Ever get the feeling that your talent pools are going to run dry sooner or later? Sick of advertising in the same places to source talent for your company and getting the same mediocre applications? This article is for you.
Accessing New Pools of Talent
In a fast moving world, the competition for talent is becoming increasingly intense. And if you are fishing in the same physical and digital (online) ponds as your competitors, you will compete head on for talent, day in day out, with others in your sector.
To access the best people for your company, you need to go where those talented people are. Both in real life and online. And the truth is that not all candidates in each country, region, industry or role type hang out in the same places. Nor do they look for work in the same way.
So, what does this mean for recruiters when looking for talent? Here are 5 key implications to consider.
Spend time where your target talent is – not all sourcing channels need equal attention
The digital marketplace has provided a diverse range of online places to find talent. But the candidates you seek might not “hang out” in all digital places, all of the time. In real life, candidate groups tend to gather in particular places – this same phenomenon applies online.
So, when proactively looking for talent, don’t spend all of your effort equally amongst all sourcing channels. And when sourcing candidates on social media platforms, be discerning in your approach. If you know that candidates in a specific region don’t tend to use LinkedIn, spend less time “fishing” there.
Use your advertising spend wisely
If you know that candidates with skillsets and experience you seek, spend a lot of time on Instagram, consider spending more of your advertising dollars there. But if you know that candidates DON’T spend much time on a particular social media channel, spend less of your hard earned advertising budget on that sourcing channel.
It is worth undertaking an exercise whereby you look at all of your potential sourcing channels and planning out how you will spend your advertising budget proportionally across those channels, according to where specific candidates spend their time.
The focus and budget should be allocated according to both sourcing channels you know will produce the talent you need and new channels you are exploring as potential talent pools.
Constantly gather insights
When you meet with exceptional candidates, ask them where they spend their time online and in person. Investigate further to see if other people with similar skillsets spend their time in those places too. And if they do, focus attention and advertising dollars there, nurturing those digital channels, to see if this produces more quality candidates for consideration.
If your company works across geographic locations, spend some time gathering insights about the behaviours of your target candidate market in each location.
For example, with some research you might find that, in Japan, Graphic Designers spend a lot of their at industry MeetUps, but in the UK, reputable Graphic Designers tend to source work on “CreativeGuild”. The point is, you need to do your research and then tailor your sourcing strategy accordingly to optimise the amount of exceptional candidates you reach.
Measure your results
There is no point in developing a talent attraction strategy without putting in place appropriate measures to track its performance. You should measure the results of your talent attraction strategy every 3-6 months to gauge the quality and quantity of candidates that strategy is producing.
That means looking at each element of your sourcing strategy to see which channels (both digital and physical) are working best. Redirect efforts and advertising budget where sourcing results from specific channels are poor.
Remember though, that it is important to give each channel some time to produce results – you are unlikely to see results immediately as you need to spend some time building relationships with active and passive candidates first.
Sourcing channel innovation
Don’t continue to only “fish” for candidates in the same pond as your competitors. If you do, you are missing a golden opportunity to source passive candidates your competitors have not yet clued into to. Constantly innovate in your sourcing approach.
This means trialling the use of new job boards, online forums, career fairs, conferences and events, to see if they provide you with access to a new and inspiring talent market.
Not all of your efforts will be rewarded with a consistent stream of candidates. But with ongoing innovation and a commitment to discovering new sourcing channels, you will eventually find some gold mines of remarkable people who, if employed, will help your company thrive.