Bringing in top talent: 4 best practices for hiring and retention
Top Talent: These two words are used frequently in organizations to define what hiring managers and recruiters look for in potential candidates. Finding these candidates isn’t hard, but finding the right person to fit specific job requirements and workplace culture can be challenging. High turnover can be a direct hit to the bottom line; it’s essential that you are creating an excellent candidate experience from start to finish to retain top talent.
After recently presenting at the Hyland Partner Executive Summit in California, I wanted to share a few best practices on recruiting, interviewing and retaining hard-working and passionate employees that any of our partner companies can adapt to fit their size and experience.
- Use your gut
At Hyland, our recruiters look for individuals who are open-minded and have a willingness to learn throughout their career. Technology is always changing; candidates who can show an aptitude for learning and challenging themselves will excel. Being motivated to learn new skills and adapt easily to change are innate abilities our recruiters look for.
When our team is looking for traits that make a person a good candidate, we typically go with our gut. We can tell a lot about someone just by talking to them on the phone. Does the candidate seem positive? Do they seem excited for this opportunity? Do they fit the culture? These are some of the questions we think about from our first phone conversation.
One red flag to look for in a candidate is tenure. How long has a candidate been in their current position? Do they jump around from job to job? Someone who has a longer tenure has staying power. A candidate who has a long resume with a list of jobs might not be the best choice.
- Going after top talent
Taking the time to advertise and spread awareness about Hyland as a great place to work can help us get great people in the door to create solutions for our business. Small and large organizations should be taking advantage of recruiting networks to bring in top talent.
Another way we recruit is through Hyland’s referral program. Having a referral program in place can take a recruitment strategy to the next level. In 2017, 43 percent of Hyland’s positions were filled by employee referrals. We offer employees a bonus when someone they refer is hired. We also make sure to keep current employees up to date on open positions and the skill sets we are looking for so that they can evangelize our company.
- The interview experience
A good way to assess a candidate’s competencies is by developing behavior-based interview techniques targeted to particular positions and departments. This approach helps identify positive and negative behavior pattern by asking open-ended questions. There are many resources and guidelines out there for organizations who want to use this method during the interview process.
At Hyland, we think it’s important to spend the time to get to know our candidates and keep them up to date throughout the process. Building a relationship means taking the time to answer questions about relocation, benefits and other critical questions a candidate might have. It’s important to think through the entire experience from the first communication touch point through the employee’s first day at Hyland.
Understanding that a career move doesn’t just affect the candidate, but the candidate’s family and friends, is important. Keeping the candidate in mind through the application and interviewing process into onboarding is not only a reflection of what it’s like to work for Hyland, but will also make the candidate feel welcome and energized for work.
- Onboarding and retention
The best and brightest has been hired – don’t stop there! Onboarding a new employee and keeping them engaged are two critical aspect of retention. Onboarding and training ensure that new employees are ready to hit the ground running. At Hyland, each new employee has a mentor assigned to guide them, answer questions and ensure a positive onboarding experience. Along with Hyland’s mentoring program, we have job-specific training for employees in certain roles and all of our employees are trained up on our flagship product, OnBase.
There are so many opportunities to improve the recruiting and onboarding processes. Using any of these tips will help to recruit top talent. At Hyland, we recognize how important the recruiting and hiring process is, and we encourage our recruiting teams and managers to stay educated on new initiatives. Ultimately, it’s about creating the best experience for our candidates and hiring managers while driving business forward.
