By Paul Slezak, Director – Aquent Hong Kong

Over the last few years I have been fortunate enough to be invited to speak on quite a few occasions on the subject of talent sourcing and candidate attraction. I have presented to audiences across the full spectrum of the workforce – from the pharmaceutical sector, to the advertising and design community, and (of course being most familiar to me) the recruitment industry.

The first slide in my presentation contains the words “who we are and how we got here”. At this point I know what is going through people’s minds … something along the lines of here comes some form of philosophical theory of evolution!

I then pause for a few seconds before asking the audience two questions …

Who here previously worked in a totally unrelated field before joining the industry they enjoy working in today?

The response here is fairly immediate, and depending on the nature of the audience approximately 20% - 25% raise a hand.

As my second question is of a more personal nature I preface it by stressing to the audience that if they are not comfortable raising their hand they should still think about their answer …

Who here previously earned a higher salary and accepted their current position for reasons beyond purely the salary package?

I am surprised just how quickly people raise their hand here – often without even looking around the room to see how their friends, colleagues or industry associates may have reacted.

Whilst you too may be wondering what these introductory questions have to do with candidate attraction, I ask you (the reading audience) to keep them in mind and I hope by the end of this article I will have provided you with some answers.

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In a previous article I addressed the subject of the interview process and the importance of having a clearly defined recruitment methodology. However before you can put candidates through such a process you need to find and attract the candidates that will eventually make up your shortlist.

The ability to retain top talent is one of the keys to any business’ success. And yet, while companies with a proven staff retention record certainly have a competitive advantage, candidate attraction still remains one of the greatest challenges faced by such organisations every day. While it is also a well known fact that losing top performers from your team (for whatever reason) will have a significant impact on your team’s morale and overall productivity, actually attracting (and ultimately hiring) the wrong people in to your business will have the same result.

So where are all the best talent hiding? And how are you going to woo them to your organisation?

Before these questions can be answered, it is important to understand that you must be prepared to invest in the talent attraction process and to believe in the need to cast the net out wide. Don’t just try to find people with a certain skill set or a specific level of industry experience. The real key lies in finding people who share the same goals, values, vision, culture and work ethic as your company. And believe it or not they may currently be working in a totally unrelated field.

Ask yourself what makes your company different from others? What is unique about your culture? More importantly what is the perception and reputation of your brand (and organisation) in the market place?

What is your brand promise?

Regardless of how you or your hiring or line managers portray your business and sell it during the interview process, candidates will all have preconceived ideas about what your company stands for before they even apply. So it is therefore crucial that your brand helps to attract the top talent you want!

There has to be consistency with the reputation you have built and the culture that has been instilled in your organisation so that your company message is clear to your target audience. You then need to ensure that your reputation is not only represented through all your recruitment advertising, branding and PR, but is also embraced by your current staff whenever they interact with their clients, suppliers or any potential new hires.

Now I am certainly not denying that financial compensation isn’t important to anyone making a job or career related decision. However it is a known fact that in today’s highly pressured and fast paced society where many of us are expected to do twice as much in half the time, ones actual salary is often ranked much lower in the overall scheme of things by many job seekers in comparison to achieving job satisfaction and a better work-life balance.

For most people evaluating whether or not to accept a new job it is never really just about the money. In a market where the demand for top talent is rapidly outstripping the supply, whilst offering “killer salaries” may seem like the best method for attracting the best candidates, this common misconception, however, couldn’t be further from the truth.

The ability to demonstrate to potential candidates that your organisation can offer real careers will help you attract your future top performers. This is all part of your brand promise as are the many non-financial benefits highly sought after by top talent today, including flexible working hours, the ability to work remotely, on-site child care facilities (especially for mothers wanting to return to work), employee wellness programmes, memberships, additional annual leave, or even access to company holiday homes!

Be prepared to implement multi-channel sourcing strategies, and to go beyond the traditional candidate attraction routes of print and web-based job postings. Remember the passive job seekers … those potentially top level candidates who are happy in their current jobs, and who are not actively applying to advertised roles. How can you tap in to that talent pool and lure them in your direction?

Are you familiar with the concept of Search Engine Optimisation? This means that your company web site is linked directly to key words, topics or search criteria that passive job seekers may use when searching for information through google or yahoo while surfing the web, browsing through industry related sites or simply accessing relevant on-line articles. This will help you maximise your exposure (at least in the on-line space) so that talent become familiar with your brand even when you are not specifically advertising for positions within your business.

When it comes to implementing targeted recruitment advertising campaigns (either print or on-line) it is important to define key success criteria. What specific skills, experience, knowledge, work values and competencies are critical in order for a candidate to successfully achieve (both personally and professionally) in the role? By making these performance objectives clear from the outset, potential candidates will know that they will be assessed against these factors – and will apply accordingly only if they know they stand a chance.

Never settle for second best. Even if you have had a vacancy open for a while, don’t just agree to interview someone because nothing better has presented itself. Talent sourcing and candidate attraction is not a one-off event – it is an ongoing process. Attracting the right people will not happen simply as a result of coming up with a finely tuned strategy … it will only happen if this strategy is continually implemented.