31 of March, 2025

The current job market is defined by a shortage of talent. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find the right candidate and the selection process is more complex. And when we find the suitable candidate, it’s not easy to attract and retain them in our ranks. In such a context, attracting and retaining talent becomes even more important.

Talent should be a strategic priority in any organization. Executives and leaders should be aware of the importance of attracting and motivating staff.

Creating the ideal context for the best workers to develop their talent within the company’s framework.

Attract and recruit candidates: what is talent?

Before looking at how to attract candidates to a company, it is useful to define the concept of talent. It could be said that it is the characteristic that defines people whose capabilities will improve the company’s results. A professional committed to skills that make a difference.

Talent develops from three pillars: capabilities, commitment, and action. Thus, our talent attraction strategies should start with the search for skilled people.

Human talent retention strategies will seek to foster commitment and drive actions to put it into practice.

Managing talent involves identifying these capabilities in our own staff. It also entails pinpointing the desirable capabilities that we lack.

From there, we can start the search for talent, attract and select staff. Once recruited, we will have to retain them in the organization.

For all of this to be possible, it is essential to hire the right people. Human Resources must be aware of the profiles it needs and the characteristics that best fit them.

Strategies for attracting candidates to a company

Does each stage of the hiring process fall short of expectations? One of the most common problems when activating a recruitment process is not finding the right talent.

A talented worker is a committed professional who puts their capabilities into practice to improve the organization’s results. Both recruitment and retention in the company should be two strategic objectives for any reputable company.

Create a culture of talent

Therefore, the creation and development of a talent culture is one of the organization’s missions. We will need to know how to attract and retain talent to develop a series of strategies and programs.

In many companies, there is a “Talent Development Center” that is responsible for working towards talent development. To make the talent culture a reality, we must adhere to four basic premises:

Work on employer branding. If we have a strong employer brand, known for its benefits and good atmosphere in the organization, it will be easier for us to attract talent.
Know our team. Being aware of the internal talent, but also its absence or the team’s deficiencies, allows us to direct the staff selection process to cover these needs.
Continuous and personalized learning. It is one of the company’s great values. Beyond the initial training you may offer, nurturing talent is something that must be done in the long term. A training plan for employees must be designed.
Values. The company and employees should share a set of values that allow us to enjoy the culture of talent, starting with effort. These are values that can be summarized in the company-employees relationship.

Technology can help us in the staff recruitment process. Even so, we must not overlook these aspects we have just seen, the keys to attracting the best talent that we will delve deeper into soon. All aspects of this list will need to be worked on. This is where employer branding, the corporate image, comes into action.

Employer branding to attract and retain talent

This concept refers to a company’s brand as an employer. It conveys a positive image to customers, but also to our potential workers.

In fact, its goal is to attract and retain talent. To this end, we will try to present the best image possible.

The corporate image on our website or social networks is a powerful tool. Also, the opinions of workers and former employees. Especially from the latter. If they speak well of us despite not continuing in the organization, we score a big point.

We must strive to convey a positive image. The more reputation we have, the easier it will be for us to attract the best talent. The corporate culture or the commitment to social problems add points when reinforcing the employer branding.

Working on employer branding has countless advantages for any company. One of the most significant is that a good reputation attracts the best talent. The fact of offering certain benefits or practices will invite the best professionals to participate in your staff selection process.

A good investment in marketing will allow you to gain a reputation as a company, also reaching customers. Many of them will prefer to buy from a brand with a good reputation rather than from a competitor where the workers do not receive the same care.

Corporate culture is fundamental in the business strategy. Within these good practices, corporate culture contributes to creating employer branding. For example, if we defend values such as family reconciliation, it is logical to offer workers the possibilities of having a flexible schedule or working from home.

There’s no need to opt for a radical change in our way of working, we can apply low-impact measures such as casual dress code, free birthday day, team meals every month, etc. The impact of these measures on potential candidates is significant.

Professional development plan

Throughout the various phases of the staff selection process, we will identify the possible shortcomings of the different candidates. But, also their strengths. Offering a talent development plan by competencies to potential workers -and fulfilling it- is another way to attract talent.

A worker will prefer a company that will invest in them, that will allow them to develop their skills and talents, as well as progress, over another where they will not receive this training and where progress will be very difficult.

Relations within the company

During the staff selection process, we can identify the worker’s personality and know if they will fit in with the team. Recruiters should be capable of creating a good relationship with candidates from the beginning of the process, something that can be crucial in attracting the best talent.

If the recruiter has an arrogant or pretentious attitude, the candidate may back off and leave the recruitment process to stay at their company. The opposite might happen if they have a proactive attitude, involving the candidate.

Giving recognition

Lack of recognition is a serious reason for leaving any company. Many people feel undervalued in their jobs, and seek employment where they can get this recognition. Therefore, our employee retention strategy should include recognition for the workers.

Here, the most straightforward point is to think about bonuses and salary supplements. However, money can’t buy everything, and there are other benefits to consider. Here are some proposals that will help us to reinforce the employees’ commitment:

Compensation and benefits

As you well know, these are two key elements for the retention and attraction of talent, so it should not surprise us that they occupy this position. They are two aspects that we should not overlook if we want to fulfill this task.

The inflationary rise of recent months makes it increasingly important to offer our workers adequate compensation.

In fact, in countries like the USA, there is a trend to review workers’ wages more frequently. Annual reviews are a thing of the past, as the rise in prices makes it difficult for a single improvement per year to keep up with the pace of prices.

Another reason to adequately compensate our team are the job opportunities in other companies. And this is where benefits come in to play.

Where salary doesn’t quite reach, it is possible to reach with employee benefits. Indeed, benefits are yet another reason to retain staff and prevent them from moving to other companies where they will not enjoy the same advantages.

Continuous evaluation of the retention strategy

Our retention strategy cannot be oblivious to the short-term vision often held by workers. The reward system must be consistent and permanent.

Workers need to know when and why they will be rewarded; we can’t offer a completely random reward system.

It’s not uncommon for an employee to change jobs because they don’t see a direct relationship between their job performance and their remuneration or rewards.

Nor are they willing to wait months for this recognition, there is a need for constant feedback which includes the recognition of successes through benefits.

Bear in mind that the retention strategy is subject to constant reevaluations so as not to become outdated. We should periodically analyze both the wage compensation and the rest of the benefits we offer, and make sure that the workers feel valued.

Listening to them and addressing their demands or requests will help us in our employee retention strategy.

The ultimate goal of the strategy should be to retain talent and achieve the various objectives of the organization. For this reason, we can’t just resort to raising wages or offering bonuses, instead, we must look beyond payroll.

By designing a compensation and benefits system in line with the company’s objectives, it will be easier for us to retain the right talent to meet these goals.

Optimize your company’s human talent retention

Generally, retention of talent in companies goes hand in hand with attraction. Fulfilling what was promised when attracting it is the first step to retaining it. Often, we think that the most challenging part is attracting talent. However, retaining it requires significant effort.

It is vital to start with the onboarding. Making the adaptation of the new worker easier so that they feel comfortable from day one.

We will care for talent from the beginning. Having the support of colleagues and leaders is key. The role of a mentor can be very important.

We have previously mentioned the importance of a good work environment. If talent feels comfortable, they will be able to develop with no issues. We will also fulfill the proposed career plan.

Human talent retention strategies also involve empowering the worker. A good leader will place their trust in the most talented workers.

They will motivate and guide the team towards the results that the company seeks. Transparency and internal communication are non-negotiable.

Here we can add feedback and performance evaluation. The leader’s feedback will contribute to creating better workers. The performance evaluation will allow employees to maximize their talent. It can also be used to identify and boost hidden talents.

Finally, it is important to note the significance of listening to workers. If we want to create an environment where they feel comfortable, we must listen to their proposals and demands. And provide a justified response to all of them. Only in this way will we manage to establish talent and unlock its maximum potential.

Professional with over 20 years of extensive experience in various areas of Human Resources (Recruitment, Training, Occupational Risk Prevention, and Personnel Management). Experience in the Management Department: Broad understanding of the company and HR.

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cristinamartin

HR Content Specialist

Strategies to attract and retain talent in the organization