Ultimate Guide to Hiring & Retaining Marketing, Sales & Tech Talent

18th Jun 2024

In today's competitive market, attracting and retaining top marketing talent is essential for companies aiming to stay ahead. Skilled marketing professionals drive growth, innovation, and brand visibility, making them invaluable assets.

A robust hiring process is crucial for attracting high-quality candidates and ensuring they are a good fit for the organisation. A clear and efficient hiring process reduces time-to-hire and improves candidate experience, making it more likely that top talent will accept offers. Additionally, a well-structured hiring process helps in accurately assessing candidates' skills and cultural fit, leading to better hiring decisions and reduced turnover. According to the Cronofy Candidate Expectations Report 2023, 72% of candidates say the smoothness of an interview process affects their final decision on whether to accept a job. This underscores the importance of a streamlined and candidate-friendly recruitment process.

Beyond hiring, retaining marketing talent is equally vital. Offering competitive benefits, building an inclusive culture, and providing transparent career progression are key strategies to keep employees engaged and committed. The importance of flexible work arrangements cannot be overstated, especially for Gen Z, who prioritise flexibility, work-life balance, and professional development opportunities.

This guide offers a comprehensive overview of effective strategies for hiring and retaining marketing talent. By implementing these best practices, companies can put themselves in the best position to attract, hire, and retain the marketing professionals.

Hiring Talent

Crafting a Job Description

The foundation of successful hiring starts with a well-crafted job description. A precise and compelling job description not only attracts the right candidates but also sets clear expectations. When writing a job description for marketing roles, focus on the following elements:

Use clear and concise language: Detail major projects and responsibilities rather than only day-to-day tasks and write in a manner that will excite readers about the role.
Specifics on location and working policy: Candidates appreciate job descriptions that include information about the location, hybrid, or remote working policies.
Salary transparency: Ensure that salary ranges are clearly advertised. Including salary information can attract more candidates and set clear expectations.
Essential requirements: List mandatory skills and experience requirements clearly.
Avoid vague titles and unclear expectations: Make job titles crystal clear and understandable to those outside your business.
Highlight standout benefits: Include any unique benefits such as equity, flexible working arrangements, or professional development opportunities.
Inclusive language: Use language that promotes diversity and inclusion and encourages a wider pool of applications.

If you would like a member of Pivotal’s expert recruitment team to review your job description, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Interviewing

Interviewing is a critical step in assessing a candidate's fit for the role and your organisation. Effective interviewing techniques can help you identify top talent and ensure a positive candidate experience.

To effectively assess a candidate’s expertise, use competency-based questions that require them to showcase their industry experience and provide real-life examples. Questions such as:

“Can you describe a successful marketing campaign you led and its impact?”
“Why are you interested in our company?”
"Tell me about a challenging situation you faced in your previous role and how you handled it."

Can help you understand their skills and motivations. Best practice suggests having a structured interview process with two to three stages. Initially, conduct a preliminary video interview to assess basic qualifications and cultural fit. Follow this with a more in-depth interview, either via video or in-person, diving deeper into the candidate's skills and experience, possibly involving task-based assessments. Conclude with a comprehensive final interview, involving key team members to ensure alignment with company values and goals.

Further, if you include too many stages in your hiring process, you risk losing the interest of candidates, and the likelihood of them accepting alternative offers. According to Cronofy, 49% of candidates left the recruitment process when it took too long to schedule an interview.

Communication and Feedback

To ensure a positive candidate experience, provide timely feedback after each interview round, and maintain clear communication about timelines. In your communication, be professional yet approachable, and pitch the company and role to the candidate. It’s important to remember that interviewing is a two-way street, candidates will base their perception of the company on their experience and the overall quality of communication.

Importantly, a strong candidate experience should be extended to all candidates, including those that are rejected for the role. If candidates complete several stages of a hiring process, only to receive an automated rejection email with no feedback, it’s likely that they will complain about it to their peers. Poor word-of-mouth can influence others to not apply for your roles in the future. On the other hand, candidates who are treated well throughout the process and kept informed in a timely manner, are much more likely to speak positively about your company, which strengthens your brand as a good place to work.

Extending an Offer

When extending an offer, it’s important to be clear and punctual. Candidates typically look for competitive compensation, clear career progression opportunities, flexible working arrangements, and robust learning and development programmes. When communicating an offer, it’s worth highlighting all these things and how the company can accelerate their career.

It’s also crucial to maintain consistency and transparency throughout the process. Here are the key steps companies should follow:

Maintain consistency: The salary and benefits package should align with what was discussed during the interview process. Shifting the goalposts and changing the terms at the last stage can damage trust and deter top candidates.
Comprehensive package presentation: Share the complete offer package, including details on salary, holiday packages, medical benefits, and any other perks. Highlighting all aspects of the offer helps candidates see the full value of joining your company.
Timely offers: Ensure the offer is extended within a sensible timeline after the final interview. Ideally, this should be within a few days, not weeks. A prompt offer demonstrates your commitment and keeps candidates engaged.

By following these steps, companies can effectively sell the role and secure top marketing talent.

Onboarding

A robust onboarding process is essential for integrating new hires and setting them up for success. Effective onboarding includes engaging new hires before their start date with welcome messages and introductory materials. Provide a clear onboarding plan that covers initial training, key contacts, and early goals. Implement a buddy system, pairing new hires with experienced team members who can offer guidance and support. This approach helps new employees feel welcomed and prepared, increasing their likelihood of long-term success within your company.

According to Aptitude Research, 86% of employers believe that new hires make the decision to stay at a company in their first 90 days.

Therefore, an effective onboarding process significantly impacts retention, yet many companies underinvest in onboarding. Providing a positive onboarding experience sets the tone for an employee’s journey with the company and will help them hit the ground running and reduce the rate of new hires leaving within their first year.

DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)

A commitment to DE&I not only attracts a diverse talent pool but also fosters an inclusive workplace culture. In the hiring process, consider using blind CVs and using inclusive language when writing job descriptions to appeal to a broader audience.

Additionally, train hiring managers on DE&I principles by inviting external speakers in, establish diversity committees, and recognise various cultural and religious events within the company. These initiatives help create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all employees. Alternatively, seeking advice from a specialist recruitment agency like Pivotal can help you ensure that your DE&I initiatives are hitting the mark in the hiring process.

Furthermore, it’s a good idea to showcase industry press coverage, share success stories, CSR/sustainability activities, and promote your DE&I initiatives. Demonstrating a commitment to flexibility and employee development can significantly enhance your appeal to diverse range of talent.

Retaining Talent

Offer Competitive Benefits

If salary is a considerable driver in attracting candidates to a company, competitive benefits can be a difference-maker in retaining top marketing talent.

Some of the most sought-after benefits are comprehensive health insurance, paid parental leave, and generous vacation days. Flexible working arrangements, such as remote work and flexible hours, are highly desired. Consider offering a ‘work from anywhere’ policy, allowing employees to work from different locations for a certain amount of time each year. Exemplifying this, LinkedIn’s Future of Recruiting report highlights that the importance of flexible work as an EVP grew by 10% among all job seekers and 14% among Gen Z job seekers from 2021 to 2023.

Professional benefits are often highly valued by talent, and opportunities for professional growth, such as workshops, courses, and certifications, can go a long way to helping employees see their long-term future at the company. For senior employees, bonuses, stock options, and retirement plans can further enhance your benefits package.

A key point is that each employee is at a different life stage and has different interests. By offering a robust and balanced selection of benefits, and by conducting surveys and taking on feedback from employees, companies can gain considerable insight into what works and what doesn’t. With an agile mindset towards benefits, companies can stay ahead of the competition by not focusing on out-of-date benefits and emphasising what is important to their key talent.

Transparent Career Progression

Transparency in career progression is vital for retaining ambitious employees. Implement clear pathways for advancement by conducting regular performance reviews to discuss career goals and progress. Create individualised career development plans outlining steps for career growth and utilise internal promotions to show commitment to employee development. Provide examples of successful career trajectories within the company, demonstrating the potential for growth and advancement. This transparency helps employees see a clear future within the company, increasing their motivation and loyalty.

By focusing on employee development, companies can identify and nurture potential from within the organisation. This strategy promotes horizontal and diagonal career moves, creating access to skills needed within the organisation. According to AI HR, this proactive approach links mobility practices to workforce planning, enabling companies to pool and access talent effectively.

Appeal to Gen Z

As Gen Z enters the workforce, understanding their unique preferences is key to attracting and retaining them. Gen Z typically values purpose and impact, sustainability and authenticity, technology and innovation, and work-life balance. Emphasise how their work contributes to larger company goals and societal impact and highlight the use of innovative practices within your company. Offer flexible working arrangements and emphasise a healthy work-life balance, showing your commitment to their well-being. As discussed in LinkedIn’s Future of Recruiting report, Gen Z won’t compromise on their principles for a job, and they are 36% more likely to prioritise advancement opportunities and 34% more likely to prioritise skill development opportunities compared to other generations.

Gen Z are massive consumers of social media, highlighting the importance of a strong employer brand. This reflects a robust employee value proposition (EVP), and helps you attract and retain top talent. Companies with a strong employer brand see a 43% decrease in hiring costs, according to AI HR. This, in turn, leads to more referrals and positive publicity.

Next Steps

Hiring and retaining top marketing talent requires a strategic approach that includes crafting compelling job descriptions, conducting effective interviews, and creating a winning culture. Offering competitive benefits, transparent career progression, and appealing to the needs of younger generations are crucial for attracting and retaining the best candidates. Partnering with an expert recruitment agency can further streamline this process, providing valuable insights and access to a broader talent pool.

When it comes to success, hiring the right people is everything, and having a reliable recruitment partner can make all the difference. By implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, hiring managers and talent professionals can enhance their ability to attract, hire, and retain top marketing talent, ensuring long-term success for their organisations. Expertise goes a long way to achieve this goal, and if you’d like to discuss your hiring strategy in more detail with a member of our team, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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