Recruitment Tips for CEOs: How to Attract Top Talent
Every leader knows the importance of employing the right people. The quality and engagement of your workforce is the key factor of organisational success, mediocrity or downright failure.
So attracting and hiring those people is vital, right?
Now, be honest. How much do you know about your organisation’s recruitment strategy? Do you have one?
Thought so.
The bottom line is this: Too many Australian employers still treat talent acquisition as a reactive admin process. We only care about recruitment when someone resigns. Of course, the best performing organisations take a different view. They put talent first. And that starts with their leaders. With you.
Here are 3 tips for what you can do to transform your results:
1. Exec Meetings: Put people and recruitment first on the agenda
We know the drill for Exec Meetings. Numbers first, then sales, operations and maybe marketing. Then the rest. If ‘HR’ is consistently near the bottom of the list, try switching things up. You and your senior team should be talking about your people – current and future – as a priority. A simple agenda switch can send a huge message.
2. You have a robust strategy for clients. Why not for employees?
Effective, sustainable talent acquisition doesn’t happen by accident, and it certainly doesn’t happen by chucking a few ads on SEEK. Your Recruitment / People Leader should be delivering you a clear, actionable strategy and you should be invested in it. Oh, and if your recruiters are justifying their work by reporting on ad views and total application numbers, push back.
3. Struggling to recruit and retain good people? Be brave and look in the mirror... and at Glassdoor
If your current people aren’t happy, future candidates will quickly find out. Glassdoor, SEEK, Indeed and various others have created highly appealing spaces for your current and past employees to anonymously share their experiences of working for you. And we all know that people are most likely to share when they have something negative to say. It can be painful, but read the reviews and reflect – if a handful of people are saying the same things, they’re probably true.
Let’s ditch the negativity! The majority of CEOs I work with run truly fantastic (albeit imperfect) organisations. Your best recruitment marketing asset is undoubtedly your people. Engaged employees can easily become powerful advocates. Create the culture, platform and process for your people to showcase your organisation, in their words and on their terms.
We’d love to help you hire better people and get more out of them. For a confidential conversation about your talent challenges and opportunity, send me a message or connect with me on LinkedIn.
About the Author.
Mark is a proud Dad, a creative CEO and a true storyteller.
He's spent much of the last 25 years with one hand in marketing, the other in talent and culture, and both feet in leadership. He has run marketing or employer branding operations in the APAC and the UK for organisations including Guardian News & Media, DMGT Group, Scout and Hanson Wade.
Mark lives and breathes employer branding, culture shaping and strategic storytelling. When he isn't doing that, his current hobbies include reading, writing, music and trying to find food his kids will eat. He also has strong beliefs about the importance of wine.