How to attract the best professionals

Andi YP Martosubroto, Senior Consultant, Consult Group

As a senior consultant at an executive search company, my days are filled with interviewing candidates, trying to identify the right person for the right job.

In filling vacant posts, we do not rely on candidates already in our database, and instead we call a number of select companies where potential candidates may work.

When we finally manage to get through the receptionist, the overprotective secretary and all the other "security" layers, we have to introduce the opportunity and actually raise the candidate's interest in sending their resume and meeting us for an interview.

There are other situations in which potential candidates come to us headhunters, looking for a job. It could be that they read about a certain opening on our website, or heard some success story from their friends on how they landed a great new job through a certain headhunters, or it could simply be that they hate their job and are desperate to find new employment. Their motives are endlessly varied.

Why are these professionals looking for a new job? And on the flip-side of the same coin, why do many professionals refuse to leave their current jobs, no matter how many headhunters call them?

Many will argue that money is still the number one draw and while I do not totally disagree, I believe it is more a combination of several factors:

* Remuneration package: It is very important that the company offers a competitive remuneration package to attract and retain people. It is advisable to conduct comparative research into salary packages offered by similar companies in the same industry. Many consultancies offer specialized salary survey services.

* Career advancement: When a professional decides to join a new company, besides the immediate advantages such as salary and benefits, they will also look for future opportunities in career development at the company. Nobody wants a dead-end job.

* Personal development: Besides financial security and career advancement, good professionals will also look for continuous personal development. Obviously, this depends greatly on the individual, but the company should accommodate and capitalize on this trait through regular skills need analysis and in providing relevant, necessary training programs, whether internal or external. Equally important are performance appraisals.

Most people think that appraisals are simply a means to determine the margin of increase you will achieve this year. This is partially true, but more important is that an appraisal is a tool that enables employees and their immediate supervisors to agree on key performance indicators and targets that have been satisfied or overachieved and identify those that have not.

* Working environment: a conducive working environment can motivate professionals to perform at their best while driving them to achieve more than what is expected. There are many different factors that make for a good working environment.

Management must, for example, be sensitive and open in listening to ideas and feedback from their employees. Employees should not be kept in the dark in regards management decisions and when possible, they should be involved at certain levels of decision-making. This will create a sense of belonging and so ensure that employees will always act for the company's interests.

Even if these factors may vary from company to company in their weight of importance, as long as a company endeavors to provide a combination, they will be sought out by professionals and have a better chance at attracting the best candidates.

Similarly, if a company does not want to lose its best employees, then they need to take a look at the company and ensure that the same criteria are met.