“The secret of my success is that we have gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world.” Steve Jobs, Chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Apple.
Employees represent the organization or brand they are associated with. They are the backbone of any company. Hence, hiring the right people for your company is an intense process that begins much before the company starts with interviewing candidates. So, you need to know more about sourcing talent in the work world for the employees to excel at their workplace.
A right sourcing strategy will not help prove beneficial in expanding the size of your talent pool, but will also help in closing positions faster. Instead of waiting for the candidates, increase your efforts towards sourcing the best talent. Read more to understand the difference between talent sourcing and recruitment.
What is Talent Sourcing?
It is a process of searching for candidates who may not be actively looking out for new roles, but possess the desired skills, competence, and knowledge to excel in open positions. It is an approach where the company directly approaches the candidates rather than waiting for the talent to find you.
For some, the sourcing process ends once the suitable candidate is handed over to the recruiter. In other cases, sourcing is an ongoing journey. The aim is to have a pipeline of talent, so whenever there is an opening, it can be immediately filled with the best candidate you have been nurturing all the way.
Why is sourcing important in recruitment?
For recruiters, sourcing is the proactive search for qualified candidates for current or planned positions. It is not related to the traditional method of reviewing the applications sent by the candidates in response to a job posting by the company.
Sourcing is a function performed by the HR professional, but it can also be carried out by managers within the company. It focuses on individuals who are not actively searching for job opportunities (passive job seekers) and also those who are actively job hunting (active job seekers).
It is typically a part of the recruitment process where the company is on a search for candidates through the company database and online including social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Talent sourcing vs. Recruitment
Do you know the difference between sourcing and recruiting? Both the terms are common in the recruiting field. Albeit related, these terms do not mean the same. However, sourcing and recruiting blend towards a single goal.
Sourcing happens much earlier in the entire recruitment process. Sourcers are in search of passive candidates. In talent sourcing, you also work based on referrals and there is also a task to convince people to apply for open positions.
The role of recruiting starts when sourcing ends. More often, sourcing is considered a crucial part of the recruitment process. When the list of candidates is handed over to the recruiters after sourcing, they begin with the process of filling jobs.
Talent Sourcing Process
The Talent Sourcing process begins with recognizing the need for a current and long-term requirement for talent. This leads to a job description that will help in qualifying the candidates. Once you are sure about your requirement, you can begin the talent hunt accordingly. However, it is important to study the market thoroughly and improvise your sourcing process. You should also be in touch with the department managers to flesh out their job descriptions for their requirements.
You need to know where the right talent is concentrated and how to find your way to them. You can now take advantage of several talent sourcing systems such as Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) to process potential candidates for the job.
Source: LinkedIn
What are Talent Sourcing Strategies?
Now that you know what talent sourcing is and how it functions, it will be helpful to look at some talent sourcing strategies.
Create a candidate persona
Before you begin with the talent sourcing process, create a candidate persona to hire the most suitable candidate for the job. Always consult the department manager and hiring team before finalizing a persona.
Source a candidate who matches your preferred persona
Once you have successfully created the candidate persona, you need to source candidates who match your persona. There are multiple tools available on the Internet through which you can improve your sourcing efficacy. Candidates can be present on several platforms, so you can choose any platform of your choice.
Connect with your leads
Find out the candidates with whom you want to connect. Once you decide that, finalize the channel you will use to reach out to them. You can reach out to them via emails, social media, or any other medium.
Improvise your strategies
You cannot use the same strategies over and over again. You mustn’t allow your talent sourcing strategy to become outdated. You should always be in search of new and unique ways to enhance your sourcing process.
Talent Sourcing: Best Practices
Nowadays, many of the best candidates do not apply for jobs anymore. It has become the responsibility of the sourcing team to go and find the candidate best suited for the job. Below are a few practices that will help you identify and approach talent anywhere.
1. Bifurcate the duties between sourcers and recruiters.
2. Plan your search to save resources.
3. Begin the hunt from your database.
4. The social media profiles of passive candidates will be out of date. So, be careful while reading their profiles.
5. Look beyond basic searches.
6. Maintain your hiring bar or standards.
7. Always be open to learning.
Conclusion
Does your company use talent sourcing? Worry no more. We, at Spottabl, will help you get access to talents from across the world through modern industry methods. Talent sourcing is all about connecting with people. Hiring is tricky and talent sourcing is proactively searching for the best fit, even when the candidates are not looking.
With younger generations and evolving technology taking over a major part of the workplace, talent sourcing needs to evolve. The sourcing process should not only be as per the contemporary trends but should also create an effective strategy.
As you can see, there is no single talent sourcing strategy – there are tons of techniques that suit your requirement. Keep experimenting till you find the best for your company.
