How to attract amazing employees

It's no secret that attracting top talent to your company is essential to maintaining a competitive edge. After all, employees are the backbone of any company and your business’s success will be determined, to some extent, by the strength of the team that works in it.

But what does it take to really attract the best and brightest?

Here are our top tips for attracting amazing employees.

1.   Define "amazing" for you

First of all, you need to decide what makes an employee “amazing”. This will be different depending on your company and the role that you are looking to fill. But, regardless of the skills required for the job, the qualities that separate out an average employee from an amazing one are the soft skills that individuals embody.

For you, an amazing employee may be one who possesses a great work ethic or a positive attitude. Alternatively, your company may value efficiency more than anything else. For other roles, it could be the ability to communicate well with others, build relationships, and resolve conflict.

Whatever it is, define what makes an amazing employee first, and include it in the job description.

2.   Make your company a great place to work

This should be the foundation of everything that follows. It is not something that you can fabricate either. Employees will soon find out if your company is a bad one to work for and will vote with their feet.

If you want to attract and, importantly, retain the most amazing people then be an amazing company to work for. A key part to developing a positive working environment is to ensure that you are recognising and valuing the contributions of your staff. People always want their hard work recognised.

This can be done through a Reward and Recognition program that connects all of your team, whether working in the office or remotely. A Reward and Recognition Program is an app that allows you to message your whole team, highlighting the achievements of those within your organisation. It allows you to give rewards, such as extra holidays or vouchers, to those making exceptional contributions. It can go a long way to ensuring that everyone feels valued.

3.   Create a strong employer brand

An employer brand is the image and reputation of a company as an employer. It's how potential employees perceive your company as a place to work, and it heavily influences their decision to apply for a job. A strong employer brand can help you attract top talent and improve employee retention.

So how do you create a strong employer brand? Here are some tips:

1. Define what makes your company a great place to work. What are your core values? What sets you apart from other employers? Really think about what makes your company culture unique and appealing.

2. Communicate your employer brand across all channels. Your website, social media, job postings, and even the way you answer the phone should all reflect your company's image as an employer.

3. Get employees involved in promoting your employer's brand. They could post images from team building days or promote your latest employee reward.

4.   Offer competitive benefits

More and more businesses are offering competitive employee benefits packages as a way to attract top talent. An employee benefits program can offer many different types of benefits, from private medical insurance and retail discounts to recognition programs and tech benefits. By offering these types of benefits, businesses are able to attract and retain the best employees.

Offering competitive employee benefits is a great way to show your employees that you value their contributions to the company. A well-designed employee benefits program can help improve morale and increase productivity. It can also help you attract and retain the best employees.

5.   Create chances for personal development

People thrive when they know they have options. Create an environment that encourages personal development.

Here are a few ways you can do this in your company:

1. Conduct employee reviews where they can talk to their line manager about their goals and what you'd like to achieve. You may find they are able to take on more responsibility or work on projects you didn’t expect they’d be interested in.

2. Provide training and development programs, such as Lifestyle Savings and Learning Programs. These can help them learn new skills and progress in their career.

3. Help them stay up-to-date with industry trends and developments. Subscribe to your industry magazine and make this available to your team. This will not only make them more knowledgeable, but your company will benefit from them applying their insights.

6.   Market your company well

Once you have the foundations in place - a great working environment, enriching employee benefits and the chance to progress within the company - you need to develop a marketing strategy for your company.

A simple strategy for this is to have your marketing team (or agency if you outsource this), create a landing page on your website specifically for new talent. A landing page is a page dedicated to one specific goal - in this case, generating prospective employees.

You can populate this page with information about your company’s ethos and values, employee benefits, development opportunities and prospects. Including videos from existing employees or a promotional video is a great way to show the inner workings of your company.

This page can be used as a tool in your marketing strategy. You can link to it from jobs boards, such as Indeed.com, or from Pay-Per-Click ads you use to advertise your vacancies online.

Be amazing!

In conclusion, if you want to attract amazing staff, you need to provide an environment that is conducive to generating great work. You also need to offer competitive salaries and benefits and the chance to progress. Finally, you need to show your appreciation for your employees through recognition and praise. If your company is genuinely amazing to work for, then you will find amazing employees.