ATTRACTING TALENT – GETTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE FOR YOUR COMPANY

By Alice Muigai

Attracting talent is one of the major contributors to successful business. Indeed, getting the right people on board can give your company a huge boost. In essence, finding the right staff and identifying real leaders is arguably just as important as sales generation and marketing. It allowing the business leader to create a solid foundation from which to build long term success. However, the process behind talent acquisition can be a daunting task.  Without a carefully planned strategy, you can easily end up with the wrong fit – either for a particular position or your company culture as a whole.

That’s not to say that you should be deterred.  There are plenty of ways you can improve existing talent acquisition processes and draw up solid strategiesto help your company grow.  In this article, we take a comprehensive look at how your company can attract the best talent and get the right people on your payroll, with a particular focus on current trends in the Kenyan market.

Offer stability, belief and career growth 

Attracting top talent is done by communicating what all employees want in a new job— clarity of vision and mission.  It also entails working with employees who share the conviction that what the company is doing matters. They also need to know that new experiences and career development are always available. Employers, through recruitment firms, should find ways to authentically express these elements with regular corporate activities, robust career pages, and personal communications from the directors and managers.

Firms with strong positive reputations attract and recruit better people. They are perceived as providers of more value, which often creates fierce competition among job applicants.

Be flexible and unique 

We are shifting into an era where the traditional office environment and compensation models are no longer as appealing as they used to be.   Employers should therefore show candidates that they value work/life balance and individuality. Whether by offering the option to work from home for a few days or allowing employees freedom to move in an open office environment, flexibility and trust are key.

In this case, virtual human resources can play big part in giving employees room to conduct their daily work activities without feeling smothered.

Use your employees as brand ambassadors 

Corporate staffing aims to significantly impact your ability to attract top talent by creating talent ambassadors and reaching out to high potential candidates. Brand ambassadors can be extremely valuable in any setting. When they are also employees who show a real commitment to brand loyalty, they can ensure your company has an authentic voice that speaks to company culture. With the high rate of competition for jobs, employers view the best candidates as people who will fit into the company culture.

Recruitment agencies in Kenya can help you build brand ambassadors through LinkedIn profiles. They can also get you people who will promote your brand and create positive awareness in many other ways.

Know your employer’s value proposition 

An organization looking to stand out from competitors when seeking to attract top talent must be able to articulate and share how the employee value proposition is lived every day, along with the vision and mission of the organization. Just as an organization has a brand for the external market, there needs to be an employee brand that can effectively communicate the employee experience.

Companies hiring in Nairobi are now looking to brand their employees. This raises the standards of performance and creates healthy competition within the organization. In turn, when conducting employee satisfaction surveys, the likelihood of a higher positive outcome increases.

Know your target audience

Recruiting is selling. Identify your target audience and understand your organization’s selling points. What do you have to offer, and who would benefit from that? With these details, you can place your company’s brand in the centre of your target audience. Advertise your organization’s culture, and echo your talent’s needs, skills, and attitudes as it relates to your brand.

If a certain company’s services are popular, an informed candidate will be able to echo its needs without having rigorous training when going through the probation period.

Understand the entire candidate’s experience and lifecycle 

Your organization’s reputation permeates candidate decisions. The candidates’ experience is a continuum that begins before they contemplate about taking up a role with your organization (brand awareness) and extends well beyond the time they may leave. To position yourself in the market better and have the greatest impact, companies need to liaise with recruitment firms in order to give candidates the best job experience.

Understanding and improving the candidates’ lifecycle ensures that they are happy to join your team and retain good memories after they leave. These experiences can be passed on to potential candidates in the future.

Put Your People First 

When firms truly care for their employees, they’ll care for one another, the customers, and the community. Go beyond amazing benefits. Foster a workplace that thrives on trust and respect for all individuals — and protect that culture every day. Word will get out. Your people will talk, and they’ll refer like-minded, talented people who believe in your culture and your mission.

Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin Atlantic, concurs by saying:  “ If the person who works at your company is 100 percent proud of the brand and you give them the tools to do a good job and they are treated well; they are  going to be happy.”

When conducting employee satisfaction surveys, firms aim to learn about their strong and weak points. This trickles down to sourcing for the right recruitment agencies to get you the best employees.

Identify and articulate your purpose 

Companies with purpose attract and retain better talent. Finding out your “why” translates into your unique value proposition to candidates (and employees). This is not a marketing statement, a mission (where you are going) or vision (where you would like to be). Purpose defines why you do what you do, which in turn, motivates candidates to your team.

The “why” is the drive for every organization’s better performance and the employee’s career growth as it is the purpose or belief used by both. For example, expatriates intending to move to Kenya need a good reason as to why they would seek employment with your organization. Such expatriates will therefore approach the top recruitment agencies in Kenya for guidance on how easily they can secure a job in the local market or relocate and settle in the country for the period they will be employed.

Does your company have good relocation procedures? What are some of the attractive benefits that you offer? Does your company have room for career growth?

Use social media to your advantage 

With social media, organizations now have an opportunity to be more visible than ever before. Candidates are doing their research prior to accepting interviews. They want to know what your current employees are saying about you. Brand your page with more employee-related events. Take control of your company’s image and become a people-focused employer and you will automatically attract top talent.

Human resource companies in Kenya are using technology to their advantage, ensuring that their websites give candidates the information they need to know about a company before applying for the advertised jobs that match their profile.

Invest in education 

High-performing people see learning opportunities as an integral component of workplace engagement. Smart employers must develop engaging new experiences for their top talent. Tailoring learning initiatives to career exploration and growth can make employees feel personally valued.  This increases their loyalty if other firms come calling.

Human resource management in most organizations can adopt the e-learning portal model to ensure that their employees get the opportunity to develop career wise.

Validate your talent acquisition strategy 

Before recruiting, organizations should validate that their talent acquisition strategy is designed to attract the right talent. Recruitment firms must ensure that their talent pipeline is well stocked by seeking out qualified people, nurturing relationships, and convincing them to bring their unique skills to your company. A great way to do that is to get input from the high performing employees about what attracted them to the organization and the roles they are playing.

A streamlined talent acquisition strategy should also ensure that your hiring process is not a barrier to making timely hiring decisions; otherwise, applicants will lose interest.

Be authentic 

Brands no longer have an option other than representing themselves honestly and transparently. Authenticity is crucial to continued loyalty from candidates.

Humans are emotionally driven and crave the security of knowing there is an underlying foundation of mutual respect, honesty and trust between them and the establishments they associate with.

Don’t put on a show in order to attract a candidate. It’s critical for the candidate to know exactly what he or she is walking into and can make a smart decision about the future. The only way to know if it is a suitable opportunity is for both parties to have open eyes and clarity.

Conclusion

These core elements are designed to guide your company towards a more robust talent acquisition strategy.  However, creating and implementing these measures takes time and effort. Companies seeking help in building better talent acquisition strategies in Kenya should contact Flexi Personnel for more information. Our team will be on hand to guide you and your company using a broad range of tried and tested recruitment services that will ensure that you end up with the best talent that is also the right fit for your company.