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Positioning Your Business To Attract Top-Talent

Attracting Top Talent

by Charlotte Gurney

Candidates with best-in-class career histories, unrivalled qualifications or prior career defining position are acutely aware of how
in-demand they are. If you don’t market your business properly, you might miss out on the ideal candidate joining your team. Or worse still, the candidate might be snapped up by a competitor.

In what can sometimes feel like a saturated market, it’s important to demonstrate to top talent how and why joining your company will help them reach their career goals and achieve success. With this in mind, Volt has outlined 10 of the best ways we believe businesses and brands can successfully distinguish themselves from the competition:

1. Provide clarity, conviction and a clear career path

Finding best-in-class talent starts with clearly communicating what all parties want from a new job. Having clarity is essential – what is the company’s mantra? Does the company and the candidate share similar long-term goals? Do both parties share the conviction that what the company is doing matters? As an employer, being genuine and demonstrating this clarity via personal communications from senior leaders, hard-hitting career pages and videos is key.  

2. Be adaptable and unique

We have moved into an era where what used to be considered a ‘normal’ office environment and basic compensation packages are no longer as attractive as they once were. Instead, demonstrating to candidates that you offer and value a work-life balance is now paramount. This can be shown by giving employees the opportunity to work from home and allowing employees to desk-share – either way being adaptable, flexible and unique is vital.

3. Employees are an extension of your brand – use them as Brand Ambassadors

SLT, business leaders and teammates can and often will significantly impact your ability to attract best-in-class talent. Ensuring your brand looks favourable to top-talent onlookers is key. One way to do this is to create talent ambassador LinkedIn profiles and utilise this platform to reach out and connect with top-tier potential candidates all the while revamping reviews across popular and reputable platforms such as Glassdoor. Never underestimate the value of a great review – it’s one of the best ways to generate culture specific content that can be aligned directly to the brand.

4. Know your employer value proposition

If you’re really looking to stand out from your competitors to reach out and secure top-talent one key component as a brand is being able to concisely articulate and share how the employee value proposition can be lived and breathed. In the same way a business has a brand for an external audience there needs to be an in-house employee that can successfully communicate the brand’s personality as well as the employee experience. 

5. Be acutely aware of who your target audience are

Ultimately recruitment is sales based. Once you know your target audience and you’ve fully comprehended your brand’s USP’s (unique selling points) you can then focus specifically on what you have to offer and who would benefit the most. Once you’ve identified these details you can place your business right in the middle of your target audience. Be sure to advertize your organizations culture too and highlight the skills and attitudes that are associated with your brand.

6. Be aware of the full candidate experience and life cycle

The businesses reputation will directly impact a candidate’s decision. Moreover, the candidates entire experience is a continuum that begins before the candidate even considers the role (this is where brand awareness is vital) and extends far beyond their time with the organisation. Speak with colleagues who look after your marketing and branding as they will be best placed to carefully position your business within the industry. 

7. Be sure to put your employees first

Treat people how you want to be treated. This may seem simple, but, when you truly take the time to care for your employees, they will also care for each other and by extension your customers and community. Why not go beyond fantastic benefits? Build and create a workplace that encourages, loyalty, trust and respect – this will do amazing things for the brands culture. And remember, a good reputation will spread. Your employees will talk about their work and work-life balance and they are bound to mix with like-minded top-talent who will be intrigued by what they hear. 

8. Define your purpose

Businesses with clear goals, targets and purposes interest and retain top-talent. If you know about your ‘why’ and you articulate it clearly this will translate to not only your employees but your candidates too. Marketing is key, but, don’t forget that your mission statement and brand vision are also of the utmost importance. All three (marketing, mission and vision) need to work in harmony if you want candidates to apply and feel motivated.

9. Never underestimate the power of Social Media

Other than it being essential for brand awareness, social media can also be an effective environment to encourage each other, communicate with people and share stories. It gives brands a chance to share their personalities and become more likeable.
We live in an age where exceptional candidates really do their research. They’re eager to know what current employees think of you and how they rate you. Keep this in mind, populate your social channels with employee events and ensure your brand’s image has a personality that candidates can connect with.

10. Be authentic

Being honest, open and authentic with a candidate will create and inspire trust from the onset. It’s crucial that the candidate knows precisely what they are accepting, plus they can then make an informed decision based on accurate information. The best way to know if it’s a great fit and has the potential for longevity is for both the employer and the candidate to have total transparency.