An all-star employee will have the skills and the drive to exceed your expectations. They’ll also have the personality to fit in well with your company culture. They can help to grow your business, embody your brand and become part of the next generation of leaders within your company.

But attracting talent like this is easier said than done. Here are a few tips for hiring an all-star employee:

Promote Your Brand
The companies with the best talent have a knack for promoting their brand. They sell their business as a great place to work – somewhere the company culture is second to none and where employees are able work on cutting edge initiatives within dynamic teams. You need to promote your employer brand if you want to attract all-star employees.

Create a Talent Pool
If you’re on the lookout for top talent, the search should never end. Create a talent pool of previous applicants and allow people with an interest in your company to register their details too. It might be that the right opportunity isn’t available for a candidate at the moment but one could arise further down the line.

Offer Opportunities for Creativity and Initiative
The best applicants love an opportunity to flex their creative muscle and work on their own initiative. Whilst this is unlikely to be possible all of the time, be sure to let applicants know that there is time designated for a little exploration and experimentation during each working week. This is an appealing factor for potential employees and may also give your company the edge as a little creative thinking could lead to your company’s next big idea.

Provide Employee Perks
Employee rewards are a great way to improve employee morale and win over a top candidate too. Sure, big things like a decent pension plan, health insurance and child care vouchers are important. But a few smaller perks never go amiss. Complimentary snacks, fun team-building days or even just showers at the office for those who run or cycle to work can all make your company seem that bit more attractive.

Be Ethical
Workers these days want more than just a day job and a pay packet. They want to feel like they’re helping to make a difference. Try to be forward thinking in your approach to business. A recycling initiative or links with a local charity or an ethical approach to conducting business could help you to attract top talent. These are the people who will care that their work contributes to the good of communities and environments.

Be Flexible
Increasingly people aren’t prepared to be a slave to their job. Companies and employees alike should be striving for a good work-life balance rather than high levels of stress that lead to a burnout. Flexibility with regards the working hours and days can help employees to achieve this and can help you to attract that all-star candidate. To put this into practice you could let employees work from home sometimes,introduce flexible working hours or encourage employees not to answer emails away from the office.

Embrace Diversity
Remember that not all candidates fit into a designated box. By embracing diversity you could open up your company to a whole host of potential employees with the ability to further your business and drive success. Workplace diversity has been shown to reap a number of rewards for businesses who are prepared to make it a priority.

To hire an all-star employee, you need to look at your business from the ground up. Your company culture, your employer brand and your recruitment style all play an important part in getting those top candidates through your door.

Sarah Kearns is a hard working mother of three daughters. She is a Senior Communications Manager for BizDb, an online resource with information about businesses in New Zealand. She loves cooking, reading history books and writing about green living.