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Winning the War For Talent

The competition is on for employers trying to recruit and retain top talent. In a job market that is highly favorable to workers, it is crucial to be intentional in your efforts throughout every stage of the talent acquisition process. Learn more about strategies for winning the war for talent:

Act with Clarity

You cannot effectively find the right candidates who will provide value to your company unless you know exactly what skills and traits are necessary for long term success. Since you are not in a position of power, your job descriptions cannot be a “Wish List” of qualifications, or you will inadvertently self-select out your company. Instead, act with clarity – determine what qualifications (both technical and soft skills, along with personality traits) are absolutely essential and focus on attracting and assessing for those in your recruitment efforts.

Diversify Your Sources

In such a competitive landscape, you can’t just post your available positions to your website or an online general job board and wait for the high quality applications to roll in. To stand out from your competitors, you must diversify your sources for where you look for prospective candidates. Try out a variety of options, including personal outreach to your network of connections, mining social media, being active in industry specific job forums, and working with a third party recruitment agency.  

Cultivate a Strong Employer Brand

When candidates are considering potential job opportunities to pursue, the employer brand is also a key differentiating factor in deciding between similar jobs. Cultivate a strong employer brand, so job seekers have a sense of what it would be like to work at your company and why it is better than others. Take advantage of every marketing opportunity, such as your website, job description, or social media, to build your reputation as an employer. Highlight your company’s culture, mission, core values, work environment, benefits and perks, and anything else that would make a compelling point as to why it would be a great place to work.  

Prioritize Candidate Experience

Once you gain the interest of prospective candidates, they essentially become customers you are serving. Prioritize the candidate experience to ensure it portrays your company in a positive manner. Make every step of the hiring process as streamlined and informative as possible to show that you respect and value candidates. For example, applying should not be cumbersome and require too much information, and all forms of outreach should be pleasant, timely, and have a personal touch. A negative candidate experience not only makes you lose the interest of that specific person, but could affect future efforts through negative word-of-mouth.  

Attract Top Talent

IFG provides staffing solutions for clients for their hiring needs, from full-time to projects. Whatever type of candidate you are looking for, our dedicated team of recruiting experts will tap our talent pipeline to find the ones who are the best match. Contact us to learn more about our accounting and finance recruiting services.