In a competitive business landscape, recruiting top talent is a strategic imperative for organisations. Paul O’Donnell unveils the three Cs to attracting and securing the best candidates for your organisation’s success
Great talent makes great organisations, not just because of their higher productivity but also the influence they have on the commitment and standards of others.
Great talent is scarce, and as we head into more uncertain economic times the “war for talent”, as framed by Steven Hankin of McKinsey back in the 1990s, has already kicked off.
Whether you hire directly or work with a search partner, the process of winning great candidates demands real attention to the full hiring cycle.
To attract really great talent, organisations need more than the basics of a good recruiting process.
Here are three key questions to ask and steps to take to ensure the best candidates say yes to your organisation.
1. Communication: What can your target talent pool read about you online?
If you have a talent acquisition team or marketing function, dedicate a resource to continuously evaluating how the outside world sees your firm.
What compelling story will your target talent pool read about the difference your organisation makes to its customers and community? What messages can they see from current employees as advocates for working with you? Where does your target talent pool like to spend time online, and is your message strongest here?
2. Contribution: What problem exists in your organisation by not having this role filled?
Role and organisational purpose are the top attractions for the best talent.
Does the organisation’s purpose matter to the candidate, and is your organisation the right place to address it? What difference can their effort make for stakeholders? These are your key questions externally and during your hiring process.
3. Character: What traits in the candidate does your firm want for the whole organisation?
Complementary culture and values between a high performer and your organisation are essential. Losing a high performer over a lack of values alignment is optically poor and will reverberate internally and externally.
Conversely, great talent can be extremely influential in changing the behaviour of those around them, so mapping the characteristics you seek for the whole company before hiring anyone new is vital.
In an excellent article in MIT Sloan Management Review, “Make Leader Character Your Competitive Edge”, Mary Crossan, Bill Furlong and Robert D. Austin describe how character, when valued equal to competence, can result in better decisions and outcomes.
The next time you hire externally, consider communication, contribution and character to put your own organisation first in the candidate’s decision-making process.
Paul O’Donnell is CEO of HRM Search Partners
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