We're delighted to welcome Hamza Mush - Managing Consultant, Actuarial, Oliver James Associates Asia Pacific - as today's Guest Blogger. Hamza discusses how you can attract top talent by selling your core business values and career opportunities.

There are businesses out there that have a huge amount to offer, but experience great difficulty in attracting and securing top talent. On the contrary, some companies with much less to offer, consistently have exceptional individuals wanting to join their business.

The key difference between the two? Their ability to sell their organisation.

Attracting highly sought after, niche talent is easily one of the most neglected yet important areas of management. Whilst talented recruiters have the capacity to find qualified and capable individuals and put them in front of their clients, it is up to the organisation to attract them to their firm. If you can’t do that in a tight market where demand clearly exceeds supply, then your position will likely be open for a long time, or you’ll end up settling for an unhappy or unemployed person with a questionable track record.

So, how do you attract top talent?

You explain in detail the importance of the position, the team within which the role sits, exactly what impact it has on the firm, and you explicitly highlight the future potential of the role and career progression opportunities within your company. Tell them exactly what your company has to offer; what sets you apart from the competition and the type of exposure that they simply will not be able to find elsewhere in the market.

Ask yourself, if you were on the other side of the fence, why would you want to join your company? When you have the answer, you enthusiastically relay that answer to the candidate. Each candidate will have different motivations and areas that appeal to them the most, and an excellent recruiter can provide you with this information. Be sure to use this to your advantage when selling your business. 

A client once said to me, “if they want to join us, then they will join us, we are well-known in the market already”. Needless to say, the position in question stayed open for over a year and a half, with numerous rejected offers from candidates choosing to go to their competitors instead. Do not let yourself or your hiring managers fall into this same trap of complacency believing that your 'brand' speaks for itself.

The best people in the market are well looked after and happily employed. In order to attract this calibre of talent, you need to convince them that their career aspirations and goals will be better met with your firm.

Hamza Mush

Managing Consultant, Actuarial Asia Pacific

Tel:  +852 5804 9048 / Email: Hamza.Mush@ojassociates.com 

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