How to Win the Hearts of Today's Top Talent

The baby boomers are leaving and the Millenials are up to bat, but it seems we’re short a few for the starting line up. The baby boomers swamped the work force in such large numbers that it is going to be quite the task to fill all of the positions left behind. This in turn creates a power shift between recruiter and candidate. We can no longer post a job and wait for the swarm, especially when it comes to top talent. This shift in the recruiting and hiring world is changing how we do things.

It is now a tougher job to attract the good ones. Not only are there fewer of them and more positions, but they are looking for something different than their boomer predecessors. Filling a position is easy, filling a position with the right person however is not so easy. In this recruiting atmosphere, you need to use employer branding to set your company apart in the minds of top talent so you won’t be stuck losing your candidates to other companies!

Attract them with rich media

Many recruiters use social media for social recruiting, but your social media presence needs to have more than status updates and links to job listings. We’re talking streaming videos, webcasts, interactive presentations embedded in your site, all building your employer brand. Odds are that the top talent you have in your sights are not only tech savvy, but they expect their employer to possess likeminded attitudes about what should be shared on social media. It is crucial to convey that your company embraces advanced technologies. Take what you already know about employer branding and step it up a notch with rich media.

Attract them with authentic content

Today’s audiences are much more skeptical of staged content. If your employer branding efforts try to look perfect with professional editing, carefully cast talent, and posed photos, candidates will have a hard time believing that your content reflects true day-to-day life at your company. Instead, show videos and photos of real employees in their real working environment to give prospective hires a sense of what their employee experience will entail. If you’re not proud of the experience that shows, then that’s a signal that you need to work with your colleagues to change the employee experience from within.

Attract them with a crisp company mission

For the love of employer branding, please no more paragraph-long, corny company missions that just sound good. These will stick with no one. Think short and sweet. Consider the idea that your company mission could also act as a slogan. No, you shouldn’t create a jingle, but yes, it should be catchy. It should stay with employees and customers. “Employees, vendors, and clients don’t get stoked by fuzzy mission statements. They will line up behind concrete goals,” says Nancy Lublin from FastCompany. And remember that this can change. Always keep your mission fresh and relevant.

Following these principles, you’ll find that good employer branding doesn’t require big budgets. It just means you have to walk the walk so that your employees know and are united by the company mission and that can be captured and reflected in rich media. With that foundation in place, a lean startup can compete with the biggest recruiting budgets of the most established corporations, and large companies can attract and unify employees for a people-based competitive advantage. We’ve seen it with our own recruiting at Wowzer and we’ve seen it for some of the largest brands in the world among our customers. I encourage you to do the same!

Imo Udom is the co-founder and VP of business development of Wowzer (follow them on Twitter – @gowowzer). He leads global sales efforts, identifies strategic client initiatives, and helps to secure key relationships that further Wowzer’s mission. Read the Wowzer Blog. Modified Photo, original credit HowtoDrawGuide.