How to Build an Effective Sourcing Strategy - American Society of Employers - Anonym

How to Build an Effective Sourcing Strategy

It may be of little surprise that in a competitive labor market, speed is a key factor in filling a firm’s open positions.  Often, a recruiter’s first instinct is to post a new vacancy on job boards, LinkedIn, or their corporation’s website, and then wait for responses.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, applicants who are actively seeking new opportunities, such as those who would reply to a job posting, make up only 14% of potential job candidates.  At the same time, 54% of the labor pool is not actively looking, but would be open to a new employment opportunity, even if they are satisfied with their current position. With time being a critical factor, how can recruiters be sure not to miss the opportunity to connect with qualified candidates who may not be actively responding to job postings?  The answer is a sound candidate sourcing strategy. 

 

Sourcing for qualified talent goes deeper than just a Boolean search on Monster.com or a quick review of one’s LinkedIn network.  Recruiters must have a strategic sourcing plan to ensure that they maximize the number of potential candidates they’re able to reach.  According to an article written by Marvin Smith, a talent sourcing expert, there are four main components of an effective sourcing strategy:  explore, discover, engage, and nurture

 

Explore

Scheduling an initial conversation with the hiring manager to gain an understanding of the position and the necessary skills, attributes, and other important characteristics is a key factor in building a strong sourcing strategy.  While scheduling this may not always be easy, it’s time well spent.  According to a 2014 study released from Bersin, having strong relationships with hiring managers is four times more impactful for successful recruitment outcomes than any other factor. 

 

In addition to establishing an understanding of the position, recruiters need to explore other factors related to the position, such as where to best find such talent, what factors motivate and interest that specific talent audience, and salary rates that will be considered competitive for the position. 

 

Discover

Once the role has been fully explored, discovering talent through sourcing can begin.  There are infinite ways that one can source for talent.  Narrowing the list of available sources helps bring into focus those which will be most efficient in yielding the talent required for a specific position.  A “talent sourcing checklist” can be created to act as a roadmap to where a certain type of talent resides (such as a university that produces graduates in a given specialty area).  Once this checklist is developed, it can be revisited and used again for future positions.  Candidates can then be “mined” from the checklist, allowing the recruiter to ultimately create a “target talent list” of candidates to reach and engage with. 

 

Engage

When a pool of qualified candidates is discovered, recruiters must decide the best avenue by which to engage with them and how often.  With today’s technology options, multiple communication channels exist beyond email and phone that are considered viable, such as LinkedIn InMails, Twitter, and texting.  With numerous entities battling for candidates’ attention, focusing on the best way to reach a particular audience will yield better results.  For example, professional-level candidates are much more likely to communicate via LinkedIn than blue collar workers. 

 

Making the messaging about the candidate, rather than the company, will resonate better with potential job seekers.  For example, sending a personalized message using the candidate’s name, reasons why their profile is of interest, and citing his or her experience in reference to a specific position will likely yield a better response rate than a mass email.

 

Nurture

The 2014 Bersin study found that a strong candidate pipeline is the second strongest factor of a high performing recruitment strategy.  Obviously, not every candidate that is sourced and screened will be selected, but he or she may still be a viable prospect for future positons.  The effort of developing and maintaining relationships with such talent pays when new positions become available that are filled quickly with candidates who are in the pipeline. 

 

While there is no single right way to source for talent, following a systematic strategy can be a significant advantage in identifying talent that continues to be scarce. 

 

Sources:  ERE.net, Jobvite, Talent Sourcing in the Digital Era: Talent Sourcing is So Much More than Boolean, Smith, Marvin

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