How to Get the Best Talent for your Business

Every business large or small requires top talent to remain competitive and relevant in the current disruptive market environment. Talking to a number of entrepreneurs in town I have realized that it is not prospective candidates who fear job interviews the most, but it is actually the entrepreneurs themselves who do. The fear could result from the inability to know how to obtain top talent from the labor market and where the talent could be easily found.

Positive mental attitude, excellent communication skills, creativity, customer service skills, empathy, humility, productivity, teamwork, pro-activeness, global thinking, marketing strategy, cognitive skills, presentation skills, loyalty. All these are the core traits entrepreneurs, human resource managers, and strategy managers look out for in the interview room on top of A-grade talent. If you do not get it right at this stage, your business will definitely stagger at some point in future or eventually close down.

The dilemma of recruiting top talent can be equated to the task of trying to fix a square plug in a round socket and inside a dark room. It can be scary at times and most entrepreneurs actually opt to outsource this crucial managerial task to reputable human resource consulting firms in town or abroad. There are those who opt to do it for themselves due to budget constraints at the initial stages of a business startup.

Hiring top talent can be easy if the right module is used in the exercise. However, fishing out top talent from an interview room is not easy; it requires meticulous effort by those in charge of the business. Many startups fail at this stage because they do not take hiring seriously or rather end up engaging low-grade talent due to time and budget constraints with the hope of conferring on job skills to the new recruits as time goes by. Larger and more serious businesses spend more time and money at this stage just like an airplane consumes more fuel during take-off.

Every job applicant is unique and can bring in differing value levels to the organization. Business owners and business leaders need to understand that the responsibility of hiring the right talent rests on their shoulders.  To get it right while scouting for top talent, microscopic attention is called for in this exercise. More focus should be on the non-verbal and not what job applicants are saying in the interview room.

Attention to body language is very crucial in the interview room. I have witnessed many businesses engage job applicants based on their papers and excellent communication skills only to later realize that the same candidates are full of sloth, awful character and are poor team players. Traits which actually hinder them from actualizing the organization’s mission and vision. A third of such a workforce is enough quorum to occasion a close down of your once vibrant business entity.

It is also important to remember that the hiring process will take several days of your time: perusing resumes, conducting interviews, sieving so many unqualified candidates in order to separate the diamonds from the mud. How to get the best people on board and retain them long-term can cause sleepless nights to business leaders or bring joy when the right catch is found. Survival of a business is hinged on the hiring process and the action or inaction of you the business owner could be the final nail in your business coffin.

Interview sessions need to be re-thought afresh and re-aligned to the overall business model. As a business leader who is intentional about doing things differently, strive to be exclusive. Many job adverts in most local marketing platforms are horribly vague in terms of what qualifications candidates must have, what the job duties are, what days and hours will be worked, and what wages and benefits will be paid.

You can save yourself tonnes of time by pre-qualifying candidates through exclusive job advertisements that are specific in what it takes to be engaged in your organization, as well as what the day-to-day job duties involve. Approach your human resource hunt with the same vigor you would approach a customer-centric marketing campaign.  Do not be cheated, target marketing strategies are vital in the human resource hunting exercise too.

Once you have a rich funnel of prospects, arrange for a “walking interview” in which you take candidates on a tour of their target working environments. Ask leading questions relevant to the job and to the candidates’ experiences, expectations, dedication, and long-term goals. Behave as though you are seeking out a business partner to help you operate and grow your business.

Also, spend a sizeable amount of time seeking out real references from your target candidates. Avoid the neighbor lady your candidates grew up with, or their catechism teacher in primary school but professionals who can honestly attest to their real work ethic and potential.

Once you have picked a candidate of your choice and slightly before making a job offer, kindly request them to specifically state what you need to do for them in order to keep them employed with your organization for a longer period of time.  Do they want more vacation? The opportunity for advancement? More pay? Freedom from micromanagement? Listen keenly and take notes as they talk their hearts out.

Remember to state clearly what you need from them to enable you to meet their needs and other rewards they are seeking. This is not to mean that you have to bend backward for your employees. However, it is good to know that if you make expectations clear for both parties at the initial interview stages, you are actually laying a very good foundation for a long-term, mutually-exclusive employee-boss relationship.