Great candidates have many options when considering a new job. Richard Triggs MAICD, founder and CEO of executive search specialists Arete Executive, says these five simple strategies will help organisations improve their ability to attract and retain top performers.
1. Use LinkedIn to sell yourself as a leader of choice
Most senior executives and board directors have a LinkedIn profile. Yet for the vast majority, their profile is just a summary of their career history, with limited detail about their career achievements and what makes them an excellent leader.
When a prospective employee looks at your LinkedIn profile, they ask themselves, “Is this person reputable? Can they mentor and coach me to achieve my highest potential? Can they solve the problems I’m currently experiencing in my career?”
You need to make sure your LinkedIn profile can pre-emptively answer these questions as quickly and positively as possible, as they apply to your employees of choice.
2. Ensure consistency of brand message across
LinkedIn profiles Most people write their own profiles, but many are not very good at it.
Have your marketing team, in conjunction with your HR team, determine what message you want to “sell” to prospective employees, then incorporate that into the profiles of your executives and board members.
You need to “sell the sizzle, not the steak” and ensure candidates are seeing that “sizzle” when investigating your organisation.
3. Dedicate a page on your website to attracting candidates
Companies spend a tremendous amount of money building and maintaining websites targeting their customers of choice.
Few spend anything to target their employees of choice. Are the profiles of your executives and board members easy to find and do they present them as employers of choice? Is your company doing new and innovative things, are you passionate about diversity, do you have an exciting and engaging vision and values?
Especially in the current market, what are you doing around workplace flexibility — working from home, telecommuting and so on? Be proud and shout it out loud.
4. Utilise social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram
Have you considered having a company podcast, where not only the executive and board teams, but also more junior employees can be interviewed about new projects, exciting achievements and why they love working for your company?
What about a video series on YouTube that does the same? If someone in your business wins a sporting challenge or does something great for charity, consider posting about it on Instagram as well as on LinkedIn.
Candidates love this stuff. Why are you an exciting company to work for? What makes you innovative and “sexy”? Again, shout it out loud.
5. Get your executives into the market
Are your executive leaders committed to building their own brands as leaders of choice? Are they speaking at conferences, appearing on podcasts or writing blogs?
If employees are your greatest asset, set KPIs around each leader’s activities in doing such tasks. “What gets measured gets done”. It is not enough for senior leaders to say they are “too busy doing their day job”.
Perhaps they would be less busy and could focus on more strategic imperatives if they were attracting the top talent to allow them to do so.
Following these five easy, inexpensive steps will greatly enhance your own and your organisation’s profile. Attracting and retaining top talent can deliver a strategic advantage over your competitors, it makes sense to give it the attention it deserves.
This article first appeared under the headline ‘Five ways to attract top performers to your board and executive team’ in the March 2025 issue of Company Director magazine.
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