The Talent War is Real, Rethink your approach!

If your business will survive the War for talent, it is imperative your HR leaders rethink their talent acquisition strategy. According to Jim Collins, paraphrased “you cannot build an organization to last without the right people on the seat.’’

I have been a business leader and HR Thought leader in the past decade. I have been able to come to the conclusion that organizations who will survive must be able to reinvent itself by changing their Talent Acquisition Practice.

The old ways used to acquire talents is failing! Oh, Did I say it is failing! oh sorry! I meant it has failed.
In recent years, the job market has witnessed a sharp drop in the availability of talents, therefore, most businesses are starved of growth. In fact, the Talent acquisition issue has become a Sisyphean task.
This so-called “Talent warfare” has led many organizations to make their recruiting and onboarding processes a strategic business issue. Whether you want to recruit for a key position or recruit a company like a digital agency to help boost your growth process, you need to be strategic.

After doing a soul search, I have been able to conclude about the best strategies Business Leaders and HR Leads can deploy in order to hire and keep the best talents you can find.

1. Create a Culture of Importance

According to an old saying “if you haven’t touched my heart, don’t ask for my hand.” The days of bullying talents have passed. Unlike before, people competing for your talents are massive. Every single day Talents have a lot of choices. So, the way forward is to create a culture of Ownership. The idea is that people protect whatever they own. This practice must be infused to the fabric of the organizational culture.
Forget the era of “don’t let them feel so important.” If you don’t let them feel important, they will graze to another employer is who is willing to. If talents keep grazing away and non-talents stay then you aren’t building an organization of the living, you are building an organization of dead minds.

2. Hire Based On their Personal Characteristics and Can-do spirit

Too many times, we let the certificate rave cloud our judgment, I have interviewed a lot of candidates who got first class in school requirements and have third class in Personal characteristics such as doggedness, grit, loyalty, communication, resourcefulness, staying power persistence, abundant mentality, confidence, public speaking, hardworking, selling skills, flexibility, and agility. No matter how great a candidate is good on paper when they lack these characteristics they smell like shit, and you know what you do to shit because of its stinking nature, you flush it out. Focus on personal characteristics.

3. Grab them when you see them

When you see what you are looking for, then go for it.
Talents are like gold everyone is searching for it. It is so easy to recognize them when you see one. Hmmm, that is if you are one! So, when they come your way, grab them immediately.
To win the warfare you must be flexible in your hiring process. In my experience, you always get them when you aren’t searching for them.
So be fast! When the waiting time is too long they move on. When a soup is exuding great aroma, it attracts even passerby. They are hot cake so buy them immediately they show up.

4. Let them feel at home and Don’t tell them what to do let them tell you what to do

Crazy times require crazy approach. Uncommon talent requires uncommon onboarding. Let every day in your onboarding be a WOW moment for them. Use the unconventional approach to break them. Let them feel at home. Do all to position them in the right places. Your core ideology and philosophy will guide you. From their first day, let it be clear that they were hired to solve problems. Engage their mind. If you know what to do, then why did you hire talents.

5. Ensure they romance your brand

Be clear about what your organization stands for! Walk the talk, Live your brand. People become their environment. Talents will only stay long when what you do connects with their emotion. Psychological contracts win the game.

6. Ensure you keep wetting them! Exposed them to continuous learning

Even when you do all to hire great talent, if you don’t train them, don’t blame them. If you put garbage in them, they will give you trash. Have a growth plan for them.

7. Look for Candidates Who Share Your Core ideology
If they are far from your core, then they cannot be core. Search for people who like to delay gratification and believe in the law of process. Those who are not just looking for money but an opportunity to make a difference in their world. Although, spotting this attribute can be difficult especially when talents are desperate and answer your questions the way you want them to. The Hiring manager must be smart, intelligent and intuitive to be able to select people with your ideology. If this is gotten right, then you will increase retention.