Five Ways to Improve Your Talent Attraction Strategy in 2025
For the past four years, QTI’s annual HR Trends Survey has found “Attracting Top Talent” to be the number one challenge Wisconsin businesses face. Today, economic factors, policy changes, and rising costs are causing more employees to stay with their current position rather than risk a new role in an uncertain market.
In our 2025 HR Trends Survey, 82% of respondents ranked “Attracting the Right Talent” as a moderate to significant challenge. With a shrinking labor force and employees hesitant to leave their current roles, a competitive talent attraction strategy is vital for finding and retaining the right candidates for your organization.
Here are five key factors to creating a competitive talent attraction strategy in 2025:
Create an Attractive Culture: Having a brand reputation for excellence goes a long way in attracting top talent. Surveying your organization regularly and discussing results with your employees helps create an open, welcoming environment that is advantageous for all.
Evaluate Your Compensation Program: Are your compensation and total rewards benefits programs competitive? Our 2025 HR Trends Survey found 62% of Wisconsin employers are experiencing pay compression, and 76% reported "Meeting Total Rewards Demands" as a moderate to significant challenge. Reviewing your compensation program to ensure competitiveness both attracts new and retains current employees, making it a crucial tool in your talent attraction strategy.
Prioritize the Candidate Experience: A streamlined hiring process supports your overall brand image and creates trust between your organization and the applicant. Reliable communication, clear deadlines for interviews and decisions, and moving quickly through the hiring process are great ways to ensure a positive candidate experience.
Consider Upskilling: The best candidate for the role could already be within your organization. Consider upskilling, or training employees in new skills to evolve their current role, or reskilling employees in skills that expand their current capabilities to other areas. Upskilling and reskilling both widen your talent pool and help retain existing employees, providing career growth and upward mobility within your organization.
Use a Contingent Workforce
Our 2025 HR Trends Survey found that 64% of Wisconsin businesses use a contingent workforce, up 17% from 2024. Temporary and contract-to-hire employees can provide flexibility and security as your organization navigates uncertainty through seasonal fluctuations, varying production schedules, short-term project needs, and meeting future hiring requirements.
Overall, a competitive talent attraction strategy ensures your organization can meet its hiring needs through economic uncertainty and changing markets. Want to learn more about the future of talent attraction and other trending HR topics? It’s almost time for our 2026 HR Trends Webinar. Join us on October 28th, 2025, where we unveil the top HR trends for the coming year.
Register to join today here. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ci5SEf7IRaaYwygglZ9TTA#/registration
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