Don’t miss that great candidate, here is the key to hiring your target talent.

You’re ready to hire. What’s one of the first things you should do? Dust off the job description? Get the word out? Those are necessary steps, however, companies with the most success acquiring the best talent matches for their candidate profile know there’s another area of focus that sets them apart. That is, defining their unique candidate value proposition.

You should know the responsibilities for the role and the competencies that successful employees in the role embody. Understanding what’s important to your talent segment and clearly defining and communicating what you can offer them, is your key to successfully hiring those candidates!

Your candidate value proposition is unique to your culture, values, mission, along with benefits and perks your employees receive. Spend time developing it. Ask your employees why they joined your company and why they stay. Think about current and future initiatives and how they will influence your culture and value proposition.

Beginning with this in mind will guide your approach to the different steps in your recruiting process and the candidate market. Accessing candidates who are a fit for you and who have been looking for a company like yours, benefits both and leads to retaining thriving talent!

If you want assistance or guidance defining your company’s unique candidate value proposition, contact us!

“Staying true to [yourself] is the only sustainable value proposition” ~ Tim Leberecht, Entrepreneur, Author and TED Speaker

We’ve found that the best fit for our candidates are positions they have carefully considered and weighed against criteria that stays true to their goals and values.

The best way to do this is to put thought into what you want out of your work today and in the future. Think in terms of what would be present in a dream job for you and what are things that should be present to meet your unique needs.

Wise leaders know that the best teams are diverse teams. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t commonality with values. When everyone’s core values are aligned and moving towards a common goal, it drives productivity and inspiration!

We once hired a contractor from a trusted resource as a Sales Development Rep. He seemed to be struggling, so our CEO invited him to lunch. When she asked him what his dream job would be, he said, “I don’t really like sales. I want to be an English as a Second Language teacher.” The conversation immediately shifted from him continuing to support us in sales, to what he could do to land that dream job!

Staying true to yourself and your values will help you make decisions that serve your professional and personal goals alike. Now might be a good time to ask yourself a few questions to crystallize your thoughts and have your prioritized list ready when you’re in job search mode. A surprising number of candidates find that they’ve settled for the wrong job. Avoiding a mismatch and short tenure is best for all.

“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.” – Rumi, recognized as a best-selling poet in the U.S.

According to the 2021 Bureau of Labor Statics report, the annual total separations rate or turnover rate in 2020 was 57.3 percent. Some forecast that number to be higher in 2021. Jump starting new employees and improving retention is clearly important to gain a greater return on your hiring investment.

The key is planning and implementing a clearly defined onboarding process. In the September 21, 2021 edition of Human Resource Executive, Nick Otto shared that what’s important to employees now has moved from culture and meaning to flexibility, increased pay, and job security. Having an effective ‘Onboarding Success Map’ is one valuable way to demonstrate a path to greater pay, flexibility and job security to your newly hired employees. Your reward is a faster and enhanced return on your hiring investment.

Your onboarding process should:

1. Have clear outcomes the employee is to achieve at specific time benchmarks
2. Have regular feedback built in, even weekly in the beginning and,
3. Be progressive with realistic steps that advance each week, month, quarter etc.

If your company does not have an onboarding map and process that you believe makes you a destination employer, let’s start a conversation about how to build or improve on what you have in place.

Have you ever experienced…

• A desirable candidate who is happy where they are and reluctant to apply?
• Qualified candidates who pass on continuing the interview process?
• A new hire who is a “no show” on their first day?
• Good hires leaving within the first year?
• Or, one of the most frustrating, are you getting ghosted by your candidates?

Avoid these and other frustrations with JESSI Search’s Talent Acquisition Tools.

Align your Candidate Profile with your Talent Value Proposition

JESSI Search, hearing these and other frustrations often from hiring managers and recruiters, has a hiring process and tools to diminish obstacles and ensure you are best positioned to identify, access, attract and hire your best candidates for the long-term.

Our experts attain a complete understanding of the components of your talent acquisition process and identify areas to strengthen effectiveness and efficiency.

You receive a Hiring and Interviewing process that:

1. Identifies Core Competencies for the position.
2. Clarifies the Deliverables that new hires will be held accountable for.
3. A Candidate Profile to vet potential candidates’ competencies.
4. A Position Profile equivalent to an owner’s manual to coach and guide new hires.
5. Accurately assesses and defines your Talent Value Proposition.
6. Refinement, when necessary, to ensure accurate matching of the Talent Proposition and Candidate Profile, if results do not meet required outcomes.

In addition, JESSI Search can provide Position Benchmarking focused on success factors that reduce turnover:

• Priority competencies and skill-sets that are required to perform the job well, including:
  • Acumen, problem-solving skills, judgement and engagement
• Behaviors that produce desired outcomes.
• Workplace motivators that identify culture fit and effective reward systems.
• A Behavior Based Interview Guide that aligns with your Candidate Profile.
• Onboarding plans customized to fit your company and the role.
• Validation of compensation structure and compensation band, with understanding that studies show that money has been proven to rank only #3 on the list of things that motivate a candidate to take a new position.

“When in doubt, check if your actions are aligned with your purpose.” ~Azim Jamal & Brian Tracy

A question we’re often asked is, “When should we start recruiting for an upcoming position?” The answer remains that typically sooner is better. I would say this holds even more so during the pandemic, than you think. It’s never a good idea to feel rushed to hire, especially if it causes you to eliminate or short-change important steps that ensure you’re choosing the best-fit candidate who will thrive in your organization.

There are some exceptions. If it’s a role where candidates are in high-demand, such as inside sales, you don’t want to recruit so early that when you’re actually able to set a start date, your preferred candidate is long gone.

Here are four other things that continue to hold true:

1. Some candidates are reluctant to leave their current position when the economy seems uncertain. We’ve seen this cycle repeat itself during economic down-turns. Candidates sometimes choose to stay in a job that they feel they’ve outgrown or no longer enjoy because it’s known, rather than move to a new company in uncertain times. Having a recruiting partner who is highly skilled at accessing this candidate set and gaining their trust and enthusiasm makes a difference.
2. According to a recent Workonic study, “The best candidates only have to wait 10 days to find a new job.” If you’re looking for talent with skills that are in demand and you’re looking for the best in their field, understanding how to manage the attraction campaign to get those candidates engaged and to keep them engaged in your hiring process is critical. A hiring expert can help you with your strategy. And if you don’t have the bandwidth or expertise to fulfill it, there are talent firms who excel at engaging the best talent on your behalf.
3. Jobvite found that, “A Recruiter’s conversation skills account for 40% and appearance/personal style for another 37%, as the decisive factors that impact candidates’ view of the company.” At JESSI Search, we find that using a highly skilled outside resource can set you ahead. When an external source is speaking positively on your behalf and managing communication and the hiring process well, and then you reinforce the positive messages they’ve heard and experienced during your internal interview process, candidates continue to collect positive data that impacts their decision on whether or not a position and organization is the right one for them.
4. One more set of stats from Career Builder that you might also want to keep in mind is, “78% of employers feel they do a good job setting expectations upfront and communicating throughout the hiring process, while only 47% of job-seekers agree.” Again, talent acquisition experts are living this on a daily basis. They know the value of frequent and positive communication and can give you the added bandwidth to cover this well.

Many organizations have invested even more in their people this year. Keeping a healthy and motivated team benefits all. Investing in getting the right people on your team will pay equal dividends.

“Time and money are your scarcest resources. You want to make sure you’re allocating them in highest-impact areas. Data reveals impact, and with data, you can bring more science to your decisions.” ~Matthew Trifiro, CMO at Vapor IO, and recognized as Top 50 World’s Most Influential Marketers in the Digital Economy