Onboarding talented employees is an important aspect of any organization’s success. So much so that large companies have dedicated hiring managers overlooking the recruitment process to ensure they attract the best candidates.

If you are managing a design agency, your success runs on the productivity and creativity of your talent pool. Unfortunately, your competitors are also looking for that competitive edge and you will need to stand out to be seen by quality candidates.

In this article, we’ll take a look at how you can attract top talent to your design agency.

Money matters

Modern employees want transparency when discussing salaries and yearly reviews. If they are new to the workforce, expand on the amount that is withheld from the salaries as per payroll compliance. The competition for top talent is high, and it’s fair to say that you won’t attract the cream of the crop if you’re offering a wage that barely reflects the market rate – because they know their worth.

As employees nowadays emphasize work-life balance more than ever, companies have gotten creative with their compensation plans by providing them with perks such as memberships to health and wellness centers, housing assistance programs, and 401(k) matching.

The information you put in your job ad is crucial in attracting top talent. A study by Glassdoor found that based on several criteria, compensation and benefits are what most job seekers look for in job ads. While you might think that an applicant should inquire during an interview, a well-researched job seeker is already attracted to a competitor that has advertised a compensation package they find interest in.

Talent attracts talent

To attract talented individuals into your agency, you need a talented employee pool, to begin with. Top candidates are proactive by nature- they will research the people in an organization they want to work in. It is important that you have an attractive online presence. Preferably, a page on your website dedicated towards the entire team and their portfolios, or links to their social media accounts.

Encourage and incentivize your current employees to update their LinkedIn profiles frequently. While it benefits their own professional journey, potential hires that look into their profiles can gauge whether they will be a good fit with the team, thus saving you some of that stress in the hiring process. If your agency runs on positive company culture, your current employees will naturally be great company ambassadors.

Promote Flexibility

A growing number of employees (especially Millennials and Gen Zs) no longer find the traditional 9-5 office lifestyle attractive. This is especially true in the creative industry, where it makes no sense to box creatives in an environment or structure that doesn’t promote the free flow of ideas.

While your competitors insist on sticking to this seemingly archaic way of working, you can make yourselves stand out in the crowd by promoting a flexible working culture. Flexible as however you would like to define it. This means allowing your employees to work from home a few days a week, to be able to negotiate on their compensation packages and benefits.

It has also been shown that some people really are more creative at night than during the day, so the non-fixed working hours arrangement has been very popular lately!

Invest in Professional and Personal Development

High achievers have the innate drive to improve and look for more challenging opportunities. Once they have reached a certain level in their careers, salary reviews and bonuses will not be a strong enough factor for them to stay.

Part of your employment package should include initiatives for training and development. This could be in the form of annual industry events and conferences where they can meet industry leaders and gain insights into where their skills will be appreciated in the market in the near future.

Your employees will appreciate this gesture of responsibility as they represent your organization in the face of potential clients and business partners.

On a personal level, facilitate workshops and mentorship programs that can improve their wellbeing. As college students are graduating with more debt than ever, a key aspect they can improve on is financial management. While this may not directly improve their professional skills, showing that you care will increase job satisfaction and attract top talent.