Four Questions Leaders Must Answer to Attract Top Talent
By Popular Demand: 30 More Free Books!!
30 free copies of Talent Magnet: How to Attract and Keep the Best People
Leave a comment on this guest post by Mark Miller to become eligible to win one of THIRTY complimentary copies of Talent Magnet: How to Attract and Keep the Best People.
(Deadline: 3/4/2018)
Last week’s winners have been notified!
*International winners will receive electronic versions.
In last week’s guest post, I shared one of the major finding from our Talent Magnet research: Top Talent wants a Better Boss. But what else?
One of the most important considerations for Top Talent, when deciding where to work, is the impact of today’s job on tomorrow’s opportunities. Top Talent is always pursuing a Brighter Future.
Top Talent has more of a future orientation than typical talent. Obviously, many organizations can benefit from an infusion of workers who are concerned about the future. The challenge is systematically and proactively helping Top Talent create their own preferred future while they serve the organization.
Realizing very few adults will remain in one organization throughout his or her career, Top Talent sees each role they accept as an opportunity to prepare for a Brighter Future. Therefore, they come to the job market with a different set of questions than others seeking employment.
If I take this job . . .
- How will I grow?
- How will I be challenged?
- What opportunities will I have?
- How will I be more employable in the future?
These questions, and others like them, will require many organizations to be more strategic in their people development.
While it is widely considered a “best practice” for individuals to own their personal development, Top Talent wants to know how the organization will help them grow. This assistance can take many forms, from in-house training classes to tuition reimbursement, coaching, mentoring, and more.
The point is not to think of one idealized Brighter Future and attempt to deliver it; the definition will vary from person to person.
What is required from you is a commitment to help your most talented people become the architects of their own future. Then, you will be well on your way to becoming a Talent Magnet!
How might leaders help talented people become architects of their own future?
Mark Miller is the best-selling author of seven books, an in-demand speaker, and the Vice President of High-Performance Leadership at Chick-fil-A. In his latest book, Talent Magnet: How to Attract and Keep the Best People, Mark reveals the three critical aspects of a true Talent Magnet, and explores the daily implications for leaders.
Always a hot topic as we must do more with less !
In and age of do more and more with less and less, it can be difficult to allow future thinkers time to think much about the future. Setting aside time to think about possibilities is crucial to long-term personal and professional growth.
How might leaders help talented people become architects of their own future? Challenge them and encourage them to move forward. Surround them with positive input from fellow workers, let them set the stage. As they say ” welcome to the circus”!
What an important question “How will I be more employable in the future”. I bet that is a seldom asked question from the current workforce. Great questions, they really make you think! Thanks for this great eye opener!
Looking forward to reading the secrets of attracting top talent. It is in the organization’s best interest to attract and develop the best employees. Curious about maintaining them in the company long term.
This topic is very relevant for me right now. I recently added a Top Talent person to my team and she is really making a difference. However, she is already looking for the next opportunity. Thanks for the insight on how I might convince her to stick around.
When I am interviewing folks I always try to find not only highly qualified and motivated people, but also people with the abilities to be a program builder. I really like these four questions and will address each of them from now on in my interviews.
I agree. We have to be the creators/architects of our own careers/development. However, if our organisations don’t provide something that a new recruit can generate development from, why would new talent join us?
Great questions Mark that I’m going to share with our hiring managers.
Very true – every role must give an individual opportunities to grow and enhance their personal brand, which leads to a more rounded, more employable contributor down the line.
I’m curious whether the research bore out that, along with a better boss, a brighter future, top talent wants to know that their work matters. I would guess that top talent needs to know they are doing work that has an impact, that it makes a difference, that something would be missing if they were not doing what they are doing. Top talent wants, no, needs to have a sense of context–how their work fits into a broader effort or mission. Top talent would want to be able to describe their work with words like: impact, value, and part of something bigger.
I like the questions and would later add, “how will WE accomplish these together?” Keeps Top Talent accountable for their own growth and development.
These are great questions to answer up-front in an interview (attracting talent – “selling” the opportunity) and to continue to address for the length of employment (retaining talent).
Sounds like a great book as this is always a hot topic of finding the best talent for the role you are hiring for, but also finding the best talent that will grow to take on more responsibility.
Mark’s observation is exactly right: “The challenge is systematically and proactively helping Top Talent create their own preferred future while they serve the organization” — with an emphasis on SERVING the organization. Attracting top talent is much simpler than attracting top talent that suits an organization’s culture and objectives. I’ve seen too many cases of self-serving “top” talent that did far more harm than good. Character matters, especially with top talent! I’ve also seen junior hires develop into remarkable top-talent performers. Giving junior hires the opportunity to plan for a brighter future could very well identify top talent from within to develop and mentor.
It is hard to attract the right person. Some are good at interviewing, but not so good with the work. Others don’t interview well, but are fantastic employees. I need team players more than I need one All Star player.
Good point, Duane. It is easy to make the mistake of hiring based on interviewing skill rather than on the basis of demonstrated promise of performance. This is one of the reasons why I really like the idea of using realistic simulations as part of the interview/screening process. Set them up in typical scenarios and see how they actually perform. Even if it is only a simulation, demonstration of the skill seems more important than demonstrating the ability to talk about it. Sorry about the stump speech but I also think most interviews put too much emphasis on spontaneous responses. If it’s a tough question and we want to see what sort of good deep thinking a person will put into something, send the question ahead of time. For us, this will be much more typical of what our employees will actually encounter. Most of our projects and initiatives require research, collaboration, engagement and planning. Those are the skills that matter to me.
I shared this article with my executive team and we decided to have a very focused discussion around this topic. I believe it will be very helpful for our strategic planning for our talent development. Thank you!
In a time where long-term tenure is less like than in the pass these are great questions to consider. They are not generation specific and apply to virtually all candidates. It conveys to potential hires a development environment and rather than just filling a spot we’re looking to build people up.
Awesome topic! The more you can hire and engage top talent from their first day, the better your organization is from the inside out!
Thank you for an insightful and informative article (and book) on this topic!
As a non profit organization, this is a topic that’s always in the forefront.
I guess it might seem pretty obvious but I think there is a key requirement of leaders who would be willing to give great answers to these questions: they must be secure enough to not feel threatened by encouraging and developing others.
In our field we are often the first entry level job for many employees, so the challenge includes seeing the potential in them , helping them develop the potential in them selves, then discovering and developing ways that our organization can help create that win win scenario to help them grow while they help our organization succeed.
What a subtle, but key difference in this perspective. Will think about how to implement it.
This is helpful. Because employees and employers do not “marry for life”, finding ways to hire and invest in future-thinking employees will still yield a ROI.
As a leader, challenging team members to do more with less is essential. Goals become standards, overachieving them becomes more of a creative internal challenge that must be supported and fed by leaders. This grows tomorrow’s leaders!
Also speaking from the non-profit field- Attracting talented/motivated people and providing opportunities for career development are crucial to our success. Marketing these areas in recruitment gives us a slight advantage in fields where competition for talent is fierce.
What a thoughtful approach to hiring, especially ensuring that we are catering it to the individual – not selling a ‘one size fits all’ approach!
Like the focus on the future but hope his work also includes building a strong foundation (the present) which serves as the platform from which to build.
Right person, right place and right time, right service provision. Can I grow if I take this position, what’s in it for me? Is this the best for me short term, long term, am I going to be able to achieve?
Great topic and advice that is much needed. Thank you!
How might leaders help talented people become architects of their own future?
Leaders must be held accountable to a growth mindset. Take the time to have conversations and get to know people. What’s their WHY? Take the time needed to bring opportunity in support those futures. Take the time to support, by celebrating success and picking them up after disappointment and failure (not just emotionally). TAKE TIME. Investing in top talent is just that, an investment. Investments take time.
The biggest challenge that I see is what I have seen at my company. You attract TT and then as you develop them they aren’t able to move up within our company so they look elsewhere. How can you help to retain that talent when you don’t have openings for them to pursue and move into and don’t have the financial ability to give them large enough raises and bonuses to what they deserve?
Seems we’re always self-managing in our digital age. Companies seem to take that commitment for granted in their employees. My first look at the company’s belly, is to get the best sense as I can as an outsider, on whether or not growth will be hindered or appropriately acknowledged. Shocking to me to realize how many entities not only don’t actively support growth, they hinder it. Perhaps not always with intentionality, but actually nonetheless. Why? Is my question. Why obstruct an employee’s growth?
As my company grows and expands, we are realizing that the talent we have may not always grow with us; this a refreshing and invaluable information to seek new talent as we also evolve with that growth.
Would love to win!
Great post! Thank you for your insight.
Fabulous! I love Mark Miller’s books. This is certainly a crucial topic in our cultural climate. Attracting and keeping skilled people on the team is vital for our success to achieve the vision. I’d love to win a copy of this book.
Wonderful! I can’t wait to read. I have always been attracted to organizations that promote growth and advancement.
Would be happy with a free book,
Does this “What is required from you is a commitment to help your most talented people become the architects of their own future. Then, you will be well on your way to becoming a Talent Magnet!” mean that a company needs a “Talent Magnet Manager” someone who actively managers the “Top Talent”, their involvement, their engagement, their future both in house and beyond? Seems like that is what is being said. So what talents should the “Talent Magnet Manager” have and where do you find such people. Seems to be much more than just your normal HR type guy to me?
Love it! Each individual presents with personal strengths, interests, and values. By employers and educators accessing strengths, interests and values, the path towards success is paved, resulting in a greater contribution to the organization and a higher level of engagement in our schools. A crucial factor to the success of our future employees! Thanks, Mark. #loveyourwork
Dear Dan,
An interesting thought-provoking post!
I feel attracting the right potential talents is the key to future success.
Two other factors that can help to get the best of good talents.
1. We need to have the best selection criteria to induct them in an organization and make them adapt to the work culture for them to contribute with innovation.
2. Groom them well to grow within and take the key role of leading the organization.
HR has a big role to play in this focused process of attracting, retaining and grooming the best talents.
I like the four questions – and I’m wondering how an employer might encourage a prospective employee to share these questions and the potential answers during an interview to best serve both parties. As always, thanks for the insight.
Dan,
I’m convinced this is true no matter what the field of employment is. I hire home health aides to care for seniors… most of them are not going to buy an island in the Bahamas to retire on with what I am able to pay them. However, I’ve found that within this culture of workers, the very best among them are asking the exact same questions you listed above.
I worked in the local church for nearly 25 years, and the same thing could be said for the very best that I worked with in that environment… From that environment, I would add a #5 to that list. I believe this would translate to most great talent… beyond the great questions:
How will I grow?
How will I be challenged?
What opportunities will I have?
How will I be more employable in the future?
When considering their own Bright Future, most of the best talent I’ve encountered understands that the brightness of their own future is directly affected by how much light they cast on others along the way… that being said, I think they, or I would add
5. How can I look for ways where my own growth will enhance, encourage and assist in the growth of others?
Thanks again for another great post!
Bingo!!!!
Not only are these very relatable questions, but ones that I would absolutely expect Top Talent material to be asking. Employers must create an environment where growth is expected and appreciated within their organizations. As leaders, we must also create and foster cultures on our teams where Top Talent desires to come because they see the opportunity for continued development and mentorship. Fantastic information!
Attracting and retaining top talent is an extremely important component to the formation of an engaging team and essential to fostering and empowerment culture within an organization. It’s important to promote this philosophy in all internal and external media so potential candidate don’t just hear it but see it in action.
In my organization, it seems that Top Talent is looking for top team members to work with in addition to a great boss. I have to disagree with the earlier comment that employees these days do not ask how their current job makes them more employable. At least in the legal field, there is a great deal of uncertainty and instability at the junior levels and my junior colleagues are very mindful about how their current work and the skills and experience they are gaining will affect their future prospects. I’m looking forward to reading more about how to attract and retain Top Talent.
Communicating and collaborating with talent in creating an environment where they flourish is important for their continuous growth and the organisations.
Help them become the best version of them. Find out where they want to go, starting with the end in mind. Ask for permission to coach. Individual coaching that stretches them and gets them to step slightly out of their comfort zone coupled with accountability.
Some hiring managers see ambition as a bad thing, thinking the new hire will leave after just a year or two. Instead, we should seek out those people and strive to give them advancement opportunities within the organization.
I think that its important to have a leader who is comfortable allowing me the autonomy I need to carry out my role knowing she is behind me when I fail (as I do sometimes) When this occurs I believe it develops a level of responsibility in me that in turn allows me to reflect on what I have learned and grow from that. I have this with my current leader and I always look to her as a mentor for how I lead my people also.
Mark Miller knows how to tell a story with profound leadership nuggets. I’ve read four of his books and have benefitted from his insights. A leader should make it his/her top priority to develop, nurture, attract and retain talent. The topic is certainly a timely one.
Attracting, retaining and growing talent is one of the most important aspects of what we do. Not doing it will assure mediocrity. Inspiring and leading it deliberately assures growth and success. People and their ability to have purpose and lead with purpose is integral.
Love the focus on the candidate/team member. In every interview I try to reinforce with candidates that it is critical to consider what they will get from the role and not just what we get from the candidate. We are also open about flaws we are growing through to ensure we have the right fit. The goal is that this frankness will help find the right candidates and eliminate regret on either side.
Top talent is eager to continue training. Managerial support for training budgets is essential for recruitment and retention. Candidates expect the opportunity to be supported in professional growth.
We keep learning that it is my responsibility to learn more about my team. As we learn then we have the opportunity to guide, challenge and give them to accomplish things they never knew they were capable of doing. We are able to help make them better in whatever field they choose to persue.
Focusing on the keeping top talent aspect of this, one issue I see is that top talent can be employees that looking for something other than, “How will I be more employable in the future?” As one that falls into the retire within ten years crowd, what I am looking for in my current position is how can what I do leave a legacy. How can I leave the organization in a better place than it currently is. I look at the first three items in the list (growth, challenges, and opportunities) and can check all of these boxes with my current employer. The last item (future employability) isn’t something I’m concerned about.
Very important to emphasize that employees must own their growth and development plan and not sit back and wait for growth opportunities to come to them — they must actively seek out those opportunities. That being said, it is important for organizations and leaders to be ready to articulate how they can support and encourage a future-oriented employee in achieving their development goals. Great post!
Mark, I believe that top talent leaders are pursuing a brighter future but not only for themselves. If their concerned is only self centred, they become egocentric and that is not good for the organization and they are no long “top” talent. Leaders must believe in themselves sufficiently to be responsible for their growth and organisations must willing to invest in their leaders. Leaders who are top talent are never concerned about being “employable in the future” because leaders who grow are leaders who are productive and productive people never cease to have opportunities.
I’ve commented once but wanted to add something from an old guys perspective. This is my 38th year in the “official” work world having graduated in May 1980 from the University of Michigan with an EE degree and thrown right into the work world. I’ve worked for large companies and small companies; building and starting up Steel mills, Nuclear power plants and wind farms. I’ve also spent time at an Operating Nuclear station and for the last 17 years been involved in the wind and now solar world. I’ve also worked overseas in Argentina, Taiwan (brought a wife out of Taiwan), Denmark, Germany and all over Canada along with most US States. For some reason I never really went into a job (including the one I currently hold) asking about training, where I can advance, what I need more; I just jumped into each job and succeeded with help I found from others around me and basically built my own success along the way. I was also able to look ahead at what I could add to my skill set and always asked for what more I could do expanding upon what I knew and felt the future direction was. I always seemed to morph into more and more responsibility and to different positions that just seem to present themselves to me. When I was bored I was able to expand my work to find even more and more interesting work (and at 60 continue to do so). Yes, bits and pieces of training but no real set pattern of advancement. Is this because I come from the old school area of time or did I just luck out with the positions, locations and challenges, I was (and continue to find) able to work on. Maybe the Zs and Millennials are just more in the know now and its a generational difference that was bound to happen with a changing world. Or maybe I’m an old anomaly cause my adult children (23 and 25) always say you are unique, driven and fast moving dad. Any thoughts?
This hits home for me, as I am looking for different opportunities. I tend to question the status quo and found some great challenges in my current role, but I’m becoming bored now that I have reached the other side of the challenges. Learning how to find a position that would adequately challenge me (and not time out after a year or five) would be a dream! How do you find those opportunities?
Important topic that needs to be addressed. Thanks for the article! Hopefully I can win the book and learn more.
I think it starts with a commitment to value Talent and a mindset that invests in others with a goal to leave them better than they were at the begining of their time with you.
Great post! I’ve been successful with Top Talent by starting the trust building process during the interviewing through vulnerability on my part. I believe that has helped add weight in the eyes of Top Talent when I address the questions put forth in this post.
Reflecting on question #3 “What opportunities will I have?”, I was recently asked a question I’ve never been asked in an interview. The Top Talent saw potential overlap between my role and the one for which he was interviewing and wanted comfort that, in his opportunities for growth, he’d have clear lanes of operation/ownership in which to build new skills without the two of us stepping on each others toes. My takeaway for future interviews was to present opportunities for growth that offer clear ownership (when possible).
While a whole bunch of signals were blinking, honking, and otherwise getting in my face, your archival post about “purposeful abandonment” (https://tinyurl.com/yc7zbkor) finally drove myself to pursue change. Today is my first day at a new job where I’m going to be asked to build a team, and fast. It is everything I have worked for and wished for…and I’m absolutely terrified! The big worry is finding the work to keep everyone employed. The firm is ready to make the investment. But…yikes! This is a book that is another of those signals, something I need to get on my shelf and fast.
I thank you for your leadership posts as these have helped me continue on my leadership mission of developing great leaders. My executive team is challenged to think how this affects their leadership style and how they can apply it to their everyday leadership opportunities they encounter.
Succession planning is integral to long term success of any business. the movers, shakers, those willing to take calculated risks must be engaged to form their future and that of the entity. They will eventually take our places. Recognize them and give them to tools they need to develop.
Good day,
I was struck by your 4 questions that Top Talent want to know before they accept a role.
How will I grow?
How will I be challenged?
What opportunities will I have?
How will I be more employable in the future?
I also believe that they should be showing the company, that by doing these positive things, they will help the talent improve the company as well. In many scenarios the decision makers may be an older generation that may only hear “me me me” in those questions.
By tying their growth and accomplishments to those of the company (for however long they stay) it helps make it more of a partnership for postive outcomes.
I add that they must show willingness to take on difficult projects & be uncomfortable in new situations in order to grow. And even do some things that the company needs that they may not be thrilled with (but within each person’s limits). This is the real world after all.
Best regards
Jennifer
“The point is not to think of one idealized Brighter Future and attempt to deliver it; the definition will vary from person to person.” I have a friend who is an adjunct professor of psychology. She taught me the “if we do it for one, we have to do it for all” mentality is fine for kindergartners, but not all employees have the same “why” for doing what they do. Know your employee’s “why?” Starting a family? Aging parents? Single and looking? College tuition reimbursement? Retirement planning? Bring your dog to work day (a real benefit in Silicon Valley!)? Free food?