The CliffsNotes ® of Hiring

Here’s a quick guide for employers looking to make their company attractive to talent:

Jennie

Miller, co-founder of the Measurement Instrument Database for the Social Sciences (MIDSS), an online wellness publication, shares her recipe for successful hiring:

Determine the personality type you want to interview for the role and address that individual in the job description. If you want to attract exceptional talent, you must understand their interests and speak their language in a well-written job description.

Understand the traits you want the talent to have and drill down your behavioral interview questions to see how much of those traits are present. If you are looking for integrity, ask them about the most difficult professional decision they had to make or how costly a principled decision was for them.

Keep the right people because you know what they value now that you have hired them. Most people want to be treated with dignity and respect. For many organizations, compensation, recognition and opportunities for advancement are important. Determine what motivates them and provide it whenever possible.

Keep an eye out for opportunities for advancement for anyone who shows a desire for more responsibility. These individuals could be tomorrow’s leaders. Nurture these people and assist them in spreading their wings. Successful team members are more likely to refer quality talent to the organization.

“As new people with talent require a new environment that promotes new ideas, we are convinced that flexibility is the new currency,” says Patterson, who oversees newly hired talent at Los Angeles-based Highway Title Loans. “It is the ticket to acquiring talent, and it has helped us take our company higher.”

Authentic Leadership Matters

Hierarchical and autocratic leadership models have been falling out of favor in many organizations for quite some time. Nowadays, workers want to feel part of a team and desire leaders who value them rather than adhere to a top-down (and top-heavy) management structure. The quality of leaders in an organization can make or break an organization in getting and keeping talented people.

“We make it a priority to have capable individuals in leadership positions,” says Tyler Seeger, entrepreneur and managing director of Retirement Being, a company serving the senior living community. “A negative working relationship between an employee and their supervisor is a common reason for an employee to resign from their position.”

This unsatisfactory connection might make it much simpler to leave, especially if there are plenty of opportunities available. Seeger adds that managers can only be successful if they get feedback and training on performance management, communicating, enforcing workplace laws and regulations, and fostering employee growth.

What’s more, collaborative leadership gets leaders and staff members out of their respective silos and gets them working together. This style replaces the top-down leadership method, where the highest-level employees make most decisions. “Collaborative leaders leave their egos at the door to leverage every team member’s unique strengths,” says Josh Weiss, founder and CEO of Reggie, a New York-based wellness company for dogs and their owners. “We foster this kind of culture through a pack leadership mindset, meaning that as a team, we win and lose as a pack. We ask for help, support one another and welcome feedback. And most importantly, it means taking ownership, which is vital in a hybrid workspace as it empowers employees to reach smarter decisions faster, wherever they may be working on a particular day. And the more we pass the reins, the whole team understands that we’re shaping the future of our business together.”

Smart organizations recognize that communication and respect are important for managers to lead effectively and for cultivating high-performance teams: Employees appreciate when they are treated as human beings; employees appreciate when their emotions are valued and feedback is considered.

“The first thing we are focusing on is providing workers a voice so they can express opinions without the fear of being shut down,” says Perry Zheng, founder and CEO of Cash Flow Marketplace, a Seattle-based company that facilitates direct investment in commercial real estate. “Elite talent has an undying urge of having autonomy and importance in the workplace. Our emphasis is on providing this environment. Bending leadership styles to mesh a single, viable way of leading the team is our solution in this war for talent. Those initiatives also include setting up different productivity metrics. It’s to promote the concept of flexible workers versus standards for in-office workers.”

Diversity And Authenticity In Work Cultures

Organizations that value diversity can benefit significantly in the recruiting game. Not only does diversity help to promote an organization’s culture and values to prospective employees, but it can be a beacon to those who might otherwise be overlooked.

One of the ways Awning.com has been able to attract top talent is by building a work environment that values diversity and