Given the scarcity of talent and intense rivalry amongst candidates in top-tier recruitment rounds, organisations must employ a proficient and structured approach to attract and maintain prospective candidates. Without such an approach, companies risk failing to attract and retain the best candidates, ultimately hampering their ability to succeed in a competitive business environment. It is, therefore, critical that businesses prioritise the development of a comprehensive recruitment and retention strategy that can overcome the challenges presented by the current competitive labor market.

1. Actively build and nurture a system of potential candidates

The average recruitment process for a senior position takes 2-3 months. This process may also take longer due to the scarcity of human resources in some specific industries. Therefore, if the enterprise waits until the senior staff quits to start looking for new employees, the recruitment will take longer, causing confusion and affecting the development of the business. Therefore, employers should actively build a source of high-level candidates to shorten the recruitment time.

2. Understanding candidate psychology

In today’s competitive times, to win the battle for good employees, companies need to map out strategies that are different from other companies to attract candidates. To do so, businesses need to understand what current candidates are expecting from the business. In the process of exchanging and interacting with senior personnel, it can be seen that they are often interested in some information as follows:

Corporate brand

If a reputable product brand can attract customers, the corporate brand plays an important role in attracting employees. Businesses should care about promoting their corporate brand through campaigns to increase awareness and attract senior personnel.

Ideal working environment

A working environment with a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and a high spirit of cooperation is what any senior employee wants. Besides, businesses should also pay attention to the work-life balance of employees. This will help businesses not only attract high-quality senior personnel but also stick with them longer.

Remuneration and good treatment policy

With senior employees, the salary will also have to be competitive. Besides having an attractive salary, businesses can consider bonus mechanisms such as free shares of the company, annual bonuses according to business results, or bonuses when achieving targets.

Besides, other welfare factors such as insurance regime, periodical health check, annual vacation, and level of treatment for those who have worked for the company for a long time also help attract potential candidates.

Development opportunities

Good employees are always eager to be challenged and recognized. So give them the opportunity to face challenges as well as the chance to learn to develop and improve themselves. Senior personnel is ambitious people so they will leave if they do not find growth opportunities. Moreover, a job with a clear development path will contribute to attracting more candidates than other jobs.

3. Understand the strengths of the business

Enterprises need to clearly and in detail indicate the job orientation and development opportunities when these candidates work for you. To do that, businesses need to clearly understand their strengths and know where they are on the map of businesses in the same industry. Because senior personnel has a lot of experience and expertise to evaluate any information that the business provides. That’s why it’s so important to make a good first impression.

4. Share an opportunity instead of recommending a job

Senior candidates have achieved career milestones with their previous jobs and what they want now is to find the right opportunities. As an employer, you need to show off the future of the company and the role this senior employee will play in it, instead of letting them see that you are simply looking for a position to fill a gap.

5. Build positive relationships and provide a great candidate experience

When hiring seniors, you’ll have to work 10 times harder than usual to provide a positive experience for candidates. Talented people are always sought after by many companies. That’s why you shouldn’t immediately mention your goals, but rather get to know them in advance and uncover the candidate’s motivations. Some people want a good income, while others want to be empowered to take the initiative in their work or want to lead a high-performing team. You can determine this by asking them what they are most proud of during their career.

6. Be patient

When it comes to hiring seniors, you should be prepared to invest the time and effort to get the person you want. Typically, the process of finding a CEO can take four to eight months. This is a long process and requires the subtlety and patience of the recruiter. Top candidates will almost certainly need a lot of reassurance to start thinking about your offer.

7. Using a headhunter

Using a headhunter is considered one of the effective ways for executive search. HR service companies often have a quality networking system, knowledgeable about the recruitment market and specific fields. At the same time, with their experience and reputation, professional headhunt companies often have a list of bright candidates, helping businesses find suitable candidates who best meet recruitment criteria. are applied in a timely manner.

Edited by CAM NHUNG, Senior Associate – Brand, Business Support & Customer Engagement

NB Asia is a highly experienced and strategic human resources consulting firm that specialises in providing an extensive range of executive placement, board services, organisational structure, and people solutions to business partners throughout Asia. We are privileged to have the opportunity to work with many great companies in various industries across Asia. Our executive search and board services offer the following advantages:

• Shortening the time required to find the right candidate.
• Saving time and effort for businesses.
• Ensuring confidentiality for difficult vacancies that companies do not want to advertise publicly.
• Ensuring high candidate compatibility compared to expectations.
• Bringing many innovations, new and breakthrough proposals to businesses.
• Helping businesses verify candidate reference information, ensuring part of the candidate’s capacity.

For clients, please contact us via email at SERVICES@nbvn.asia, and for candidates, please email us at PEOPLE@nbvn.asia. We will respond to your inquiry within 24 hours.