Being a great leader has many benefits. You inspire the team around you to be better, increasing productivity and output. You can also be an inspiration that causes more customers to flood to your company as they trust that you will do a great job because you’re such a fantastic leader.
However, an underrated benefit of being a brilliant leader is that it can influence your hiring strategy. Much like you can use your great leadership skills to draw customers to your business, you can do the same with talent. The best leaders have a knack for finding the most talented individuals in their industry, luring them to their business. Clearly, this poses the question: how do they do it?
How do great leaders find the most talented hires? There are plenty of strategies and approaches, but these are the ideas that tend to see the most success:
Recruitment Films
When recruiting new employees, there are different ways you can get the message out there that you’re looking to hire. Posting adverts on jobs boards will clearly be a great approach, but the best leaders go one step further with a bit of corporate video production thrown into the mix. Effectively, they will make short recruitment films that are shown via their website, social media, and possibly on jobs boards.
What is the aim of these films?
For one, it’s a chance to explain the role to people via a video format, which is instantly more engaging and personal. Secondly, it’s an opportunity for you to introduce yourself to the candidates. The fact you’re filming this video already shows you’re taking a hands-on approach, which people will respect. Being in front of the camera establishes your role as a leader who is very active in what they do.
It gives candidates a glimpse into your business – and a glimpse at you. They will be impressed by what they see, thinking to themselves that they’d like to work for someone like you. They want to be employed by someone who takes the time to film a recruitment video and talk to possible candidates, delivering more information on the role. This alone can be responsible for attracting highly talented individuals to your business.
Attending Interviews
Whether it’s via video calls or in-person, great leaders will always attend interviews. In a way, this is an example of leading by example. You want to hire new talent, so you’re going to take the time to speak to everyone and conduct the interviews. It earns the respect of candidates – who might be sick of going to interviews and being faced with HR or recruitment agencies, rather than the employers themselves.
It’s another way of showing that you take a hands-on approach and demonstrating the work ethic you put in every single day. Candidates will be mightily impressed that you’re taking time out of your schedule to interview them personally. This is extremely useful if someone has multiple interviews at different companies. After all, the best talent in your industry is likely to be coveted by numerous businesses. If they’re looking for work, it creates an interesting dynamic with potential employers.
Usually, you are in a position where the candidates convince you to pick them. However, when it comes to the most talented individuals, the roles reverse. You know how impressive the candidate is, so it’s your job to make them choose this role at your company over a rival. Being present at the interviews and demonstrating your leadership is a brilliant way to do just that. It encourages the candidate as they feel the business is in safe hands through great leadership. It also might inspire them to join your ranks as they want to see what you can teach them. All of this comes from simply taking time out of your day to attend each interview.
Learning To Delegate
Following on from the previous point, the best leaders will find the most talented individuals because they know how to delegate. At first, this might seem like a strange point to make as it doesn’t seem to have any correlation between hiring people. Nevertheless, as just mentioned, one of the best ways to make hires is by being present at interviews. Therefore, you will need to take time out of your schedule to do this.
Consequently, this is where delegation comes into play. To be able to leave your daily tasks, you need to have full confidence that someone else can step in to take over. This requires expert delegation skills as you pinpoint the right man or woman for the job. It will mean that you can spend a few days doing interviews with your HR team, yet your productivity doesn’t suffer.
You’ve got people taking on your workload, then others filling in to help them manage their existing workload plus yours. Great leaders know who to choose for each task, ensuring there isn’t a slowing down of operations during the hiring process.
Filling The Gaps
One of the trademarks of a great leader is their ability to understand their own weaknesses. Not only that, but they appreciate the weaknesses of the company and where things can be improved. This translates into the hiring process as the best leaders or managers understand the best candidates for each role. Finding the ‘best’ people isn’t always about looking for someone with the most experience or accolades on their resume. Sometimes, it’s about finding someone with the necessary skills to fill the gaps in your organization.
For instance, you want to hire someone to bring new blood to your team, but what’s the point in hiring an individual with all the same skills and knowledge as everyone else. Instead, you can look at where you’re faltering and identify the skills that will plug the gaps and make your business more successful.
The top leaders will figure out which skills are necessary to complement and help themselves and the business. They are open to the idea of hiring people that are better than them in certain areas. Perhaps you want to improve your marketing strategies – a great leader will acknowledge that marketing isn’t their strong point, so their leadership and skills are wasted on that department. As such, they will hire someone that is vastly more experienced than they are but more suitable for that particular role.
Hiring For Cultural Fit
Furthermore, when looking at the hiring process, excellent leaders understand that cultural fit is the most important part. Often, this is what separates one candidate from another, ensuring you find the most talented individual for a particular job.
What do we mean by cultural fit?
In simple terms, it’s how an individual fits in with the culture of your organization. Effectively, are they on the same page? Do they have the same beliefs, goals, and aims as your business? Are they onboard with the message you present, and the core ethos of your company? Top leaders appreciate that someone might be excellent at their job, but they won’t fit with your company. No matter how good they are, if they aren’t a cultural fit it will cause clashes and problems down the line.
Businesses need people that align to the same mission and are willing to work towards the same goals. Leaders recognize the importance of this, and it becomes a significant part of the hiring strategy. This influences everything relating to job adverts, applications, interviews, etc. A lot of the questions in applications or interviews will revolve around cultural fit and finding people that align with yours.
Calling On Your Network
Finally, all leaders will understand how vital it is to have a solid network. We’re not talking about the internet; we’re talking about networking with other businesses and professionals. One thing that separates the best leaders from the rest is their ability to cultivate a massive network filled with contacts. Another thing that separates them is their knowledge of using this network when making hires.
Whether it means contacting recruitment companies to aid you in your search or simply contacting professionals that you think will suit a job – using your network will help you make the best hires. It’s something that not a lot of leaders do, and yet they need to. People assume that networking is only good if you want to find suppliers, strike up partnerships, or gain mentoring advice. In reality, it’s also highly effective at helping you find the most talented hires for your company, aiding the recruitment process.
In conclusion, if you want to make the best hires for your company, you need to act like a great leader. The ideas and tactics outlined above will be a brilliant starting point for you to work on. Demonstrate your ability to lead, and the talent will be lining up outside your doors. You can find the best people for every job, improving your business and solidifying your place in the world as one of the greatest leaders in your industry.
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