How to Attract Top Talent to your Business

by Fionnuala Malone, Digital Marketing Executive with Intelligo Software who provide Corporate HR Software and Payroll Software

With unemployment levels nearly at an all time low in Ireland, attracting top talent is becoming increasingly difficult. You want candidates that are highly motivated, with strong experience and an ability to bring something new to the mix. What can companies do to recruit star players successfully? From benefits to culture to opportunities for growth, here are some ideas on how to attract top talent to your business.

Offer Excellent Employee Benefits
Nowadays, top talent expects to receive excellent benefits as well as enjoying a healthy workplace. Examine your more traditional benefits packages like parental leave, on-site catering, group insurance schemes, annual leave, childcare and more. Increasingly, top companies are also offering an array of more non-traditional perks. If you have the budget, consider offering perks like onsite massages, dry cleaning services and free GP visits.

Provide a Great Company Culture
Management expert Peter Drucker once quipped that ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’. Your company culture is so important in attracting and retaining the right recruits. Company culture is the character of the company. It encompasses the working environment, the mission statement, values, ethics, goals and expectations. Talented recruits are looking for companies with a culture that is consistent with their own needs and values. The right company culture will make your employees feel inspired, connected and appreciated and will attract top new talent to apply.

Offer Flexibility at Work
Flexible work options like flexible hours, working from home, and telecommuting is a big factor in employees’ decision to stay or look for a new role. Research suggests that workers are often willing to take a smaller salary to gain more flexibility in their working lives. The traditional model of 9-5 may not be around for much longer. Offering flexibility around working from home means that employees can take advantage of concentrated work at home and more collaborative work at the office. Offering employees flexibility in work makes it easier for them to balance their family and work commitments leading to happier workers.

Provide Opportunities for Growth
Great candidates want to be able to see where they can go and how they can get there within the company. It is critically important to show that you use internal promotion and you can provide the resources and training required to move up the ladder. Make it easy for top talent to see their future within the company. From a business perspective, promoting from the inside means more senior staff members, making it easier to establish your company as the experts in your sector

Use an Employee Referral Programme
Your existing top talent within the company are likely to have relationships with other people at the top of their game. An employee referral programme can be a recruiter’s best friend; meaning that the burden or recruitment is shared among all employees. Use these connections to recruit star players by offering an employee referral programme. Studies show that retention rates for referred candidates are better than those of traditional hires. Better yet, employees who refer successful candidates also stay longer. It also makes the hiring process faster and more cost-effective.