A step-by-step guide to getting the most out of your talent sourcing process
The goal of talent sourcing is to build a pool of qualified candidates from which your organisation can choose the best fit for the available position. The benefits of doing this effectively are that it will not only increase your chance of finding the best candidate for the role you’re recruiting for right now, but it will also increase the likelihood that you’ll redeploy that candidate in the future.
The importance of good talent sourcing
To really understand the importance of talent sourcing, we only need to look at LinkedIn’s Top 100 Hiring Statistics for 2022, which shows that 62% of talent teams find more high-quality candidates through sourcing than inbound applications. We’re talking more than half the time you’re finding better candidates through sourcing than applications.
Good practice in talent sourcing has the added benefit of enabling you to build a better talent database. And the more qualified the candidates in your talent pool, the more likely you are to place them ahead of the competition. That’s something that is becoming increasingly important given that over half of recruiters have identified talent shortage as their biggest problem.
When it comes to bad talent sourcing, however, we don’t have to think too long or hard about the potential impact. If your clients employ a candidate that’s been poorly sourced – who is ultimately unsuitable for the role – the effects are far-reaching.
Data from a CareerBuilder and Mindflash report provides a clear indication of the negative impact of a bad hire. Forty-one percent of employers noted lower worker productivity, 40% noted lost time due to recruiting and training another worker, 37% noted the additional expense involved in recruiting and training another worker, and 36% saw a negative impact on employee morale.
To put the above into monetary terms, 41% of respondents to the survey indicated that a bad hire in the past year had cost them at least $25,000. And 25% said the impact of a bad hire during the same time period had cost them at least $50,000. Imagine that impact on your clients – it wouldn’t do your working relationship any favours.
So the imperative to get talent sourcing right is crystal clear.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a brief but comprehensive guide to effective talent sourcing to help you build out a solid strategy.
The talent sourcing process
Before we look at best practices, let’s outline the crucial steps in the talent-sourcing process. These represent the baseline in terms of making sure you’re sourcing candidates effectively.
1. Define the role: Before beginning the talent sourcing process, it is important to have a clear understanding of the role that needs to be filled. This includes the responsibilities and duties of the position, as well as the skills and qualifications required.
2. Identify sources: There are a variety of sources that can be utilised to find potential candidates, including job boards, social media, employee referrals, and recruiting agencies. It is important to consider the specific needs of the role and the target candidate pool when choosing which sources to utilise.
3. Search and screen: Once sources have been identified, the next step is to search for and screen potential candidates. This may involve reviewing resumes and conducting initial interviews to assess fit and qualifications.
4. Select and engage: After identifying a pool of qualified candidates, the next step is to select the most promising candidates and engage with them further. This may involve conducting more in-depth interviews, checking references, and negotiating offers.
5. Onboard and integrate: Once a candidate has been selected and accepted the offer, it is important to effectively onboard and integrate them into the organisation. This may involve providing training and support to help the new employee adjust to their new role and become a productive member of the team.
According to LinkedIn’s hiring statistics, this is a crucial step that 88% of companies don’t do effectively. The data also shows that companies with a well-designed onboarding process experience 50% greater new hire retention. So taking an active role in the onboarding and integration of placements is good for you and it’s good for your clients.
Talent sourcing best practice
OK, so those are the foundations of a solid talent sourcing strategy – now onto best practices. There are several strategies that organisations can utilise to effectively source talent. But if you leverage the following five activities, you will vastly improve your ability to engage with candidates and, as Bullhorn founder and CEO Art Papas put it in his keynote speech at Bullhorn Engage 2022, ‘build a talent community’.
1. Utilise multiple sources: It is important to utilise a variety of sources to find potential candidates. This may include job boards and social media. This list from Recruitee contains a diverse range of largely untapped talent sources to get you started.
2. Build relationships: Building relationships with potential candidates, even if they are not currently looking for a new job, can be beneficial in the long run. This may involve networking at industry events or connecting on social media. A clear and comprehensive methodology for doing this is Bullhorn’s Connected Recruiting, which you can read more about here.
3. Use targeted sourcing: By targeting specific groups or communities, organisations can more effectively find qualified candidates who may not be actively searching for a new job. In a recession, like the one we’re in now, the value of those ‘passive candidates’ increases as less skilled and experienced workers tend to be laid off first. With the right targeted sourcing though, those candidates don’t remain passive for long. As this data from ERE shows, 82% of passive job seekers say they would entertain a career change if the right opportunity came along
4. Utilise technology: There are a variety of tools and technologies available to help with the talent sourcing process, including applicant tracking systems and ATS integrations. When it comes to sourcing at scale and sourcing for executive-level positions, PitchMe’s Leads Generation and Look-A-Like features can quickly deliver high volumes of high-quality candidates from a broad range of digital sources. To find out more, book a demo with us by clicking the button below.
5. Foster a positive candidate experience: The candidate experience during the sourcing and recruitment process can have a significant impact on an organisation’s employer brand. It is important to make sure that candidates are treated with respect and professionalism throughout the process. This links heavily to number three on this list, and can also be achieved through the implementation of strategies like Connected Recruiting.
The bottom line
Effective talent sourcing has far-reaching benefits for your business. It will enable you to find more high-quality candidates, build a community of talent that you can place now and redeploy in the future. And in today’s competitive marketplace, it will also identify and get to the top talent before anyone else.