Hiring Smart In A Pandemic

5 key tips for attracting and retaining talent

The business world is still finding its footing as the pandemic rages on. If you’re a leader who has had to cut budgets, scale back, and shift course you know how fast everything has changed. What hasn’t changed is that you need top talent to make your business successful during and long after the pandemic. 
 

How can you recruit the best when you’re not operating with optimal resources? You still have to compete in the marketplace and talented employees are a must for that. It is better to have fewer great employees, so less is more when we’re talking about top talent. You are looking for talent to come, engage, contribute, and stay—long after we emerge from the pandemic. Look long term, not short term, as you determine the most important jobs to fill and the talent you need to fill them. 

Here are five key tips for attracting and retaining talent amid the challenges of the pandemic. 

1. Know your ‘Avatar.’ Get VERY clear on exactly who you want and need using my 8 Factors as a guide (Attitude, Brains, Character, Drive, Emotional Intelligence, Fit, Gut, and Heart—learn more about these in my book, Hire Right, Fire Right) and decide how to describe your position and who you want and need through those lenses. This will narrow your audience to the most appropriate pool of candidates, which, in turn, will increase your chances of finding the best one as soon as possible.  

2. Maximize your reputation as an employer. Top talent will look for top employers even during and certainly after the pandemic. Evaluate what your brand says about you and about how you treat employees. If prospective hires were to look at your mission statement, statements of vision and values what impressions would they come away with? Would they think that this is a company that values its workforce? Why should top talent want to work for you? 

3. Be upfront about how you are handling the pandemic. Top talent wants safety, flexibility, growth and opportunity for themselves and their families. Be straight about how the pandemic has impacted your business, what assurances you can offer (e.g., sick leave virtual work space, flexible hours, etc.) and what future opportunities may be on the table.

4. Remember, it’s about relationships—not transactions. The human connection has never been more critical in attracting the best people. Building positive impressions and relationships should begin on the first meeting and continue through to the job offer, the hiring process and onboarding. You are not trying to fill a job opening, you are trying to cultivate a long-term productive relationship with someone who is invested in your company and your vision. 

5. Use all channels and “sell” your company to top talent. Utilize online job fairs, leverage digital and social media, tap into personal and professional relationships, and network on the local, regional, and national level. Think about your recruitment efforts as your pitch for why top talent should want to work for you and then be sure to maximize all of your channels to get it in front of the most talented potential employees. 

We all long for our “old normal” but that’s not going to happen anytime soon, if ever. The businesses and the people who adapt, adjust, are resilient and creative will thrive far more than those who can’t or won’t. Some work will disappear forever, some of us will go out of business, and some will hang in there. However, if you reconsider what is possible, reinvent the way you serve your customers, and make hiring right a top priority – your chances of survival and thriving will increase as we navigate through the upside down world we are living and working in today.

Roxi Bahar Hewertson is a leadership expert, executive coach and organizational development expert with more than three decades of practical experience in the worlds of higher education, business, and non-profits. She is the CEO of Highland Consulting Group, Inc. and author of both the highly-acclaimed “Hire Right, Fire Right: A Leader’s Guide To Finding And Keeping Your Best People” and “Lead Like it Matters…Because it Does.” With a successful career focused on developing high performing leaders, Roxi is a foremost field authority on helping executives and managers create thriving teams and work cultures that achieve stellar results.  Visit www.AskRoxi.com