The Opportunity Loop: An Inside Look at How to Attract and Retain Top Talent

随着全球人才竞争的升温, 特别是在技术方面, companies increasingly recognize the importance of acquisition and retention. 根据德勤, “the issues of [talent] retention and engagement have risen to No. 在商业领袖的心目中，这是仅次于建立全球领导力的挑战.结果是, 组织吸引的过程, 保留, 而发展人才是日新月异的.

并非所有公司都以同样的方式获取人才, 因此，并非所有公司都能获得同样的回报.

就像大多数竞争优势一样, 人才的获取在很大程度上取决于“秘密武器”，这是公司文化结合的结果, 精心组建的团队, 这是一个精心提炼的过程. 而这个配方需要顶级公司多年的时间来完善, some of its ingredients are readily available for aspiring talent-seekers.

在本文中，我们将回顾Toptal在人才获取方面的一些最佳实践. 我们的目标是提供一个关键组件的“开源”总结，我们和其他领先的组织用来吸引和建立与前1%的人才的持久关系.

关键的认可

以吸引世界精英人才, organizations must first recognize that the best talent face an abundance of options. This idea lies at the heart of the strategy we’re going to share.

世界顶尖人才面临着丰富的选择.

全球对技术人才的需求远远超过供应. 对具有区块链专业知识的工程师的需求, 例如, 随着世界各地的组织开始认识到分布式账本技术的积极影响，这个数字已经大幅增长. 在全球范围内，每个合格的区块链开发人员都有14个职位空缺. 在Toptal，仅去年一年，我们就看到寻找顶级区块链开发人员的客户增加了700%以上.

地理限制也在消失. Talent can now work with organizations across the country and around the world. While this gives companies access to a much broader pool of potential candidates, their expanded reach also increases competition for top talent.

那么，一家公司如何才能激励一个有很多选择的人加入，更不用说留在团队了? 为了找到答案, 我们求助于一位来自布鲁克林的心理学家，他是研究人类动力的世界权威之一.

动机理论

20世纪被引用次数最多的心理学家之一, Abraham Maslow is perhaps best known for the pyramid that bears his name. 在他的论文中, 人类动机理论, 出版于1943年, 马斯洛提出了理想人类发展的框架.

不像他那个时代的许多心理学家, 谁研究那些身体不适的人, 马斯洛研究了那些在游戏中处于顶端的人, 包括精英大学生, 以及像亚伯拉罕·林肯这样的标志性人物, 简-亚当斯, 和阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦. 他称这些人为"自我实现者", 也是他们成功的关键, 他说, lay in their ability to progressively fulfill a variety of needs.

根据马斯洛的理论，人类有一系列的核心需求. 这些包括基本的生理需求, 喜欢温暖和睡眠, all the way up to what he coined as “self-actualization needs,比如实现一个人的全部潜力, 回馈, 参与创造性的努力.

他的理论是，自我实现的人沿着金字塔逐渐到达更高的层次, 为了实现可持续发展, individuals first needed to meet their needs at each lower level.

也许更重要的是, 他声称，那些达到自我实现的人(a级选手)主要是受到持续成长的激励, 不仅仅是为了满足需求. In other words, it was not enough for them to simply meet a need and stay there. They were driven by growth, rather than safety or assuredness. 这有助于解释 为什么单靠支付往往是不够的 把优秀的员工留在不令人满意的职位上.

仅仅满足一个维度的需求是不够的. 顶尖人才的动力来自于不断学习的能力，并将自己推向下一个层次. This must be baked into your strategy if you’re to be their best option.

许多组织都将这一观点牢记在心. As John Pirog – Senior Director for Digital Development at Motorola Solutions – explains, results improve when you shape your strategy around people who crave growth.

“In the last few years we’ve tried to take a different approach [to hiring], 人力资源部门称招聘“运动员”——更看重的是全能和适应性，而不是精确的技能组合,Pirog说. “That’s the number one thing we do to attract talent: Recognizing we change often.”

能够吸引和留住世界顶尖人才的公司是那些提供持续发展机会的公司.

But how, specifically, do we develop opportunities for growth?

Introducing the Opportunity Loop - A Framework for Delivering Value to Talent

有无数的方法可以促进持续增长, 任何组织都不可能拥有所有的答案. Figuring out which opportunities top talent crave is a continuous process of discovery.

在Toptal, 经过多年与世界精英敏捷人才的合作, 我们仍在不断分析他们的需求，并测试新的程序，为持续发展提供机会. 事实上, 我们有一个专门的社区团队，成员遍布三大洲，他们的唯一重点是分析我们社区的需求, 并为他们开发新的有趣的机会.

为了识别, 测试, 分析有价值的项目和计划, the 社区 Team uses a framework we’ll call an Opportunity Loop.

The Opportunity Loop is closely related to the idea of agile development, 这有利于合作, 快速反馈周期, 持续改进. 敏捷最初的设计是为了帮助开发软件, 但它的思想可以应用于其他复杂的环境.

The Opportunity Loop consists of three steps: Analyze, Test, Listen… Repeat.

任何旨在帮助组织吸引和留住顶尖人才的努力都应该被构建为机会循环. 有很多方法可以做到这一点, and we’ll use specific examples to examine each stage of the cycle more closely.

分析你的理想才能

The first step is to analyze the people an organization is trying to attract, 确定他们想要什么. 从马斯洛的层次理论开始, and brainstorm things that the desired talent might value at each level of the pyramid. 组织是如何实现这些目标的, and how is the organization helping talent transition from one level to the next?

在Toptal, our 社区 Leader program is designed to deliver value at several levels of the pyramid, 并促进不同层次之间的增长. 社区领袖是来自世界各地的Toptalers，他们自愿帮助监督和培养在线和面对面的社区.

领导者在社区中非常活跃-从活动到指导新Toptalers的一切帮助-并且是我们项目成功不可或缺的一部分. 通过他们的工作, not only do leaders derive a sense of growth and personal satisfaction, but they also help to deliver similar value to members across the 社区.

在社区领袖的帮助下, 社区团队不断分析我们的全球网络的需求，在颗粒和有针对性的水平. 当我们发现能够提供卓越价值的机会时, 我们进入机会循环的下一个阶段, 测试.

小规模的测试机会

在测试阶段，你将执行你的想法的小规模或临时版本. 它允许你尝试一个你认为人才会重视的项目, 在投入大量资源全面实施之前，要寻找有效的证据. 它可以在金字塔的所有层次的程序中完成.

total events是我们与社区互动并为社区提供价值的重要组成部分. 每年我们都会实施几次新的有趣的活动类型，为我们网络的成员提供价值. 测试帮助我们确定我们认为有价值的计划是否真的被我们的才能所重视.

Recall that 保留ing top talent is all about being their best option. Because everyone has different goals for their career at different stages, 测试阶段帮助我们确定社区成员在他们的旅程中的位置, 以及什么能帮助他们更上一层楼.

The 社区 Leader program is instrumental in helping us to do this. 有时, 一个想法是由领导者自己来检验的，他们构成了整个社区的一个准确的横截面. Other times, a handful of leaders will implement the new event within their communities. 如果反馈很强烈，我们就会投入时间、精力和资源来进一步规范化和扩展.

测试可以采取多种形式. What’s most important at this stage is to approach the situation with an open mind, 记住这一点, 虽然一开始可能会不舒服, opportunity springs from stepping outside your comfort zone and trying something new. 为约翰·皮罗格和摩托罗拉, 允许员工尝试不同的角色并获得新技能已被证明是内部人才发展的关键.

“What we do a lot is move people around to give them opportunities to grow,” Pirog says.

The benefits of rotating roles even extend to more senior executives at the company, 包括Pirog本人. “Switching roles every so often really motivates me,” Pirog says. “多年来我一直从事技术工作. When I moved to working in supply chain BRM (Business Relationship Management), 一开始我很害怕, 但它确实激励了我, 我成长了很多.”

一旦你实施了你的测试，就到了机会循环的最后一个阶段，倾听.

倾听反馈

You must ensure systems are in place to receive feedback on your 测试s. 这样的系统可以有多种形式, 从调查到向上级汇报的团队领导, but it’s critical that information flows two ways inside your organization.

Feedback does not always have to focus solely on that which is quantifiable. 正如社会学家威廉·布鲁斯·卡梅隆曾经写道, “不是所有可以计算的东西都有价值, 并不是所有重要的事情都能被计算出来.“确实, 与人打交道时, 通常重要的是，暂停数字运算，支持人与人之间的交流和轶事证据.

“Humans aren’t strictly quantifiable,” notes Eryn Peters, Director of Operations at Toptal. “You can quantify qualitative feedback if you have enough of it. But that doesn’t mean that one is necessarily better than the other.”

在Toptal, 社区领导人在帮助我们理解社区对任何特定倡议的感受方面至关重要. As members of the 社区, they are able to provide direct feedback on 测试s we run. They can also offer feedback from one-on-one interactions with fellow Toptalers, 在世界各地的城市充当我们的眼睛和耳朵.

在摩托罗拉系统公司, 管理者们会主动地每半年与员工见面一次，了解他们希望自己的职业发展方向，以此来征求公司人才的反馈.

“I met with one employee who said she wanted more responsibility. I took her request seriously – I have really given her a lot more responsibility, 她是一切的主宰,约翰·皮罗格说. “管理者必须乐于倾听，让人们完成既定的任务或责任.”

Listen to how your 社区 reacts, and proceed based on that information.

It’s important during the listening stage to be empathetic and open minded. 组织和领导者必须避免对自己的项目或意见有偏见的自然冲动, or to skew feedback to fit their idea of what should be popular.

Maintain a healthy detachment from 测试s and let the feedback speak for itself. 然后保留有用的东西，要么适应，要么放弃没用的东西.

冲洗和重复——留住人才的秘诀

吸引顶尖人才是一回事. 保存它们是另一回事. 如果一个组织想要长期竞争，那么它必须关注如何留住它引进的精英球员.

对顶尖人才的需求在不断变化. 回想马斯洛的层次理论. 顶尖人才的动力来自成长, 保持他们最佳选择的诀窍是为他们提供丰富的机会，让他们继续沿着金字塔成长.

机会循环必须一直运行.

如果你的反馈热线一直畅通, 你不断地分析输入的信息, 开发创意以传递价值, 测试, 收集反馈, then your organization will inevitably continue to grow and evolve alongside your talent.

As a result, talent will feel fulfilled and happy to remain with the organization. 进一步, 包括组织和内部人员, 会被激励去不断发展他们的技能吗, 扩大视野, 应对未来的新挑战.