for meeting or coaching sessions, including one-on-one meetings, employees will quickly begin to question whether they are on steady ground in their work, have something to worry about, or if their leader even knows what they do, how they do it, and at what level their production even is.

• Lack of flexibility:

  • We discussed this above in what attracts employees. On the flipside without it, many employees will eventually look for an environment less rigid. If you did manage to bring in employees in a highly, even over-structured environment, there may be a reason for that. They may have been unemployed, and simply needed the job and were willing to work with little flexibility. They may have disliked their previous job so much that ‘anything’ seemed better than the situation they found themselves. Whatever their reason for coming aboard, it is becoming less and less attractive or appreciated by employees having little latitude in their work or schedule. Examining the work, the team dynamic, and the need for structure vs. flexibility may present opportunities for companies to expand on flexibility to not only attract, but to retain good people.

• Recognition:

  • While this certainly ties in with leadership engagement, it goes well beyond that. Staying connected with employees, giving them face time, telling them how they are doing, and sharing business updates in a personalized way are all important to do regularly with employees, and is reflected in most employee satisfaction ratings. But using that time to not only connect but to celebrate even the smallest of achievements, goals and tasks completed, mean something to employees. Bonuses and other prizes have tangible, translatable, value, but even a steady diet of pats on the back, or regular public recognition for jobs well done goes a long way to make employees feel valued and respected, far more inclined to stay longer-term.

The increased awareness by companies seems to be turning the tide in employee attrition, as in the past three years, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/tenure.pdf reports that employee tenure is roughly four years, and stayed fairly flat since 2020. Unsurprisingly, there is a wide range of employee tenure by age group with those 55+ averaging nearly ten years with their employer, as opposed to those 25-34 years at less than 3 years. While hiring by age group is not advisable(nor legal!), the life and work experience of those with a longer track record is a key indicator for those companies who are looking to not only bring in that top talent, but see them stay long term, through the current and future projects planned that keep companies competitive, build brand superiority, and drive best-in-class reputations.

As you see, the ultimate hiring strategy top talent and minimizing attrition, saving cost while increasing revenue and market share is something every business can impact. While not controllable, making these efforts a priority such that you create a strong, intentional ultimate hiring strategy focused on both the front-end and back-end of people management, has to be a business imperative. No business can sustain profitability, nor stay in business long-term without strength in hiring and in employee attrition. Make each end of the employee spectrum as much a priority as the products and services your customers love, and you will establish yourself as both a company and an employer of choice.

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