7 Ways to Attract and Retain Top Talent (That Work Better Than Job Ads)

The Problem with Job Ads

If you’re like most CEOs, you’ve posted your fair share of job ads. Maybe you’ve spent hours drafting the perfect description—only to end up screening hundreds of résumés from candidates who look great on paper but underdeliver in person. Or worse, you get next to no applicants at all, leaving you scrambling to fill crucial roles. This approach has become so commonplace that we assume it’s the only way to hire.

But here’s the truth: relying solely on job ads to find top talent is like fishing with a dull hook—you might catch something, but it’s rarely that prized, elusive catch. The best people—those A-players at Netflix, Shopify, and Google—are rarely on job boards. They’re busy crushing it in their current roles or waiting for a compelling opportunity to tap them on the shoulder.

So why keep playing hiring roulette? Today, we’ll explore better ways to attract and retain top talent—methods that don’t depend on job ads as your only lifeline. Implement these strategies, and you’ll do more than fill seats; you’ll build the kind of organisation where in-demand professionals want to work.

1. Build an Employer Brand That Works for You 24/7

Employer branding can feel like a buzzword, but it’s actually your silent, round-the-clock recruiter. The question isn’t whether you have an employer brand—it’s what your brand says about you. If top candidates hear crickets or don’t see why you’re any different from the next company, they won’t bother applying. They have options, and they’re evaluating you as much as you’re evaluating them.

Case in Point: Oatly isn’t just selling oat milk; they’re selling a mission—healthier lifestyles, sustainability, a quirky sense of fun. That ethos bleeds into everything they do, from product packaging to how they talk about workplace culture. So when potential hires peek inside Oatly, they see a company with values they can rally behind—not just a place to grab a paycheque.

Stat Check: Companies with a strong employer brand see 50% lower cost-per-hire and 28% lower turnover. Imagine funneling those savings into growth projects or better perks, rather than endless recruitment cycles.

Building a 24/7 Magnet

• Transform Your Careers Page: Make it a sales page, not a laundry list of qualifications. Highlight your mission, your values, and the success stories of real employees.
• Showcase Your People: Your own team can be your best ambassadors. Capture genuine testimonials, stories, or day-in-the-life snippets.
• Stay True to Your DNA: Are you big on innovation? Community impact? Personal growth? Whatever your core is, make it shine in your branding.

Now imagine your LinkedIn inbox automatically filled with messages like, “I’ve been following your culture for a while; I’d love to join if you’re hiring.” That’s the power of a brand that tells the world why working with you is more than just a paycheque.

2. Leverage Your A-Players to Attract More A-Players

Think about the best person on your team—the one who consistently delivers, raises the bar, and never backs away from a challenge. Chances are, they know people like themselves. In fact, Google basically built its hiring strategy on referrals. They know a top performer’s network is a treasure trove of talent—people who share similar drive and skill.

Yet many CEOs either don’t have a formal referral program or make it so broad it loses impact. The key is to tap your A-players specifically. Challenge them: “Who’s the smartest person you’ve ever worked with—and what will it take to get them here?” Offer a compelling bonus or perk, and watch how quickly they reach out to their network.

Stat Check: Employee referrals generate 30% higher quality hires and those hires stay 70% longer compared to job board hires. Quality plus retention? That’s a scaling CEO’s dream.

A Self-Sustaining Talent Ecosystem

• Limit Referrals to A-Players: Not all referrals are created equal. Make it clear that you’re looking for the cream of the crop.
• Highlight the Impact: Show them how bringing in top talent lifts their team’s performance, making everyone’s life easier.
• Show Gratitude: Money talks, but public praise and recognition can also be motivating. Let your star employees know you appreciate them building the team.

Picture a world where your best people automatically feed you a pipeline of exceptional talent. You spend less time sifting through mediocrity and more time welcoming high-calibre candidates who are already excited to join.

3. Recruit Like a Head of Sales, Not a Hiring Manager

Traditional job ads are essentially inbound marketing: you put out a message and hope the right people bite. But your ideal candidate might not be hunting through Indeed—they’re busy being awesome somewhere else. That’s why top-notch companies, like Shopify, take a sales approach to recruiting.

When Shopify needs star developers or creative marketers, they don’t post a generic job ad and hope. They identify people who are already doing amazing work, start conversations, and build relationships well before they have a formal opening. By the time an opportunity arises, those contacts already know Shopify’s brand, culture, and mission—and they’re primed to say yes.

Stat Check: Passive candidates—those not actively looking—make up 70% of the workforce, and they’re twice as likely to be top performers. If you’re not reaching out, you’re ignoring the vast majority of high potential hires.

Becoming a Hiring Rainmaker

• Pipeline, Pipeline, Pipeline: Keep a running list of intriguing people you’ve met at conferences, via LinkedIn, or through your team’s networks. Reach out periodically, share updates about your company.
• Personalize Your Approach: Don’t “spray and pray.” If you see someone with a unique skill set, tailor your outreach. Mention a project they’ve done, or how they could expand your product line.
• Sell the Opportunity: Don’t just say “We have an opening.” Position it like a dream job—autonomy, growth potential, big wins on the horizon.

Imagine never scrambling again when a crucial position opens. Instead, you have a bench of star performers eager to join because you’ve already built the relationship. That’s how you scale without the usual hiring bottlenecks.

4. Train and Promote from Within

Why scour the market for your next rockstar manager if one might already be on your team, waiting for the chance to shine? Companies like Netflix understand that sometimes the best person for the job is someone who already breathes your culture and knows your customers. They invest heavily in internal mobility and career paths—making sure people can level up rather than watching them leave for greener pastures.

It’s not just about loyalty. Internal promotions pay off in productivity and morale. People see a clear, tangible future with your company—so they stay. And a stable, experienced team that grows with the business can deliver consistent results, quarter after quarter.

Stat Check: Organisations prioritizing internal promotions see 34% higher retention. Think about how many high-performers you can keep simply by offering a legitimate upward path.

Unleashing Internal Potential

• Early Identification: During performance reviews or check-ins, note who’s craving more responsibility. Are they ready for that next step?
• Leadership Training: Don’t assume someone can magically transition from individual contributor to team leader. Offer structured Leadership Development programs.
• Transparent Career Ladders: Make it painfully clear how someone moves from junior to senior, or from an associate to a director. If people have to guess, they’ll eventually guess their way to another company.

Envision a workplace where your best sales rep becomes your next sales manager, your hardest-working account manager graduates to running the entire client success department. That consistency and institutional knowledge is an underrated superpower for any organisation on the rise.

5. Pay for Performance, Not Just for Showing Up

We all know money talks—but it’s how you pay that can make or break retention. If your A-players see underperformers getting identical raises, they’ll start questioning why they bother going the extra mile. On the flip side, if you reward those who deliver real impact, your high-achievers feel validated—and are more likely to keep delivering.

Think of Netflix again. They don’t publish narrow salary bands; they pay top-of-market for top performers. But it’s more than just writing big cheques. It’s a philosophy of rewarding A-players and refusing to carry B- or C-players. The result? An environment where excellence becomes self-perpetuating—because everyone who stays is consistently raising the bar.

Stat Check: 82% of employees say pay transparency improves job satisfaction and trust in leadership. When your best people know exactly how to earn more (and see that you follow through), you create a performance-driven culture that fuels Employee Retention.

Making Compensation Meaningful

• Tie Pay to Impact: Instead of annual across-the-board raises, look at metrics—whether that’s sales, product releases, or customer feedback.
• Promote Transparency: Share the framework. How are raises determined? What’s the cap? How do bonuses work? Kill the mystery.
• Offer More Than Salary: Equity, performance bonuses, or even profit-sharing can be huge motivators for star employees who want a stake in the company’s success.

Picture your high-performer celebrating a new milestone, knowing their efforts are recognized not just with a pat on the back but with tangible rewards. That’s how you keep them from wandering off to a competitor.

6. Create an Unmatched Employee Experience

Perks like free snacks, ping-pong tables, and casual Fridays might attract some interest—but A-players look deeper. They want environments where they can perform at their best, collaborate with other talented pros, and see a clear path forward. It’s not just about fun; it’s about engagement.

Electronic Arts (EA) invests in skill-building, feedback loops, and collaborative tools that let teams create globally successful games. Yes, they have perks, but that’s not the core draw. The real hook is growth: employees get to learn, experiment, and share ideas in an industry they’re passionate about.

Stat Check: Highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to quit. That’s not a small margin—it’s the difference between a high-turnover environment and a stable, thriving culture.

Building a Magnetic Experience

• Prioritise Growth & Learning: Offer everything from bite-sized workshops to advanced training programs. A-players hate stagnation.
• Feedback Culture: Schedule regular 1:1s, not just annual reviews. Act on employee suggestions, and show them you’re serious about improvements.
• Celebrate Wins: Did someone crush a big client pitch? Launch a new feature ahead of schedule? Recognize it—publicly and often. It’s amazing how far sincere appreciation goes.

Now envision an environment where your people don’t just show up—they arrive energised because they’re excited about the day ahead. They want to see how their ideas pan out and how the company evolves next, and they take pride in the journey.

7. Make Your Hiring Process So Good, People Want In

Interviews aren’t just a chance for you to grill candidates; they’re your chance to showcase your company. If your hiring process feels like a black hole of unreturned emails, cryptic questions, and zero feedback, candidates will interpret that as a preview of day-to-day life at your organisation. That’s not exactly enticing.

Intel is known for treating interviews like a two-way street. They “sell the dream” as much as they test the candidate’s fit. This approach doesn’t mean you sugar-coat the realities of the job; it means you show the potential for growth, the impact the role can have, and the culture they’d be a part of. By the end, great candidates leave feeling like they want in, rather than waiting to see if you’ll extend an offer.

Stat Check: Companies with a structured hiring process are 3x more likely to bring in top-tier talent. That’s the difference between starting a job with “So, uh, what do I do now?” and having a clear roadmap from day one.

Reimagining the Interview Experience

• Speed Matters: Top talent often moves quickly. Don’t drag the process out with unnecessary steps or multiple weeks of radio silence.
• Sell the Culture: Show them the team they’ll work with, the projects they’ll tackle, and the autonomy they’ll have to shine.
• Be Transparent: Outline next steps, timelines, and feedback processes. Even if they don’t get the role this time, they should leave with a positive impression.

When your hiring process resonates, candidates might recommend friends or colleagues—even if they don’t personally land the job. That’s the hallmark of a brand that truly respects and values people.

The Wrap-Up: Ditch the Dull Hook and Fish for A-Players

Let’s be clear: job ads aren’t useless; they’re just not enough if you’re aiming to fill your roster with High-Performing Teams. The best talent often isn’t scouring online job boards; they’re waiting for a company that intrigues them, aligns with their values, and recognizes their worth.

Here’s your new blueprint for HR Strategies for Scaling:

1. Employer Brand as Your Magnet: Let your mission, culture, and success stories do the recruiting for you.
2. Leverage Your A-Players: Incentivize high-performers to bring more rockstars into the fold.
3. Think Like Sales: Proactively build relationships with candidates long before you need them.
4. Promote from Within: Reward loyalty and cultivate next-generation leaders internally.
5. Pay for Performance: Align compensation with real impact to keep A-players motivated.
6. Unmatched Employee Experience: Go beyond perks; build genuine engagement and growth paths.
7. Top-Tier Hiring Process: Make your interviews a glimpse of what it’s like to thrive in your organisation.

When you adopt these strategies, you’ll start to see a shift. Hiring will feel less like pulling teeth and more like a curated conversation with professionals who are actively excited about joining. Retention will rise, drama will drop, and your pipeline of potential hires will constantly replenish—no endless job postings necessary.

The best part? With the right talent on board (and staying put), you can finally focus on big-picture growth—expanding product lines, entering new markets, or even indulging in that well-deserved vacation you’ve been postponing. Because when top talent is running the day-to-day, you’re free to keep the company’s vision on track.

So take a page from Netflix, Shopify, Google, and Oatly. Stop waiting for A-players to find you; make your company irresistible to them. Once you do, everything from innovation to bottom-line results will accelerate. And that, after all, is what real scaling is all about.

Now the only question is: Which of these strategies will you implement first? Whichever route you choose, just remember: it’s time to ditch the dull hook and fish for A-players with a more strategic, proactive approach. Your future high-performers—and your future self—will thank you for it. If you’re looking for help implementing these strategies, we’d love to connect.