Winning the Talent Battle in a Competitive Market

Tyler Fisher, Director, Talent Acquisition, Hawx Smart Pest Control

Tyler Fisher, Director, Talent Acquisition, Hawx Smart Pest Control

A Candidate-First Strategy for Attracting Top Talent

The most effective strategy from my experience is simple, but not easy: focus on the candidate. Top candidates have options, and they know it. Top candidates are also likely (but not exclusively) already working which means they may not be actively applying to jobs. The hiring process has to be built around their motivations, their goals and their definition of growth. That means understanding what they want out of their career, communicating how the role aligns with that vision and creating a fast, competitive experience that reflects their value. When you make the process about winning the right candidate, not just filling the role, you free up your time to focus on finding the right quality; quality will come when you create a process that top quality candidates want to be a part of.

How to Hire Quickly without Sacrificing Quality

You can't always control how quickly the organization expects a role to be filled, but you can strategically approach the process of when you begin filling a position and think outside the box.  If you wait until a role is approved to begin recruiting, you are already behind. The most effective talent acquisition teams proactively build pipelines, network, nurture relationships and source talent before the hiring need becomes urgent. Strong partnerships with hiring managers are critical. By staying close to the business, you can anticipate upcoming needs and align early on success profiles, must-haves and timelines. That preparation allows you to move quickly once a role opens without sacrificing quality; ideally you have a roll “filled” before it’s ever even open.

Employer Branding Powers the Talent Pipeline

Employer branding acts as a catalyst in building a sustainable talent pipeline; it accelerates everything. When your brand clearly communicates your culture, expectations, growth opportunities and impact, it grabs a potential candidate's attention. In the job market today, there is a lot of noise, there are so many opportunities, so many companies and so many ads! Employer branding is what helps cut through that noise and attract a candidate to engage. For inbound applications, you don't get to choose who clicks apply, but with compelling employer branding you can increase your engagement and deepen your talent pool; with a deeper pool, it is much more likely to find the right quality talent.

“You can bring the right quality candidates in, but if the role itself burns candidates out, then even top-quality candidates will leave.”

Data Matters Only when It Drives Insight

Right now, I would say data is everything, but not because we suddenly have more dashboards. In many organizations, there is too much data. When everything is measured leaders get analysis paralysis and the core value of having the data in the first place is lost. Business leaders don't actually want data, they want to know what they should do as evidenced by the data. Data and analytics are transforming the way talent acquisition teams make hiring decisions when they take that data and make business impacting insights; the data itself is only as useful as the insights it provides. I see it all the time, an executive wants to measure a dozen different and equally important elements of hiring data, and usually wants to see it in real time, but once the executive has all of that data presented, they never have the time to review it. Executives think they want data, but what they really want is confidence that the data is in place, and that their top leaders are using that data to provide them with meaningful insights. Remember that the purpose of data and analytics is to answer the, “So what?”

Retention is a System, Not a Hiring Problem

The most common mistake I see when organizations are trying to reduce attrition and improve retention is to look at it as a singular issue of candidate quality. Retention is not a singular issue, and when treated as such it only creates a circular pattern of making tighter requirements, additional layers of candidate screening to the point that candidates, talent acquisition teams and leaders all become burned out, all while retention remains stagnant or even gets worse. Talent acquisition teams have to take ownership of retention by understanding the multifaceted elements that affect it including company culture, manager engagement, executive leadership, work life balance, performance expectations and so many more things. The best way to introduce this concept to business leaders is to bring data and avoid pointing fingers; everyone is on the same team and everyone has the same goal. You can bring the right quality candidates in, but if the role itself burns candidates out, then even top-quality candidates will leave. The only way to solve that issue is to acknowledge it with data and partner broadly, lean on HR, lean on business leaders, spearhead a group effort that will actually move the needle on retention.

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