In a globalized economy with the ability to work remotely, the game for hiring and attracting top talent has changed. While companies can seek top-tier workers from across the planet, engaging and enticing employees is now more than just offering a higher salary. Changing trends in the workforce, demographics, the thirst for opportunities, flexibility, perks, and other factors make hiring more arduous than at any other time in modern history.

Employers that struggle to attract and retain top talent aren’t in the minority. It’s a constant battle that requires modernized, streamlined solutions. So in this critical juncture in the workaday world, what are you doing to get the best workers possible?

If you’re scuffling with ways to find the best talent among jobseekers, use these tips and steps to broaden your candidate pool and discover the best person for the job.

Why Is Attracting Top Talent So Important?

The concept of attracting top talent seems obvious. Attract the best people and you’ll get the best results. However, the idea goes beyond that.

You’re not just hiring the best person for the job. You’re hiring a person who will thrive within your company. This isn’t necessarily the person with the best grades or the most impressive resume. It’s simply the right talent for the job.

This is the person that exudes confidence and the one who comes to work every day ready to go above and beyond expectations. Think of them as the Golden Goose — the person who lays a golden egg every time they’re on the job — or at least proverbially.

Attracting top talent can also provide a number of benefits to your organization, such as:

• Gaining a competitive advantage
• Reducing the costs associated with unhappy employees, low morale, heavy turnover, and retaining employees
• Increasing worker satisfaction
• Creating a buzz among networks that may help you attract new employees in the future
• Improving your recruitment process and recruitment strategy for the long run
• Refining your employer brand
• Boosting productivity and profitability
• Enhancing your company culture

Attracting top talent may also provide a number of other unique or exclusive benefits for your specific industry or company — regardless of size. The next step is to figure out how to do it.

6 Ways for Attracting Top Talent

In the past, offering job security and adequate compensation were the two basic principles of getting the hardest-working people for the job. While these are still important today, they’ve taken a backseat to other parts of your recruiting process. By implementing a few of these tips and ideas, you have a far better chance of landing the employee(s) that you’ve always wanted.

1. Start at the Source

Once people are out in the workforce, they expand their networks, learn more about salaries and incentives, and are thus more likely to jump ship for greener pastures. That’s why a solid recruiting process should start from the source of many great employees — through campus recruiting.

This isn’t to say that you can provide a lowball offer. College students near still have access to job boards, information on the job market, and other metrics to help them decide if you’re providing adequate compensation.

Campus recruiting provides you with the initial opportunity to find the best candidates before they hit the open job market. It’s an opportunity to wow them with your career development opportunities, employee value proposition (also known as EVP that includes perks, pay, benefits, etc.), and the immediate chance to become a contributor to your team.

If you haven’t implemented a campus recruiting process, now is the time.

2. Utilize and Understand the Six Levels of Unicorn Teams

Building a strong team is a lot like free agency in pro sports. You may have the money to throw at top talent, but that’s no guarantee that you’re on the path to success. People have different ways of thinking and working, as well as differing personalities. Sometimes, it’s not enough to simply hire the best talent. Again, it’s about finding the right talent.

That’s why you need to consider our very own concept: the six levels of unicorn teams. The idea behind the six levels of unicorn teams is to foster a culture that embraces teamwork and builds a top-performing team from the ground up, attracting top talent along the way by word of mouth or reputation.

The six levels of unicorn teams include:

• Psychological safety: An employee’s perception of the ability to speak up, feel vulnerable, and take risks is tantamount to success. If you give them the opportunity to feel safe, they’re more comfortable in their work and perform better.
• Empowerment: Clarity and transparency are two responsibilities of management. Through these ideas, each team member understands their role and requirements, which can lead to empowerment. When your workers feel empowered, they’re on the career path to becoming the best employees possible.
• Embracing conflict: Embracing conflict may sound counterintuitive, but the existing staff and new hires who consistently challenge each other, disagree on certain topics, and ask questions tend to be more productive and collaborative.
• Creating a culture of leadership: Leadership shouldn’t exist solely at the top of an organization. Cultural leadership empowers each person to make decisions that benefit the rest of their team and organization. By giving people more freedom to make choices, they feel more valued and employee engagement increases — one of the most important aspects of attracting top talent.
• Making an impact: Creating a system where each person’s input feels valued is one thing. But crafting a system where a person genuinely feels like they’re making an impact is another. It contributes to motivation and productivity, all while improving the well-being of employees and the overall employee experience.
• Crafting an all-encompassing vision: The future is now. When you create a vision for the company, people feel like they’re a part of something. In today’s job market, this is the little something extra that potential employees and prospective employees need. It’s more than compensation or perks. It’s being part of a cohesive team.

3. Leverage Social Media

If you want to fill a new job, you’ll certainly turn to job posting platforms. However, a short paragraph about your company doesn’t necessarily instill what you’re all about to job candidates.

Fortunately, social media platforms are the ace up your sleeve. On social media, you can showcase testimonials, events, your dedication to remote work, or anything else that sets your company apart on top of your job descriptions and postings. Amid the Great Resignation, qualified candidates from the Millennial generation and Gen Z become far more interested. And thus, you’ve broadened your talent pool, all while advertising what makes your company a cut above the rest.

4. Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity

Diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) are three of the more modern notions in talent acquisition, but the idea is simple. If you have a diverse workforce, make everyone feel included, and pay similarly for the same job across different demographics, you’re a fair employer.

That fairness translates into a reputation that you’re a forward-thinking, progressive employer. The value of that is almost indescribable — it intrigues, excites, and helps you in your quest for attracting top talent.

5. Improve Your Hiring Experience

Whether human resources finds candidates, you have a specific hiring manager for the job, or you do the hiring yourself, attracting top talent is all about creating a one-of-a-kind experience. This doesn’t necessarily equate to speed boats and supermodels during the interview process, but you can do a few things to make the experience more memorable.

Offering virtual interviewing and flexibility in the hiring process can help potential candidates work around their schedule while offering virtual events for them to attend pre-interview or doing the onboarding process can entice them either further. Where other companies are all the same, be different.

6. Make a Job Offer Quickly

Just because someone has loads of experience and a great education doesn’t mean that they’re hurting for work — especially if they’re at a company they don’t believe in. As a result, attracting top talent dictates that you should extend your job offer quickly.

For a job candidate, nothing is worse than sending numerous follow-up messages just to get a yea or nay. It’s stressful, it’s taxing, and it’s overwhelming. Whether you like a candidate or not, make sure that you send a swift job offer or rejection letter — out of respect just as much as the hiring process.

Stay on Top of Your Plan for Attracting Top Talent

Attracting top talent is a dynamic concept. As time goes by, the trends surrounding the hiring process will continue to evolve. You can’t merely create a plan for drawing in the best workers — you need a one-two punch of constant tweaking and an employee retention plan.

By frequently updating your hiring procedures and policies and retaining the top talent among your current employees, you create a system that should alleviate the fear and uncertainty that goes hand-in-hand with losing the people who make your company successful and profitable. Invest in your people from the start, put a premium on job satisfaction, and let the floodgates open for the best possible workers for your organization.

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