High-performing companies attract and retain high-performing staff.

But sometimes finding the right fit takes time. Time that you might not feel like you have.

However, it’s time that’s well worth it. Putting in the effort to attract and retain the best person for the role is an investment in your business.

Here are some steps you can take to attract and keep the top talent for your roles.

Don’t rush into it

When you have a senior team member leave your business, naturally you want to fill the position fast.

But fast doesn’t mean you should rush or take shortcuts. Doing so means you run the risk of hiring someone that’s not a good fit.

So while you’re replacing a key role, it’s still necessary to go through your regular hiring processes. You still need to advertise on the right platforms, review all applications carefully, and go through the interview and screening process. By missing any of these steps, you’re not just shooting yourself in the foot, you’re actually signalling to your potential talent that you’re in a rush.

Taking the time to perform all the right processes, and giving yourself the best chance of hiring the right talent, will deliver the best results for your business.

Offer competitive remuneration for top talent

You’re trying to find the right fit—so you need to offer a salary to match. This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised at how often people write ‘competitive remuneration’ on a job ad and don’t actually offer anything competitive.

To attract the high-performers, you need to offer an attractive salary package from the outset. Make it competitive enough for them to stick around, too.

You’d probably know what a competitive salary looks like in your industry, but it doesn’t hurt to check. Hays and PayScale both have useful salary guides where you can check expected salaries for different roles, to make sure you’re in the right ballpark.

Offering a competitive salary shows you’re serious about getting the right person. It demonstrates that you care enough to hire someone who’s worth the money.

Go beyond the interview

Interviews never give you the full picture of who you’re talking to. Think about the worst interviews you’ve ever had—you know you were right for the role, but everything you said just came out wrong.

The same should be applied to good interviews, too. One interview isn’t enough to determine whether they’re the right fit for your business.

If you’re after the top talent, it can be beneficial having your managers meet them too. Put them into non-interview situations to assess their skills, personality, and see how they think about the role. It could be as simple as bringing them in for a follow-up meeting (not an interview), or arranging a third-party provider to assess their skills.

Follow-up consultations with your potential hires allow you to assess if they’re a good fit for your culture. They might have the skills and knowledge to do the job, but do they fit the culture and community that you’ve built within your business?

You can’t really gauge this in an interview alone.

Get regular two-way feedback

Once you’ve made your new hire, it’s important to check in with them post-hire to make sure they’re settled and comfortable in their role. Get their feedback on how things are going.

Your role during this time is to nurture them. Not micromanaging, or anything like that, but giving them the support they need to really thrive in their new position.

Provide your new talent with regular review periods, based on constructive, supportive measures. You want to help them succeed in their new role, so give them the support they need to stick around.

How to move on from top talent

There’s always going to be the possibility that your new talent leaves. And if they do decide to move on, whether it’s one year down the track, or 20, you’ve done all the right things to get them there. So do the right things by them when they leave.

Besides treating their decision with the dignity and grace that it deserves, make sure they know they were valued at your company. Perform an exit interview to find out exactly why they’re leaving, and uncover any issues that may have been bubbling away without your knowledge.

This not only lets them clear the air, but it wraps things up nicely between you. It also gives you the chance to see where your business needs to make changes to reduce turnover rate in the future.

At the end of the day, you want to do more than fill a role. You’re looking to get the best person for your team, that’s going to be an asset to your business.

So put in the effort to find them. Put in the time. It’ll be well worth your while.

If you need help attracting top talent, we can put you in touch with some of the best recruitment agents. Contact us here.