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Hiring & retaining top talent

Hiring Top Talent

When you are recruiting talent for an open position, whether it’s new to the organization or you are replacing a former employee, where does your recruitment strategy end? Is it the day the candidate accepts the position? The day he or she begins employment? For all intents and purposes, recruitment would end at the time the new talent is acquired; however, is this truly the best recruitment strategy? I’d contend that you could experience two versions of the same hire. One version, less successful, by abandoning this new hire on the day of employment, and a second version, more successful and poised for internal growth, by instituting an onboarding program that begins at discovery and continues to engage your new hire in his or her role in the company.

Let’s say you played by all of our talent acquisition rules. You properly benchmarked a job, enlisting the aid of subject matter experts who were able to identify the position’s key accountabilities and complete a job report for which to screen candidates. All qualified candidates took talent reports, and when placed up against the benchmark, those who were deemed a match were called in for rounds of interviews. You used the suggested interview questions to get to know each of the qualified candidates with the behaviors, motivators and soft skills necessary to excel at the job. In the end, you weighed all of the information you had gathered throughout the process, and you offered the position to the candidate best suited for the job.

Without question, the best possible candidate has been recruited for your open position. But without a plan for your new employee’s first year, how can you ensure his or her success and make the most of your new employee’s talents for your organization? This plan may include a job related development binder that details all objectives and expectations for the employee, thus reducing confusion about essential job functions. It may also include determining what skills are most critical for the employee’s success, and then providing formal training with clearly communicated expectations and benchmarks. Other elements of a recruitment plan that are less formal but essential are simply ensuring that the employee’s workstation is ready; that all HR paperwork is delivered and filed properly; scheduling meetings with key company representatives and peers; creating opportunities to better understand the culture of the organization; and holding monthly one-on-one check-in meetings to maintain focus and adjust priorities as needed.
This is where you can experience two versions of the same hire.

The same candidate with those benchmarked behaviors, motivators and soft skills will not be as successful in your organization as the one who has the opportunity to engage in your company’s onboarding program. If you’re ready to launch a comprehensive recruitment and retention strategy with a solid onboarding program, contact Pinnacle Group International.