Quality talent has a remarkable impact on an organization’s bottom line and brand equity. Companies that employ the right talent can increase their productivity manifolds and develop new competitive advantages over their peers.  

While training and developing talent for specific roles and productivity enhancement is feasible, the quality of your starting talent matters a lot. That is why attracting and retaining the right talent remains an important strategic focus for organizations worldwide. This piece will discuss different strategies for attracting and retaining talent.

Attracting Right Talent

In a study with top executives of Fortune 500 companies, it was found that only 18% of them believed that their companies hired high-quality talent. As talent shortage is becoming increasingly acute post-COVID 19, sustainable strategies need to be developed to attract the right talent. 

The following measures can be effective:

Automating Recruitment Process

Even though quality talent is scarce, recruiters have a hard time identifying the right talent from the pool of applicants. With the help of  talent management platforms, quality talent can be identified in the early stages of the recruitment process.

Automation can:

• Reduce the time and effort involved in candidate screening
• Make the selection process unbiased and increasingly transparent
• Ensure timely follow-ups and nurture candidates through multiple stages of the process
• Create a pipeline for current and future talent requirements
• Make the talent acquisition process data-driven and objective

Promoting Diversity

About 80% of talent executives feel diverse hiring is a top recruitment trend in 2022. The right talent can come from any background and thrives in diverse workspaces. Therefore, organizations benefit by developing recruitment practices that favor diversity and have a more open talent acquisition approach.

By establishing standardized procedures for candidate tracking, using better metrics for candidate selection, and internalizing bias sensitization, high-quality and diverse talent can be sourced. Furthermore, organizations that claim to be doing it attract the interest of high-performing talent.

Designing Packages Beyond CTC

High-quality talent comes at a higher cost and is usually aware of its market value. However, to attract the right talent, employee value offered by the recruiting organizations have to go beyond the CTC. 

Talented individuals apply to opportunities that offer scope for accelerated growth, learning, and ownership. At the same time, there must be ample monetary incentive for the right talent to apply.

Investing In Employer Branding

The employer brand has a massive impact on the recruitment process. To attract quality talent, organizations need to invest in employer branding on social media and use culture as a competitive advantage.

By effectively representing why an organization is a great place to work, talent managers can attract the interest of top talent within their industry.

Retaining High-Performance Talent

Offering Responsive Benefits

High-quality talent, once acquired, is not guaranteed to stay in the work environment is deficient in any way. Employers that can offer flexible and responsive benefits can retain their top talent. For instance, studies show that 87% of executives prefer to work remotely or have a hybrid work setup.

Organizations that can offer this benefit are seeing lesser attrition.

Similarly, benefits like stock options, sponsored training, and development, customizable leaves, etc., that are offered based on employee expectations can retain the right talent more successfully. 

Promoting Employee Wellness

Personal health, mindfulness, mental health awareness, and an increased focus on wellness amongst employees are indicators of what companies need to do to retain talent. High-performance individuals are more susceptible to anxiety, burn-out, and declining health.

Employers should increase their focus on employee wellness with specialized programs, healthcare benefits, and empathetic leave policies. Furthermore, promoting such initiatives internally and socially can help employers retain their best talent.

Final Thoughts

High-performance talent can be 8 to 12 times more productive than average talent, especially in complex roles and jobs. If such talent exists within the system, it becomes essential to retrain them, but if it is missing, the organization must work towards attracting it.

With these employee-centric measures, companies can improve their net productivity by attracting and retaining the right talent.

To read more exciting content and learn about the changing talent landscape, visit the Cogent Info website. 

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