Becoming an employer of choice: What works
In Live conversation with Nishant Das, Talent Leader at Coinswitch, Ex-Bank of America, Zeta, Fractal Analytics
The aim of becoming an employer of choice is a common thing among founders and employers. And why not. Having the status of a preferred employer gives your organization an edge in attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent when there is a stiff talent war. It is a competitive advantage to have active job seekers reach out to you first and passive candidates respond with delight to your outreach messages. It sustains and fuels the growth of an organization for a long time. However, achieving or maintaining this status is easier said than done.
Our most recent episode of Hiring Diaries featured Nishant Das, Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Coinswitch – India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Prior to Coinswitch, he has held leadership positions at companies such as Bank of America, Zeta, Directi, and Fractal Analytics. One commonality amongst these organizations is that they all are admired by the technical talent pool out there. Candidates see them as good employers and benchmark them against the Googles of the Facebooks of the world in certain cases. Thus, we considered taking Nishant’s viewpoint on the topic of becoming an employer of choice.
Host, Mudit Srivastava:
Having done it successfully at Bank of America, Zeta, Flock, Directi, and now Coinswitch, how do you go about becoming an employer of choice, in practice?
Guest Speaker, Nishant Das:
That’s a broad question coming from you and will take some time to answer. I’m thinking of some of the things which may have worked. Firstly I’m going to keep global brands aside from this, because international brands come with trillion-dollar market caps. And, you know, it’s a pretty big game, and a different thing altogether. But then even in those organizations, there are some very unique traits, which work for those organizations, versus other banks and stuff like that.
In general, when considering product and analytics teams at certain organizations, some of the ones who made it have been able to establish a very unique element in regards to the brand. For example, for some brands, it has been understood by the talent that you have a well-rounded 360-degree learning process, and you will get to work with some fantastic problem statements. But at a very early stage in your career, the organization will also invest in you to make a well-rounded professional. So it’s not about joining the organization, getting trained, and leaving. But it’s you bringing in the right sort of problem statements across industries, working some of these very challenging problem statements and projects. And it’s the only thing that interests people, and the messaging around that.
The second element is to keep your bar high. The recruiting process is like inviting people to a party, and you have a significantly high bar in terms of who makes the cut. That goes a long way, and I am very thankful to Bhavin (Turakhia), my previous CEO, for this overarching philosophy. It could be said, for example, that your organization is known for a hiring process that’s very difficult to crack. Like, if someone clears the bar of this organization, they have probably really nailed it. And that’s the feeling that a candidate goes through and candidates automatically see themselves wanting to be a part of that.
Why does this help? In your interviewing process, whether you hire or you do not hire, it ends up being a learning process for you. And that’s what people are continually thankful for. They appreciate it. If in your minimal interaction with the people, you’re able to establish that that’s a differentiating element.
There are other things concerning what organizations do from an employer branding standpoint. But I think at a fundamental philosophy level, these are some critical aspects that need to show in everything you do. You need to be transparent about your people practices and show you operate. And candidates generally value that.
There is no template, there is no right or wrong way to do it. But it is to what an organization has, how an organization has differentiated itself over the years. And then, if you know, this is your strength. That’s what you ensure that you are making it very open, transparent, and talk about it frequently.
This is Nishant’s view of Employer Branding in the recent episode of Hiring Diaries. Know what’s in the entire discussion.
We discussed several agendas during our 1-hour conversation on this episode of Hiring Diaries, including –
- Role of assessments platform as Growth Lever in Technology Hiring
- Reducing Churn in Technology Hiring Funnels
- Recruiting trends in technology for India Inc in 2022
- Candidate Screening Strategies at Different Scales
- Delivering memorable candidate experiences
Plus much more.
View the entire episode on-demand, here – skillspace.ai/hiring-diaries-201/.
