How to Attract the Best Talent to Your Team

Amber Olson Rourke is the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Neora — an award-winning skincare and wellness solutions company with headquarters in Addison, Texas. Amber is responsible for Neora’s branding, creative services, communications, public relations, events, digital marketing and social media. 

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Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe

As a leader, for sure, you’ll want to surround yourself with individuals who will help you reach the next level. For this reason, it’s essential you attract the best of the best or the A-team — a fierce group of men and women who are innovative, creative in their problem solving, and supporters of the team’s vision. Sometimes, it’s harder to spot individuals that will drive success and you may end up with a group of problem gatherers instead of problem solvers. Avoid such a costly mistake with these five tips to help you attract the best talent to your team.

1. Be the Leader You Want to Attract

Without a doubt, people are attracted to the positive energy they see in others. Once you possess that energy, it’s imperative to hold on to it and cultivate it through continuous growth and development. Every next level of your life requires the next level of you. That’s why continuous growth and development are essential. Neora Founder and CEO Jeff Olson writes in his New York Times bestselling book, The Slight Edge, that doing something as seemingly insignificant as reading ten pages of a good book every day will have a significant impact on your life because you’re devoting time to personal growth and development.

Additionally, like attracts like – meaning that if you’re a hardworking positive person committed to personal development and growth, you will attract people of a similar mindset. If your team isn’t living up to their potential, look into a mirror and ask yourself this: what energy are you putting out there? If you want to attract the best of the best, you need to live up to your potential.

2. Value Will as Much as Skill

People fundamentally underestimate will. Seriously. I would take will — i.e., the desire and passion that drive people forward — over skill any time of the day. Skills can be taught. Will cannot. Think about it: will equals the faith and burning desire that motivates people to reach to the depths of the earth to get things done. That’s the person you want on your team! In your search for an A-team, look for those individuals who can catch the vision, believe the vision, and run toward the vision. Having the skills are great! But, again, I’ll always pick will, passion, and a burning desire any day of the week.

3. Establish Yourself as a Brand

Your emotions and thoughts are the essences of your brand. Here’s an important question: what do you want others to think about you professionally? People are attracted to other people and not necessarily a business. To establish yourself as a brand, start by boosting your presence. Here are a few tips:

• Your Social Media: Develop your brand on social media including utilizing Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Considering all the different types of social media platforms available, these three platforms can be your most valuable online tools.
• Your Public Personality: First and foremost, be friendly and engage with your audience! Remember, most people are interested in you as a person. Therefore, your brand should, of course, incorporate what you do but definitely also tell the story of what you’re passionate about! Here’s one way to look at: your business should be a commercial in your life’s movie. Share your story, invite people to engage with you, and mix in a few engaging posts about your business. Furthermore, it’s super-important to follow up and engage with your audience to keep the dialogue going. Finally, consistency is key. Plan out one week at a time but be consistent with your quality and quantity of content.

Offline:

• Elevator Pitch: In a minute or less, can you relay your vision in a succinct message of value about what it is you do? Imagine you’re at a dinner party: a prospective client walks over to you and introduce themselves and then proceeds to ask you about your business, what will your response be? Can you hook them in less than 60 seconds? Write down or record your response and submit it in the comment section below. One person will receive a personal message, from me, offering feedback in addition to a prize!

4. Never Miss a Chance to Connect

As an entrepreneur, you should have the mindset of a connector. In other words, you need to cultivate relationships and develop networks where ever you go! Currently, I’m reading a wonderful book called “Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time.” It’s worth a read! In a nutshell, the author explains that if you’re not working, you have an opportunity to connect with another person whether they be a prospective customer, mentor, industry expert, friend — it doesn’t matter. As an entrepreneur, making connections are critical to your success, development, and growth.

5. Bigger than a Business

Today’s reality is that people, especially millennials, require more than just a 9-to-5 job. As an entrepreneur, you have to offer something bigger than a business. You must provide people with the purpose and meaning of the business. Share it loud and proud! I’m often surprised by how much extra time people are prepared to offer if they believe that their work and contributions matter. Once people realize their actions impact the world, their commitment and dedication significantly grow. If you haven’t already, check out Neora’s non-profit organization, The Neora Ripple Foundation. As a company, our mission is not only to help people look and feel better but also live better which is why Neora is one of the largest corporate contributors to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. Collectively, we’re making the world a better place, one step at a time! That’s a mission others want to be a part of.

Don’t forget to answer the question above to win this month’s prize (which will be revealed soon) in addition to receiving your own personal message with feedback on your elevator pitch. If you have any suggestions for future #realchats topics, let me know!