Hiring exceptional talent is critical to your business success. Whether it’s the executive who offers visionary leadership, the manager who can quickly execute on business plans, or the sales professional who won’t settle for less than 100%, a business needs great people to thrive. And employers should always reach towards the goal to bring the best to their organization in any economic climate. Here’s a look at best practices for securing the top talent you need to drive business results.

As an employer, you should not be willing to settle for mediocre employees. You want the best talent performing at a high level in all areas of your organization. The fact is that the job market is currently robust, and finding and retaining talent is a priority for most companies today. Top talent will always be in demand, so it’s in your best interest to treat hiring as a year-round critical business process. Here are the three sequentially progressive steps of talent acquisition:

1. Planning Process
   1. Develop a strategy
   2. Conduct discovery and research
   3. Outline the hiring process
   4. Identify the stakeholders
   5. Create a written recruitment plan
2. Recruiting Process
   1. Identify the profile of the talent you want to source
   2. Engage talent using email, telephone, or mail
   3. Screen/interview talent
   4. Create a short list of qualified candidates
3. Selection Process
   1. Involve multiple stakeholders in interviewing and selling the short list of qualified candidates on your opportunity
   2. Perform pre-employment checks (work references, background, education, criminal, etc.)
   3. Negotiate the offer
   4. Schedule and begin onboarding

Top Five Tips for Attracting and Hiring Top Talent

1. Focus on your company’s brand as an employer of choice. Make sure your brand accurately reflects your reputation in the marketplace, your practices, and your benefits.

2. Treat hiring as a key business practice. There is no doubt that firms who take hiring talent seriously reap the benefits. Smart firms invest their time, talent, and profit in creating and maintaining a top-notch talent acquisition process.

3. Pay sign-on bonuses. The signing bonus is back and can be a real game-changer, showing that you value and want a potential new hire on board as part of your team.

4. Create a total rewards strategy. Employees are looking for much more than a paycheck and you must utilize cost- effective ways to differentiate your business.

5. Conduct a compensation study for market data. Your salaries, even for newly created positions, must be at market while also ensuring internal equity for exist- ing employees.

Conclusion

Developing an effective strategy for hiring and retaining key employees is imperative for your bottom line. The companies most effective at executing a plan are those with leaders who understand this is a business issue. You want your approach to result in a powerful competitive advantage because losing one or two key people can have a significant impact on your longevity and profitability.

About TriNet

TriNet serves as a trusted HR partner to small businesses to help contain costs, minimize employer-related risks, relieve administrative burden, and keep focus on core business functions. From routine employee benefits service and payroll processing to high-level human capital consulting, TriNet’s expertise is integrated with every facet of a client’s organization. Its solutions specialize in serving fast-moving companies in fields such as technology and professional services, who recognize that top-quality employees are the most critical competitive asset. For more information, visit www.trinet.com