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Recruiting the best staff

Below are some tips for employers on how to go about this often arduous task.



Improve your

candidate pool

Companies that select new employees from the candidates who walk in their door or answer an ad in the paper or online, are missing the best candidates. They're usually working for someone else and they may not even be looking for a new position.



Hire the 'sure thing'

The authors of The Human Capital Edge, are convinced that you should hire a person who has done this “exact job, in this exact industry, in this particular business climate, from a company with a very similar culture”.

They believe that “past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour” and suggest that this is the strategy that will enable you to hire winners. They say that you must hire the candidates whom you believe can hit the ground running in your company. You can't afford the time to train a possibly successful candidate.



First look at in-house

candidates

Providing promotional and lateral opportunities for current employees positively boosts morale and makes your current staff members feel their talents, capabilities, and accomplishments are appreciated. Always post positions internally first.

Give potential candidates an interview. It's a chance for you to know them better. They learn more about the goals and needs of the organisation. Sometimes, a good fit is found between your needs and theirs.



Be known as a

great employer

The Human Capital Edge authors make a strong case for not just being a great employer but letting people know that you are a great employer. This is how you build your reputation and your company brand. You'll want the best prospects seeking you out because they respect and want to work for your brand. Google, who frequently tops Fortune's best companies list, for example, receives around three million applications a year.

Take a look at your employee practices for retention, motivation, accountability, reward, recognition, flexibility in work-life balance, promotion, and involvement. These are your key areas for becoming an employer of choice.

You want your employees bragging that your organisation is a great place to work. People will believe the employees before they believe the corporate literature.



Pay better than

your competition

Yes, you do get what you pay for in the job market. Survey your local job market and take a hard look at the compensation people in your industry attract. You want to pay better than average to attract and keep the best candidates. Seems obvious, doesn't it?

Listen to employers every day who talk about how to get employees cheaply. It's a bad practice. Sure, you can luck out and attract a person who has golden handcuffs because they are following their spouse to a new community or need your benefits.



Use your benefits

to your advantage

Keep your benefits above industry standard and add new benefits as you can afford them. You also need to educate employees about the cost and value of their benefits so they appreciate how well you are looking out for their needs.

Employees treasure the flexibility and the opportunity to balance work with other life ­responsibilities, interests, and issues. You can't be an employer of choice without a good benefits package that includes standard benefits such as medical insurance and retirement.

Employees are increasingly looking for cafeteria-style benefits plans in which they can balance their choices with those of a working spouse or partner. The authors of The Human Capital Edge recommend stock and ownership opportunities for every level of employees in your organisation. Consider profit-sharing plans and bonuses that pay the employee for measurable achievements and contributions.