I never "hire" people... I RECRUIT. HR does the hiring AFTER I've recruited them. Being prepared to properly interview candidates is how you find the best and brightest. It's not just reviewing their resume... but having prepared questions for them. See if they have done their homework on your company and the job. Are they fighting for the position or just "hoping" to get it? I always asked detailed questions about our company to see if they have done their homework. If they want to work for us... what do they know about our company? They should be able to specifically answer questions about us. All the answers are on our website. If they really want the job they should have at least done some research to show me they came prepared to not only talk about themselves... but also about our company and what they know about the specific job they are applying for. If they don't do their homework for the interview... that tells you a lot.

There really has been a big shift in how organizations are attracting talent particularly with a tight job market with lower unemployment rate and a demand for STEM jobs. According to research under the current job market its 90% candidate driven which means they are picking your company. The shift is to providing a great candidate experience they are being treated like customers. Some tactics used is the use of social platforms (i,e, LinkedIn) to attract talent to the company by posting info on breakthrough achievements or work done in the community. Companies are showcasing there current talented employees by telling their stories on type of work they do, their interest, why the company is great place to work. Allowing candidates to join a "Talent Community" to receive regular updates on the company with interesting topics about the industry, professions, company, etc. These tactics have been effective to increase the candidate pool and to build the employment brand.

I did some work at a previous company around creating the 'Best Workplace', This eventually evolved into 'Best Workplace for High-performers'. This is based on the belief that High-performers have different engagement drivers. If these drivers can be isolated, then you can recruit for them.

I decided to explore this belief. At another previous company I worked at, we had an engagement survey which allowed us to isolate engagement drivers by organizational group. We decided to create an artificial group made up of high-performers across the company (defined as top 25% based on previous performance assessment). We then examined their particular engagement drivers and the results were fascinating because they were markedly different than the company's baseline engagement drivers.

High-Performer engagement drivers

1. I have an opportunity to keep my skills cutting edge
2. I have the opportunity build a career here (over and above my current job)
3. I believe promotions are based on merit vs any other reason
4. My manager helps me remove roadblocks to my top performance
5. I would recommend working here to my friends and colleagues

You can recruit for these drivers