In a highly competitive economy, it’s often difficult to attract and retain top talent. This is especially true in the ever-evolving tech industry. In a field that changes so quickly, it’s hard to find good workers who also have the necessary skills for the job.
When a talented candidate reaches your pool of applicants, you may need to convince them to join your company over a competitor’s. Below, 16 members of Forbes Technology Council share some strategies you can use to successfully snag top industry talent.
1. Lead With Your Mission
Lead with mission. Here in Palo Alto, we see so many tech startups and very few have considered a mission component to their company. When an enterprise has a very clear and measurable way of showing how the world is better because of its organization, it is a lot easier to attract and retain talent. – Stephen Dalby, Gabb Wireless Inc.
2. Create The Right Culture
Creating the right culture for an organization is the key to attracting, retaining and empowering employees. Company culture can be achieved by focusing on three core areas: cultivating community, celebrating individuality and embracing possibility. By prioritizing these behaviors, tech leaders can improve retention, drive recruitment and build an environment that fosters growth and innovation. – Mike Dickerson, ClickDimensions
3. Turn Your People Into ‘Superheroes’
Innovation requires diverse, top talent. To stay competitive and attract new hires, leaders must implement technologies that make jobs more dynamic and fulfilling, and allow for career growth. We invest in AI to make our people into “superheroes,” helping them augment their workflow and be better, faster and stronger at their jobs. They love how AI makes them more effective and they demand more. – Jeff Wong, EY
4. Show Them How They’re Part Of The Big Picture
It’s important to share your vision for growth and how critical new employees are to accomplishing that goal. Everyone wants to feel like they are doing valuable work, making a difference and that they are part of a bigger mission. With authentic conviction, share your company vision and how the job fits into that vision, and you will win the battle for the best candidates on the market. – Sanjeev Sularia, Intelligence Node
5. Demonstrate Your Commitment To Future-Proofing Your Work Environment
Tell them: Our work environment focuses on building employee skills to stay ahead of the game. We help you build your skills by providing you with the opportunity to juggle many digital skill sets at the same time. This allows you to think critically, do the data analysis and then perform the necessary coding to solve the problem. You learn to manage the whole process from start to finish. – Leonard Kleinman, RSA Security
6. Help Them Prepare For Their Next Job
With the industry-wide headcount shortage, most organizations are recruiting straight out of college. Most graduates understand that their first job should prepare them for their next job, so having an education and elevation plan in place to make them a more valuable asset is a great recruiting tool. It will also better the employee while they’re part of the company and may also breed loyalty. – Randy Watkins, CRITICALSTART
7. Align Your Culture With Success And Winning Together
The best companies not only have competitive pay and benefits, but also have a culture and focus aligned around helping clients succeed. People want to be a part of winning teams that are prioritized and add value, but also believe in the products and services. The best candidates seek teams designed to sustainably win together. – Jason Crabtree, QOMPLX, Inc.
8. Build Out Your Career Development Program
Lack of opportunity for career growth is a common reason good employees leave companies—and it’s key to attracting talent. If you don’t have a solid program in place, do it now. Step up in-house training, reimburse for outside training and offer practical training opportunities to use new skills for real-world tasks. Support creative thinkers and don’t hold them back with “stay in your lane” rules. – Anna Frazzetto, Harvey Nash
9. Focus On Candidates’ Specific Expertise
Every role needs an entrepreneur-minded person, so it’s time we pivot away from the notion of finding a candidate that checks every box. To find and retain top talent, leaders should play to candidates’ domain expertise and not encourage them to be something they’re not. Candidates will prioritize companies that let their talent shine and give them the opportunity to help grow the company. – Sudheesh Nair, ThoughtSpot
10. Find The Overlap Between Their Goals And Your Job Opening
One strategy I use is to get a good fit between their career growth goals and the role I am working to fill. If the job is one that I need filled and at the same time, meets the immediate career goals of the candidate, they will be more likely to choose to come. – Linda Apsley, capitalone.com
11. Show Them What You’re Working On
What gets people interested? Provide them with interesting work where they can show they know their field better than anyone else. So, actually show them the projects you’re working on. Can you offer that kind of unique experience? Then you don’t need to convince them. They’ll convince themselves. – Vaclav Vincalek, Future Infinitive
12. Help Bring Their Vision To Life
Any hire will always do their due diligence on the company’s culture before they accept a job. Breathe growth and focus on the potential hire’s aspirations—every person is a CEO in their own heart. Understanding their vision is important. There will always be competition; however, if what a potential hire wants from their professional life can coincide with the company’s goals, it’s a win. – Bhavna Juneja, Infinity, a Stamford Technology Company
13. Invest In Your Managers
The key to recruiting great people into your company is to have a great company. Invest in your managers with the right development and empowerment to create the right culture. As those managers recruit new talent, their authenticity will show through. – Steve Pao, Hillwork, LLC
14. Lay The Groundwork For Their Future
The new hires are most concerned about their future, both within and out of your company. The employers need to appeal to this concern. Ensure that they will be working and learning not only for the present moment and position, but also laying down the grounds for the future too. The more you are going to give, the more comfortable your potential hires will be with choosing you. – Daria Leshchenko, SupportYourApp Inc.
15. Demonstrate A Cultural Alignment
High salaries, good benefits and many perks are all great at attracting talent, but none are as good as company culture. What is the point of making 10-20% above market if you hate coming into work every day? Being surrounded by like-minded people that respect, encourage and motivate you is far more valuable than anything else a company can offer. – Abishek Surana Rajendra, Course Hero
16. Make Your Best Offer Up Front
For candidates, the right job is about more than just good pay. There’s the work schedule, remote work possibilities, health benefits, training budgets, wellness programs and more. Present your offer up front and avoid getting ghosted for someone else. Without it, they might never come back to you and you’ll have lost out on a great candidate. – Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
