What sources would you use to attract potential applicants for the position?

While you can’t guarantee that candidates with the highest talent potential will apply to work at your company, you can increase the chances they do by developing a recruiting strategy that appeals to them. With that in mind, let’s take a look at 11 things you can do to attract top talent:

01. Offer great perks and compensation

The strongest candidates understand that their skills are in high demand. You can’t expect to attract a vast majority of applicants with the highest talent potential if you are unwilling to offer competitive compensation and benefits packages. So first things first: Make sure you’re offering a high enough salary compared to your location, your industry, and the candidate’s experience level. If possible, you’ll also want to offer a number of desirable perks, like rock-solid health insurance, flexible schedules, free food, and performance bonuses.

02. Build a strong employer brand

To attract candidates with the highest talent potential, organizations need to build employer brands that appeal to the kinds of workers they want to hire. Prove to the most talented workers why your organization is the one they want to join. Tell your story and showcase your history. Show potential job seekers what makes your company different from the rest. When you build a strong employer brand, the best workers will want to work for you. They’ll actively seek you out.

03. Make team building a top priority

According to our 2017 Employee Engagement Report, only 24% of employees feel connected to their colleagues, an 11% dip from the previous year. Previously, our research revealed the coworkers are the number one thing employees like about their jobs. If your workers aren’t getting along with their colleagues, chances are they won’t be too enthusiastic about working for your company — which means top talent will look for jobs elsewhere. Make team building a cornerstone of your organization to build camaraderie.

04. Outperform your competitors

Candidates with the highest talent potential want to join the winning team. As the Harvard Business Review points out, there’s a simple reason why so many people submit thousands of applications to Google each year: there’s a perception that it’s one of the best places to work because it dominates its competitors — while continuing to expand into diverse fields. The better your company performs, the easier it will be to attract the most talented people.

05. Don’t limit yourself geographically

In the past, organizations would rarely if ever think about hiring someone who lived on the other side of the country. But technology has evolved to the point where it’s easier than ever to work productively with talented people who live across the country — or even on the other side of the globe. If you limit your search for candidates to only include individuals located near your office, you’re automatically eliminating the chance that a vast majority of top talent will ever work for your company simply because they don’t live where you are. Open up your company to people located across the country (and across the globe if it makes sense), and you’ll get at least a few applications from extremely talented folks who live far away. If you decide to hire them, let them work remotely. As an added bonus, studies show that remote workers are happier and more productive than their counterparts who are stuck in the office.

06. Create an awesome company culture

According to our Employee Engagement Report, the top factors relating to employee happiness are interpersonal relationships, company culture, and work environment. The stronger and more enjoyable a company culture you are able to build, the more likely your workers will be to be happy working for you — which means your retention statistics will increase. Top talent will be drawn to the fact that your employees are not only happy, but a majority of them have decided to stick around for the long haul.

07. Offer lots of professional development opportunities

Today’s workers care a great deal about professional development. In fact, 60% of millennials would rather work somewhere that offered professional development opportunities than somewhere that offered regular pay raises. Yet according to our research, only 25% of employees feel as though their current employers offer adequate development opportunities. Make your company stand out from the pack by making professional development a top priority. Invite knowledgeable speakers into your office from time to time to lead seminars. Invest heavily in training and coaching activities. When there’s a relevant trade show, conference, or symposium nearby, encourage your employees to attend. Top talent wants to develop more skills. Offer lots of professional development opportunities and they’ll apply.

08. Promote candidates internally

Another great way to prove that you care about professional development is by promoting your own employees to managerial positions instead of hiring people from outside your organization. Make it a habit to promote candidates internally. This will attract top talent because many of them are interested in climbing the corporate ladders themselves. If you’ve demonstrated that you regularly promote your own employees, the best workers will be interested in joining your team in hopes that one day they will be promoted too.

09. Invest in new technologies

The best and brightest workers aren’t going to be too interested in applying for a job at your company if you rely on legacy technology and outdated computing infrastructure. Instead, candidates with the highest talent potential want to use innovative technology. Upgrade your tools, apps, and devices. Not only will this pique the interest of the best candidates, the rest of your team will become more engaged and more productive.

10. Let employees work on many different kinds of projects

Even the most focused worker in the world can lose their mind when they’re forced to do the same exact tasks every single day they step into the office. While you certainly will hire a graphic designer to create artwork for your company and your clients, don’t hesitate to encourage that person to take on responsibilities outside of their normal job description. For example, the graphic designer may want to contribute one post to your company’s blog each month. Let them. When you allow your employees to work on many different kinds of projects — including some that fall outside of their departments — they learn new things and gain experience outside their wheelhouse. In other words, they become better-polished professionals. This appeals to candidates with the highest talent potential.

11. Market your company online

The most desirable job applicants are always interested in developing new skills and learning. To this end, they regularly peruse relevant sites to learn about their industry and their profession. To attract the interest of these candidates, maintain a robust presence on a number of relevant social media sites. Update your company’s blog regularly. Get content on your partners’ sites too. The more information you publish about your company, the more likely job seekers will be to find it.

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