Having great talent working cohesively and productively at your company, big or small, is essential to growing your business, being profitable and making an impact. The people you hire can have a tremendous impact upon your business right from day one. 

Depending upon your specific industry, top tier talent can be quite competitive to recruit and retain. Today almost every profession requires specific technical expertise. 

An excellent experience during an interview can dramatically affect the decisions any candidate makes about working for your company. When you offer an excellent experience to viable candidates during interviews, you can create a lasting positive effect that compels a top tier candidate to accept your offer.

Here are some steps you can take to ensure this:

1. Provide training for your whole staff

Everyone in your company must be aware of the importance of interviews and creating a positive experience for new candidates. There are many impressions that a candidate will have about your company, from interactions starting with applications or outreach to final offers as well as personal interactions with receptionists, employees and hiring managers. 

You can provide training to your team so that you are united in providing a consistent positive experience for your new candidates. This includes personalizing communications with individual candidates and ensuring that everyone conducting interviews is prepared, arrives on time and conducts interviews professionally and courteously.

Also pay attention to any feedback from candidates. For example, if a candidate has difficulty locating your office, make sure you provide clear directions before the next interview that you conduct. Even if you do not end up hiring your potential candidates, aim to create a positive experience that they would want to work for you if they could.

2. Have an organized process internally

In addition to human resources software you may use (link to BEPMS), you will also want to organize your own process for hiring. This means that you have clear goals for hiring and a team in place to help you with this. Even if you have a small startup with under 10 employees, you will still want to have a process in place so that you know how to respond to applicants.

3. Hold your hiring managers accountable

Hiring is very important for your company but a lot of the hard work in sourcing and hiring as well as real decision-making happens with your hiring managers. When you hold your hiring managers accountable and you place trust in them to help you find the right talent for your company, they are more inclined to do their jobs effectively with consideration. Motivating your hiring managers is also important. You can do this by telling them the positive impact of having a great candidate with real data and give them real-life examples of success.

4. Plan for enough time

Your hiring managers need time to review resumes, take notes and source candidates. The people you have designated to interview your candidates, must also have at least 30 minutes to meet with them individually.

5. Communicate frequently with your candidates

Communicate in a personalized way with your top level candidates. Insufficient communication is one of the primary reasons candidates can withdraw applications or move on to other companies. You can avoid this confusion and frustration by offering a clear process to your candidates and following through on it. Follow up does not have to be tedious - just a phone call or short email can be enough.

It is important that you do this with candidates also that you are not considering and follow up to explain that he or she has not been hired. Communicating in a timely manner is essential to create a good experience.

6. Provide an exceptional closing

When you have decided to hire a candidate, be sure to congratulate the individual, thank him or her for applying and personalize the job offer. Explain why this job and company are a great fit. You can invite the candidate to meet with your team in a relaxed setting (dinner or other) where the candidate can enjoy a social event without pressure.

Follow up with the right talent in a few days if you do not hear back instantly. Your top talent will be enthused to see how eager you are to have them.

7. Learn from your mistakes

Pay attention to any problems during the sourcing, interviewing and hiring process. What feedback did you receive from candidates and employees? How can you improve the hiring process?

8. Provide a positive on-boarding experience

Once you have decided to hire and  your candidate has accepted your offer, be sure to provide a positive on-boarding experience that maintains a high level of enthusiasm and optimism. This will drive participation and motivate your new talent to prove themselves at your company.

9. Have an employee retention plan

When you have hired great talent and you are seeing positive results, you will want to also have a plan in place to retain them. Employee retention is critical. Retaining top talent is also a priority at most companies as turnover rates can be high and finding the right candidates also time-consuming, difficult and expensive. Employees want to stay and work for a company that offers them opportunities to grow, professionally and in their own lives.