12 Ways Companies can Compete in Talent Acquisition Market

And while it’s true that a start-up brand may have a tougher time attracting new hires, with limited resources, compared to larger establishments in the industry, that doesn’t always result in a missed opportunity to secure the right person to fill the department’s needs. Now more than ever, creating a healthy, flexible, and inclusive work atmosphere is one place they can begin to build the process of developing a unique and compelling appeal in the workplace.

Here are 12 ideas, courtesy of Fast Company Executive Board experts, to keep your company on a potential employee’s shortlist.

1. GET CANDIDATES EXCITED ABOUT YOUR VISION.

Sell your product or service to them like they are a client you must have. People want to be a part of something impactful, worthwhile, and revolutionary. Instead of focusing on recruiting or what you need, tell them about the company, why your product or service stands out, and the traction you are making. Build their excitement until they catch your vision then work out a deal. – Joseph Martin, Kinectify

2. CREATE COMPELLING, REWARDING ASSIGNMENTS.

Seek compelling and rewarding projects. Nearly all our work provides solutions for high complexity and high consequence systems. The better we do our job, the less anyone knows we were there.  Without our science-driven design, or were we to get it wrong, very costly and embarrassing outcomes can result. Our team thrives on that. – Scott Tait, Pacific Science & Engineering Group

3. ENABLE SUBSTANTIAL CAREER GROWTH.

Provide your employees with a growth path within your company. If your employees feel like they have room to increase responsibilities and evolve their position there will be less turnover. It is also important to promote from within the company, showing your team that hard work and dedication are rewarded. – Kelley Higney, Bug Bite Thing

4. SHOW RESPECT FOR PEOPLE AND THEIR TIME.

Legitimate involvement in the decision-making process, and a clear purpose. If you are unable to pay a premium for the labor, make sure that the labor is more than just labor. Respect people and their time, and make it clear that is your ethos from the very beginning. Talented people don’t always set out to make a fortune, but it will usually happen for them anyway. It doesn’t have to be dollars. – Wyatt Clouse,Rearden Consulting

5. FOSTER COHESIVE TEAM RELATIONS.

Close personal contact between executive teams and employees is more critical today. As leaders in today’s changing workplace, we have much to do to get the most out of our employees. We must be innovative and invest in their development and well-being while resisting the pressure to focus only on the bottom line. – Andreas Pettersson, Arcules

6. EMPOWER EMPLOYEE INPUT.

With movements like “The Great Resignation” and “quiet quitting,” it’s more important than ever for employers to create a healthy, flexible, and inclusive environment. Empower your employees to be heard by welcoming new ideas and allowing innovation to happen amongst teams. Stop being so focused on a hierarchy that compliancy to the chain of command jams innovative thinking across your team. –Matthew Tengwall, Verint Systems

7. ENCOURAGE COMPASSION, COLLABORATION, AND CRAFTSMANSHIP.

Build a culture of compassion, collaboration, and craftsmanship. If people are good to each other, work well together, and by doing so push each other to do better, it’s a recipe for great work and high employee satisfaction. – Beau Oyler, Enlisted Design

8. PROMOTE MORE INCLUSIVENESS.

The thing that is so important to people, particularly coming out of bad cultures, is that they have a voice and that they feel like they belong. That shows up in prioritizing engagement surveys, prioritizing development time, prioritizing their growth journey, and supporting them on it. Many companies can give you a role or a job but very few can develop critical thought and educate you on decision-making. – Michelle Hayward, Bluedog

9. DEMONSTRATE CHARITABLE ACTS OF KINDNESS.

Find ways of giving back, whether through charitable acts or dedication to environmental causes. Having a strong POV of giving back and caring is a differentiator to many job seekers and something that I have seen a growing interest in. –Christopher Tompkins, The Go! Agency

10. DEVELOP A COMPANY-WIDE INITIATIVE.

Create a massive transformative purpose (MTP) and align everyone to work on it. Thinking big will attract the right people and give them something inspirational to work for. Align everything around that purpose, get out of the way, and remove all obstacles for your talent to contribute to the success and milestones of your MTP. – Aaron Bare, Kin + Carta

11. SUPPORT WORK-LIFE BALANCE OPPORTUNITIES.

We offer a three-day work week and we are 100% remote. We also are very family friendly accepting babies on camera and toddlers in the background as part of the job. We want our team to feel comfortable incorporating the necessity of their busy life into the role of consultant. We recognize that it is enough to juggle quality client time and the planning time doesn’t need to add stress. – Kecia Ray, K20Connect

12. HIRE A PEOPLE-CENTERED RECRUITMENT TEAM.

We break down the success in this area into three equally important pieces. It starts with having a people-first culture to make our employees feel important for playing critical roles in the company’s development. Next, we create a solid external HR brand that communicates our progress and values to the world. Finally, having an incredible recruiting team is key because the first impression matters as much as everything else. – Andrei Kasyanau,Glorium Technologies

13. OFFER SUPERLATIVE BENEFIT PACKAGES.

There’s a saying that goes: “Different strokes for different folks.” Hence, there is no one size fits all remedy. An important question that I ask during the interviewing process is about what the candidate values the most. Examples often include work-life balance, working from home, childcare support, retirement pension fund, flexible working hours, and more. It is vital that we have many fringe benefits available that cater to their needs. –Royston G King, Royston G King Group & Companies