You may not have a Starbucks in the lobby, provide childcare on site, or offer luxury retreats, but you do have something attractive to offer top job candidates. And it’s your responsibility to make sure they know that. The ability to woo and retain ‘A’ players is one of the toughest jobs for any manager today.

The competition for top talent is fierce. So when you find a potential employee whom you know will be a huge asset to your team, you want to do everything in your power to ensure their answer to your job offer is a resounding “yes.” Below are four steps you should follow to make sure you get your superstar on board.

Step 1: Start with an Effective, Appealing Job Description
Sure, you could hurry and jot down the basic position facts off the top of your head. Or, you can take the time to craft a well-written, thorough description. Get the input of a group or assemble your team to find out what attributes are most important, what behavioral attributes are necessary and what the job really entails.  Does this sound like a lot of effort? It is. But a boring, commonplace description will likely attract mediocre candidates. Taking the time to create a well-written, appealing job description will be a worthy time investment.

Step 2: Pay Attention to How You Talk Up the Company
Instead of reciting the dry historical background of your company, focus instead on what makes your organization interesting and likeable. What sets it apart from others in the industry? While you know to never fabricate stories or stretch the truth, by communicating your company’s value proposition and knowing how to play up its best attributes, you’ll leave no doubt in the candidate’s mind that “this organization is for me.”

Step 3: Keep in Constant Communication with Your Candidate(s)
Sometimes the hiring process can drag out longer than you anticipated due to elements outside your control. That happens. But do not let a great length of time lapse, or the best talent will lose interest and walk away. Create and set a method of regular communication to keep up the momentum and keep your candidate involved and invested.

Ideally, you should make an offer as soon as you’re sure you have a star candidate. If you don’t hear yes right away, stay persistent and proactive until you close the deal.

Step 4: Mind Your Manners
Although this step may seem self-explanatory, it’s worth a reminder to mind your manners: put your candidate at ease, return calls promptly, make calls personally instead of depending on an assistant, be frank and avoid playing games. Don’t forget to thank the candidate for their time. Remember, you’re wooing here, so put forth the extra effort.

Step 5: Get Beyond Compensation
While compensation is of course a significant consideration of the job offer, both parties know there’s more to it than that. What else can you bring to the table that sweetens the deal? Does the company have an excellent recognition and advancement program? Great health plan perks? A first-rate sabbatical or time off program? It’s critical you find out from the candidate what matters most to them during the interviewing process and reinforce what impressed and interested them.

As the Adler Group, a performance-based hiring organization so aptly states, “Don’t use Wal-Mart advertising techniques to attract Tiffany customers.” The same concept goes for Tiffany caliber candidates.

Top candidates are special. Treat them that way. By focusing on this goal and following the steps above, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an employer of choice for the best talent around.

This week’s guest blogger is Beth Armkrecht Miller, CMC – Leadership Advisor, Coach and Vistage Chair.

So why is it important to have a trusting workplace? And how do you know if you have one?

Studies show that a trusting workplace increases employees’ level of happiness, work effort, productivity, and engagement. It also provides an environment that encourages open communication and promotes people to share their ideas.  When people feel comfortable sharing their ideas, there is a greater capacity for innovation within an organization keeping a company current and relevant in the marketplace.

Evaluating the level of trust in your workplace

Below are eight factors that studies have shown influence trust in the workplace:

1.  Openess: Do you as a leader display having an open mind? As a leader, when you show others around you that you are open to new ideas and encourage others to share their opposing opinions not only do you create an environment of trust but you are enabling innovation within the organization.
2. Vision and Values: Are both vision and values communicated and lived on a consistent basis?  Without a vision for your company and a set of values, your employees will not have a sense of direction.  When they understand where the company is headed and it will you get to there, they trust decisions that are being made in the organization because they understand them. The key is to make decisions consistent to your values. It isn’t enough to put values down on paper; they need to be demonstrated throughout the entire organization.
3. Courage: Do company leaders have the courage to do the right thing even if the decision or action could put them at risk?  It takes courage to stay the course when obstacles get in the way of your vision. Leaders often take the easy way out when faced with difficult challenges.  Those who are able to make the tough decisions which support the company’s values, build trust and respect amongst their team members. They do the right thing even if in the short term it impacts them in a negative way.
4. Shared Goals: Do employees understand how their individual goals impact the organization’s goals?  Goals that are shared build stronger and more committed teams. And when the goals are clearly linked back to the company’s vision, you are strengthening the understanding of your company’s journey and how you will get there.
5. Community: Does your organization promote giving back to its community? Community service projects build relationships amongst employees and are viewed as not self-serving by employees. And, when employees are involved with the decision process of what projects the company should be involved with, they feel important and you show them that you value their opinions and ideas.
6. Integrity: Do leaders keep their promise and commitments to employees?  Do they tell the truth to them?  When leaders are transparent and share information honestly, employees trust what is being told them. Promise and commitments are not just those that are made to individuals but to the organization as well. So what are those promises and commitments you make to an organization as a leader? They are things like stewardship of company resources including finances and human resources. They watch over the finances by making sound decisions and develop their employees’ talent to the best of their ability.
7. Manners: Are employees recognized for good work and thanked for their hard efforts? Companies whose leaders consistently thank, praise, and reward employees for their good efforts demonstrate good manners and increase the level of trust employees have in the company and their leaders.
8. Care: Do employees feel like leadership cares about them? Companies with leaders who make all employees feel important and part of the team create a feeling of safety. They actively listen, are visible and accessible, and take an interest in people’s personal lives. Employees feel genuinely cared for by their employer.

If you really want to get understand how your employees rate workplace trust, develop an employee feedback survey to determine what areas you and your organization need to improve on to increase the level of trust.  The sooner you identify the areas of needed improvement, the sooner you can put a plan of action into place to increase your employees’ productivity, engagement, and level of happiness.

Beth Armknecht Miller, of Atlanta, Georgia, is Founder and President of Executive Velocity, a leadership development coaching firm accelerating the leadership success of CEOs and business leaders. She is also Chair to two Vistage groups. She is certified in Myers Briggs and Hogan leadership assessment tools and is a Certified Managerial Coach by Kennesaw State University. Visit http://www.executive-velocity.com  or  http://executivevelocityblog.com or follow her on twitter @SrExecAdvisor.

Last week, we blogged about the increasing importance that telecommuting plays in the decision-making process of job selection for top IT talent. We know telecommuting is becoming a requirement for many IT job seekers here in Atlanta. This is evident based not only on our experience working with IT job seekers, but in an article featured this past week in  the Atlanta Business Chronicle titled “Office optional: Atlanta tops in 15-city telework survey.”

According to Microsoft Corp.’s “Work Without Walls Report: U.S. Telework Trends 2011,” a report based on a survey of more than 4,500 information workers in 15 key cities regarding worker preferences, company support and enabling technologies for teleworking – Metro Atlanta ranks No. 1. The survey found that 60 percent of information workers surveyed in the greater Atlanta area responded that their company has a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely.  On average, workers stated they prefer to work remotely 10 days a month, but they actually telecommute just five days a month. The major reasons cited for telecommuting were “eliminating commute time and greater productivity.”

It’s interesting to note that Georgia was one of the first states to offer tax breaks for businesses that implement telework initiatives – one reason why Atlanta leads the way in telecommuting. In addition, Atlanta’s Clean Air Act and Clean Air Campaign encourage teleworking as a way to reduce fuel emissions.

A recent study conducted by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) also ranks Atlanta first in broadband use and the second most wired city in the country. According to this report, 27 percent of Atlanta-area commuters now telework at least occasionally, a 35 percent increase in just three years. Frequent telecommuting has risen 75 percent during the same period, with 7 percent of all commuters now teleworking at least three days a week.

Employers in the metro area provide specific benefits for having a telework policy in place including:

• Employees have a higher level of job satisfaction and are more productive.
• Telecommuters who work from home the majority of time have higher retention rates than those who work from the office.
• Reduction in fuel consumption, energy use and overall environmental footprint.
• Overall savings in operational costs such as phone, equipment, IT and support infrastructure.

We’re not surprised the Atlanta region is tops in support of teleworking because we know this is a job MUST-HAVE for many of the top IT professionals we work with. But if you’re not located in Atlanta, here are the other top telework cities:

1. Atlanta
2. Dallas
3. Phoenix
4. Seattle
5. Denver
6. Boston
7. Washington, D.C.
8. San Francisco
9. Houston
10. Minneapolis
11. New York
12. Philadelphia
13. Los Angeles
14. Detroit
15. Chicago

There are many reasons why top IT talent is in so much demand today – and therefore, difficult to find.  One of those reasons involves innovation.  Top talent is not only more productive (200% more than average employee), but they are more innovative as well. And when you add these two factors together: increased productivity + increased innovation  = faster time/speed to market.

It’s true that IT innovation has the potential to transform business – across the entire enterprise. Assuming everyone reading this blog is “top talent” – and even if you’re not quite there yet but aspire to be, there are some key points all of us should consider so that innovation doesn’t get stifled.

G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Vitón recently published the article “Six Innovation Secrets Your Boss Never Told You.”  We thought we’d summarize these “secrets” with our readers, and encourage you to share with your colleagues. If enough people know about these “secrets,” they’ll no longer be secrets and perhaps a spike in innovation will occur at your company.

1. Team building is different from idea building. The authors recommend that when you have an idea you like, don’t form a committee to get their approval. Why? If they haven’t been involved from the beginning, they’ll most likely not be on the same page as you, and recommend changes to your idea. The result is that you’ll end up with idea that most likely will not have the same intent and impact as your original.
2. Experts often know too much. Although industry experts have years of knowledge and experience, this can be a detriment when challenging what’s been done in the past to what can be in the future.  The authors cite several examples of how hundreds of successful companies—like Amazon — were started by people with no industry experience.
3. Identify all criteria before you begin to innovate. The more criteria you have and are able to meet, the better chance of success. Get the criteria directly from the leaders/stakeholders who will be supporting, funding and promoting your idea.
4. Invent when you are most inventive. The authors point out how the creative brain has natural cycles and why it’s important to know when you are most creative. They suggest determining the time of day you tend to be most creative, and the triggers (i.e. music, events, activities, etc.) that prompt your creative juices in order to maximize the generation of ideas.
5. Fail – then move forward. Failing can be a great learning experience, and to be innovative, you may need to stumble every now and then.  The authors caution that mistakes are okay to make as long as they don’t end up costing a lot. And once you’ve made a mistake, you must be ready to pick yourself up and try, try again.
6. Don’t forget Plan B. Business changes all the time. You have to be flexible and understand that at some point, your first plan may no longer be the best plan. Don’t get into the mindset of “it’s this way or no way.”  The authors stress reaching your final goal is what is important – not how you actually get there.

Since the July 4^th weekend is upon us, we realize this is an opportune time to relax, catch up with family and friends, enjoy life and be thankful for everything our wonderful country offers.

This holiday weekend is also a good time to reflect about your professional career – where you are, where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there. If you’re an IT professional thinking about a career move, put down that novel you’re  reading on your iPad, Kindle or Nook  and take an hour to read Agile’s ebook: The IT Professional’s No-Nonsense Guide to Getting a Job in the New IT.  It’s a quick read and chock full of tips and advice on everything you need to know before you begin your job search. Download our free ebook now.

If you’re an IT executive or hiring manager wondering where all the top talent is and how you’re going to fill that open position you’ve been looking to fill for what seems like forever, we suggest taking 15 minutes this weekend to read our white paper “Four Winning Talent Strategies for the New IT”.  This paper provides practical approaches to hiring and retaining top IT talent. You can download our free white paper by clicking here.

We thought we’d end this week with these company org charts.  Perhaps they’re a bit exaggerated, but they’ll make you giggle.  If you had to create your company’s org chart, would it look similar to any of these?  Let’s hope not!