Recruiting is a tricky business.

It's easy to recruit in volume, but what you really want is quality, not quantity.

When looking for the best and brightest, one trait that is commonly sought after is leadership ability. But what is a leader without any followers?

Chances are that your company also needs workers with great followership abilities, as described in the article, “All Engineering Leaders Need Great Followers.”

Great followers work well with the team, empower great leaders, and become great leaders themselves when the need or opportunity arises.

Take a look at some ways that you can ensure that you're attracting strong followers with your own recruiting tactics….

Build Your Employer Brand Image

In a world where a single negative customer review on Yelp or Facebook can go viral and do untold damage to a business, maintaining a sterling brand image as a company that cares about customer service is more important than it ever has been before.

What many companies fail to realize is that the same is true of their brand image as employers.

If your work environment is toxic, if the workers themselves are bored and unfulfilled, or if there is limited room for advancement, you won't be able to hide it.

Your current and former employees will spread the word and you will not be able to attract the best candidates.

If you have an image as a poor employer, you'll need to revamp it, and make the positive results public.

Candidates will get excited about working for you when they know that you take care of your employees and offer them a chance to shine.

Offer Something Unique

What have you got that your competitors don't?

If you're offering basically the same structure, pay, and benefits as the firm down the road, then there's no reason for candidates to consider your offer any more attractive than anyone else's. It may be time to get creative.

Offering the option to work remotely from home or on the road, or offering flex time so that your employees can arrange their working hours around a schedule that allows them to balance their personal lives with their work more easily are great ways to attract employees without giving anything up yourself.

 After all, as long as your employees are productive when they're working, it doesn't matter much where or during what hours the work gets done.

And if you're one of a few in your field in your area offering a flexible work environment, you'll be ahead of the competition when it comes to recruitment.

Hire Great Managers

Great followers don't want to follow mediocre leaders.

An important part of your recruiting efforts should focus on making sure that you have a team of great leaders already in place.

Great managers are not too rigid, are not afraid to take risks, and don't miss an opportunity to develop the talents of those in their teams. When you recruit great managers, great followers will be easy to attract and keep.

It takes leaders and followers at all levels of your company to keep yourself moving in the right direction.

You can't place too much weight on the importance of recruiting techniques that will effectively attract top talent to your company.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Cheryl Baer is a freelance writer who writes about recruitment and business development.