10 Factors That Can Help Lure Top Talent (Spoiler: Comp Is Only One of Them)

I am always impressed by how visionary entrepreneurs and inspiring leaders are able to pull in exceptional talent, even against demonstrably superior or higher-paying alternatives. It defies the conventional wisdom of markets — shouldn’t the highest bidder win the prize?

Employment decisions are inherently complex and emotional. They touch so many facets of our lives, our identities, and our sense of meaning and purpose.

When I interview senior executives for new C-level roles, I talk through their entire career histories and the transition points between each role. Over 16 years, that means I’ve heard several thousand stories about job transitions from individuals who ultimately became CEOs or C-level executives.

From these conversations, I’ve learned that there are essentially 10 reasons people leave jobs or take on new ones:

1. Compensation: Base vs. upside/incentive
2. Career growth: Title, company brand, and advancement opportunities
3. Personal growth: Learning opportunities, mentorship, and skill expansion
4. Intrinsic enjoyment: Stimulation, challenges, and fun inherent to the work itself
5. People: Relationships and connection to others
6. Professional autonomy: Freedom in how to execute the work
7. Life flexibility: Geography and work-life balance
8. Mission: Potential for impact, whether that’s local, national, or global
9. Assurance: Likelihood of success, being recognized and supported, and avoiding failure
10. Values alignment: Affinity with company culture and norms

Guess what? Nine of these reasons are totally nonmonetary. 

And guess what else? Chances are money isn’t the top factor for that next high-potential candidate you meet.

We encourage every company we work with to engage in this simple — yet transformative — process:

1. Set up time with every new hire you make, shortly after they have joined.
2. On a scale of 1 to 10, ask them to rate the importance of each of the factors listed above when they made their decision to join you.
3. Then ask them how your offer stacked up vs. their “next best alternative.”

(For bonus points, ask these same questions to every individual who declines your offer or drops out of your process.)

You will learn amazing things. You will see patterns. You will see missed opportunities. You will have a new understanding of just how diverse your team members’ motivations are, and the importance of tailoring your selling message to each candidate.

You will also find that your hiring managers routinely overlook many of these 10 factors when seeking to win over a given candidate. For example, I’ve learned that intrinsic enjoyment (“You will love this job!”) and assurance (“You will be a huge success in this job!”) are surprisingly important to many high performers, and are largely unexploited by hiring teams.

This post was originally published on LinkedIn.

Jordan Burton has 15 years of experience as an executive assessor and interviewing trainer, working with top VC/PE investors and high-growth startups to help them hire the best of the best. He has trained over 3,000 executives and investors on hiring and interviewing skills. He leads Talgo’s business development initiatives, managing relationships with Sequoia Capital, TH Lee, Palantir, Chainlink Labs, and over 50 venture-backed startups.