Experienced business owners know the most important asset of any business is its people. As your business grows, the size of your team tends to grow, too. Like many companies right now, though, you may be experiencing high turnover rates or struggling to find candidates that are a good fit. Unfortunately, that means you’re missing out on the most critical resource to help your business succeed.

To attract first-rate candidates to your job openings, it’s essential to create engaging hiring tools that reflect the values and qualities that best fit the culture of your organization. If you’re relying on standardized job templates and bare-bones descriptions, it may be time to rethink your digital hiring strategy – and we’re here to help.

Lead with Values

According to the Law of Attraction, the energy you put out into the world is the same energy you receive from others in return. In essence, you get back what you put into the world. It’s a good mantra to live by in general, but in your hiring search, this line of thinking is especially helpful for understanding how to attract the right candidates. When posting about the job, communicate your company’s values as clearly as possible in order to attract potential applicants who hold similar attitudes. From there, the candidates can recognize the kind of worker you’re looking for and evaluate whether they’ll fit your expectations before they even begin the application process.

Optimize Your Job Posting

These days, most candidates will discover your open job positions through an online search. When you create a listing for a position, be sure to use a straightforward and searchable job title to make sure your post reaches as many relevant users as possible. You’ll also want to include a short yet descriptive and brand-appropriate job description. The goal is to grab candidates’ attention quickly without bogging them down in minute details, but still providing the most important information from the get-go.

Perfect Your LinkedIn Presence

While they’re browsing for jobs online, many candidates will research the companies that catch their attention. Typically, the first place they’ll turn to is LinkedIn. If you choose to list or advertise your job opening on LinkedIn, this will make it even easier for them to click over to your company page. To further communicate what your company is all about, make sure you update your LinkedIn page regularly. Some of the best things you can post about to attract strong candidates include your existing employees’ achievements, testimonials from your team endorsing the work environment, and other content that showcases your company culture. If candidates can look back and see you have a history of supporting your people – and your people eagerly supporting the business in return – your company immediately becomes a more appealing option for them.

Show the “Real Life”

While you’re bragging on your current employees, you might also consider posting about their activities in their everyday lives (with their permission, of course). For example, if an employee achieves an exciting feat like running a marathon or being honored at an event, show your support publicly on your social channels. This can illustrate that your company supports work-life balance, which is especially important if you want to attract younger employees. According to Forbes, half of Gen Z candidates consider work-life balance to be one of the most important parts of a company’s culture.

Tapping into employees’ “real life” can also be a way to directly access great candidates. When you have open positions, be sure to ask your team members if there’s anyone in their network they could refer. More than likely, your best workers will have connections that could bring a similar strong work ethic or background to the role. According to LinkedIn, 48 percent of businesses cite employee referrals as their best source of quality workers.

Use Your Own Website

The truth is, job listing templates on the major aggregators only allow for so much information and creativity. If you really want to pull in high-quality candidates, we recommend using these sites to drive applicants to a more engaging experience on your own website or landing page. The post on the job site can include some of the details discussed above, but instead of completing an application directly through the platform, potential applicants will follow a well-placed link to your company’s website. On that page, you can show more videos, images and testimonials about your values and culture. By requiring one extra step in the application process, you can set expectations of the kind of employee you’re looking for and weed out people who mass-apply to every job on the aggregators. With these added distinguishing branded elements, you’ll have a better chance of winning over the most desirable candidates.