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Hello, everyone! I am Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator®. In this episode of the Keep leading!® podcast (#108), I interview Bill Humbert – The Recruiter Guy, an expert talent attraction consultant. We discuss how companies can attract top leadership talent. Here is the summary of our conversation.
What’s the best way to find jobs?
When companies get the right person in the top leadership position, they accelerate the company and make it more profitable. Statistics indicate, 76% of all jobs are filled through networking. 8% of jobs are secured by candidates “posting and praying” their resumes receive attention and are acted upon. Recruiters fill the final percentage.
Top leadership talent knows posting for a job or going through a recruiter rarely leads to offers. Therefore, networking is the best way to find top leadership talent.
Difference between Talent Attraction and Talent Acquisition
Talent Attraction
It is about becoming a company where people want to come work.
Talent Acquisition
It’s the administrative process. This is where attracted talent fills out an application and submits their résumé.
What Actions Should Companies Take to Secure Top Leadership Talent in the Attraction Phase?
#1 Remove recruitment of top leadership talent from HR. Instead, place it under the COO or the CFO. Why? Recruiting and talent attraction is a sales process.
#2 Create a solution to fill the need identified in the top leadership by developing a good job description. It is the foundation of the entire sales process in the attraction phase.
#3 Pay attention to the company website and make it easy to find the career page. Consider it as a sales pitch (like growing companies) to mention on the home page saying – ‘We’re hiring.’
#4 Make the application process for the job, especially for senior-level, one click. It will enable companies to capture a whole lot more of the candidates for the post.
Mistakes Most Companies Make While Attracting Top Leadership Talent
#1 Writing poor job descriptions
It hinders appropriate talent attraction as the right person slips by due to the failure of the recruitment system to match them up.
#2 Over-reliance on applicant tracking systems
It puts a firewall while scanning a person’s résumé against the job description. If a person does not have an 88% of the right keywords, that resume gets ignored.
#3 Forcing people to put in a salary requirement with no room for negotiation.
Attracting top leadership talent is like a sales situation – it’s all about negotiation!
What Can Companies Do Now?
#1 Ask their managers to maintain a list of the top talent in the industry that they would go after if they need them.
#2 Take the recruitment of top leadership positions out of the hands of HR and allow managers to make the call.
Eddie Turner is the Keep Leading!® podcast host—a podcast dedicated to leadership development and insights. Subscribe and Share wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Eddie Turner on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook! Visit www.EddieTurnerLLC.com to learn more!
