Tips For Hiring Top Talent in a Candidate Shortage

Has your firm recently run into trouble finding the right talent for your team? You’re not alone. There’s a very real labor shortage right now, even in corporate environments. Much has changed in the working world since 2020, and the effects are felt strongly in the workplace – and will be for some time.

Indeed, employment in America is undergoing a shift that will forever modify the way we work and find work. Though this challenge will necessitate changes for your organization, there are ways to ensure the people you bring on board are still top-tier and a great fit.

Here is a closer look at some tips for finding, recruiting, and retaining top-level talent in 2023 and beyond.

Be Clear About Who You Are

High-quality talent looks for a high-quality organization. Your online properties, including your website, social channels, reputation aggregators, and job postings, are the first things any candidate will encounter in their search.

Before reaching out or being recruited, a candidate has already built an idea of who you are, what you do, and how you go about doing it. It is vital to represent your organization in a way that excites and encourages the talent you seek.

Are you a thought leader with excellent blog content and relevant social posts, or do you need to redouble your efforts in building and maintaining your online image? Investing time and employee power in being clear and building excitement about your workplace is well worthwhile.

Make Your Ideal Candidate Clear & Specific

Your talent search begins with a clear internal need for skills, education, and experience. Translating that need to a requisition and a job posting—or to a profile for an agency—shouldn’t compromise who your team is really looking for.

Generic or boilerplate requirements don’t speak to top talent. Your best candidates know who they are and what they’re looking for in their career, and they want to see themselves in a job description, not just anyone in their field. Be detailed about duties, productivity software, years of experience, and certifications.

A smaller number of very high-quality candidates is better than many who won’t make it past an initial phone screen. Being clear and specific saves your people time and frustration and makes your search more efficient.

Provide Better-Than-Competitive Salary, Benefits, & Flexibility

One of the most important – if not the most important way to attract top talent – is simply to offer the best possible compensation package. Compensation has become increasingly competitive due to shortages, and you’ll have to keep up if you want the people who are going to drive your organization forward. There’s more, however, than just salary to consider:

• Base Salary: More money can be the deciding factor when candidates have multiple job offers or opportunities, but usually, there’s a standard range organizations work within. While moving the needle to the top of this range helps, other benefits will likely tip the scale.
• Generous PTO: There’s a strong trend in professional environments on providing many days of (or even unlimited) PTO. Personal flexibility is very important to those with kids, aging parents, and working spouses. Not worrying about taking sick time or being penalized is a strong incentive to choose your organization over others.
• Flexible Hours/Work Location: Remote and flex work is now more the norm than the exception. Not providing flexible work options will severely limit your candidate pool and probably sabotage your ability to find the optimal talent. Your salaried employees may want to work a slightly different schedule than others—say 8-4 or 10-6—and within reason, offering that choice is a great perk for a job searcher. It shows your company is willing to do more to accommodate different work and lifestyles.
• Great Benefits: Health insurance has long been a deciding factor for professionals with families or medical conditions. Providing partially or fully company-paid health coverage is still a strong selling point, especially for younger people. Generous 401(k) matching and other investment opportunities will speak to older candidates.

Sell Your Company Culture

Finally, when it comes to interviews and connection with the talent you’re seeking, it’s vital to make good on the image you’ve built online, in your desired candidate profiles, and over the phone.

If you’ve taken the steps above, the professional your organization truly needs should be the one speaking to your people—and if your people believe in what you’ve created, your search for hiring and keeping top talent should be ending soon.

Work With Oggi Talent

Oggi understands what it takes to find the right talent, taking time to understand your organization and its goals before providing a winning solution. Whether in need of a short-term, long-term, or permanent solution, we are here to help you attain and retain the talent you need, even in a candidate shortage.

Contact us today to start on the path to finding and keeping top talent for 2023 and beyond!