Hiring the right people can take a lot of time and cost a lot of money. But what if you had your pick of the most talented, hard-working professionals out there? Finding the best team might not be such a struggle anymore.

LinkedIn recently teamed up with InDemand Employers to create a list of the top 50 companies that do have their pick of top talent. The ranking was calculated by analyzing billions of interactions between U.S. and Canadian members and companies on LinkedIn. For example, the list researchers considered how many people viewed a company's profile within the past year, how many connected with them, how many followed the company's page and so on.

Here's a look at the top 20 companies that everyone wants to work for, according to the researchers:

1. Google
2. Apple
3. Amazon
4. Facebook
5. Salesforce.com
6. The Walt Disney Co.
7. Nike
8. Microsoft
9. McKinsey & Co.
10. PepsiCo
11. Twitter
12. Accenture
13. The Coca-Cola Co.
14. The Boston Consulting Group
15. NBCUniversal
16. ESPN
17. Johnson & Johnson
18. BlackRock
19. VMware
20. BP

According to LinkedIn, 56 percent of professionals say a company's talent brand is the number-one influencer on whether or not they accept a job offer. A strong talent brand also reduces turnover by 28 percent. 

But why are the above companies so appealing to work for, and how can other businesses emulate their lead? Here are some of the essential reasons the experts at Lululemon Athletica, NBCUniversal, Salesforce.com and VMware believe they're able to attract top talent:

They're authentic. “We focus our energy on being more human, more transparent and authentic,” says Monika Fahlbusch, Salesforce.com's senior vice president of global employee success. “Culture is how we connect with each other. Ours is built on innovation, customer success, radical trust and transparency, winning as a team and giving back. Each facet contributes to an experience so authentic and amazing that our employees can’t help but want to share it with their networks.”

They foster employee growth. “Supporting employee referrals and internal growth are fundamental to our hiring practices,” says Isabella Egan, manager of recruitment at Lululemon Athletica (No. 27 on the list). “If someone is a high performer at our company, they’re also likely to know other high performers within their professional networks. On the internal growth side, every person receives coaching on being a leader and an entrepreneur in their role, and a major part of this is finding and supporting their successor, should they move into a new position or team.”

They encourage employees to spread the word. “First, a strong talent brand starts with our people. It reflects the passion that they put into their work every day. That brand is then brought to life through living our shared values, architecting what’s next in IT to empower our customers and giving back more than we take to our community. These are the core tenants of a strong talent brand,” says Judy Phung, manager of employment brand marketing at VMware.

According to Egan, “The strength of our brand is truly rooted in our people. The person you are when you walk into work is also the person you are outside of work. Not only does this mean we have a lot of fun together, but it also creates a strong sense of support, trust and camaraderie between team members both inside and outside the workplace. This results in a team where each individual member is truly committed to the success of the brand and, most importantly, each other.” 

They share what's great about their companies. “Our refined and targeted content strategy has helped showcase and strengthen NBCUniversal’s talent brand by giving prospects and candidates easy access to information they want, when and where they need it,” says James Ryding, vice president of talent acquisition at NBCUniversal. “Those who seek to be a part of a thriving, challenging and rewarding workplace like ours are the ones we want to develop and grow here. With that in mind, we share our stories online and empower our people with their authentic voices and perspectives through blogs, videos and images.” 

They socialize. “Countless companies simply push out branding messages via social networks, like LinkedIn," Ryding says. "But we engage in real dialogue with prospects and candidates via ‘talkbacks,’ where influential, senior members of our business teams discuss relevant issues with prospects and candidates. These ‘talkbacks’ help convert our employees to brand ambassadors and give candidates a genuine look at what it’s like to work at NBCUniversal—everyone wins.”

Price Smith, social media manager of employment brand at VMware says, “Because we deeply value our talent communities, especially on LinkedIn, we nurture it daily by humanizing the online experience through active listening and engagement with job seekers. We add value by sharing stories [and] job opportunities, and sparking conversations, which is a form of giving back to the talent community on LinkedIn in targeted and relevant ways.”

Although you may not have the resources these larger companies employ to attract the best employees, by using a few of their smart strategies, you can find and hire people with the talent, skills and experience you're seeking.

Read more articles on hiring & firing.

Photo: Getty Images