Achieve Top Recruiting Results: Dive Deeper Into Talent Pools

Finding the right candidates can be tough, but ultimately the best candidates are in demand.

Like everything in our world today, business is completely different than it was just a few years ago. Those changes have trickled down to recruiting and sourcing talent. Employees and potential employees have more opportunities than they have in the past and the need for employees is at an all-time high. Where to source top talent and find the best fitting candidates from, is at the forefront of every human resource manager’s mind.
 

In a recent survey of 500 HR leaders, 48 percent of respondents indicated they expect recruiting to be more difficult this year. Something’s gotta give. Many of the faithful old places for recruiting are still great resources for sourcing talent, but sometimes it is not enough. Online applications are expected and posting on job boards is the norm, leaving some HR managers that use more traditional recruiting struggling in this competitive market.

By taking advantage of current employees as sources, digging deeper and expanding on the sources already in use and taking current processes to the next level, bigger pools of resources will open up.

Cast the Net in Deeper Pools

Leveraging current employees is a great way to start with a quick recruiting win. When employees are satisfied in their job, they want to bring in other quality employees, making an HR recruiter’s job easier and more effective. That presents two opportunities: to deepen satisfaction for employees’ experience in their current job and give them motivation to recommend employees.

In a survey of top HR leaders, 25 percent believe that employee referrals are their most valuable recruiting tool. And why not? The outstanding talent currently in place was hard won. Why not have them recruit their talented friends and former coworkers?

When asked about referring candidates to open positions, 55 percent of employees say they haven’t done so and 32 percent say they don’t because they are unaware of open positions. A simple change like communicating with and making current employees aware of positions within the company can make a huge difference.

One effective way to meet these goals is to centralize your HR data in one place. Create a known place for employees to learn what positions are available and recommend potential hires. Employees appreciate good communication and being able to find what they need when they need it. By streamlining data and making regular HR tasks easier for employees, the employee experience (EX) gets improved.  

Go Digital or Go Home

Going big is a great moto for recruiting and sourcing. Going digital with an HR system can expand on the sourcing channels that recruiters are familiar with using. For instance, at one time a recruiter would have to manually update job offerings on each website such as LinkedIn and Indeed and check emails to keep up to date. But by using an applicant tracking system (that is connected to your HR system) it makes posting to hundreds of relevant job boards at once easily within reach. An integrated applicant tracking system makes it easier for recruiters to keep track of applicants, make notes and communicate with other partners such as hiring managers.

Then take that one step further by tapping into company resources. Marketing teams are often up on the biggest trends. Have a social media person? Contact them and begin to advertise your available positions across multiple media sources. Marketing and social media professionals often have access to SEO and analytic tools as well. Optimize talent and recruiting efforts by learning what works best and what doesn’t.

Keep Evaluating

Growing and getting better never have an expiration date. Researching talent resourcing trends is always a good idea, especially in this quickly changing climate. Careful record keeping shines a light on the best resources. A system that offers predictive people analytics can be extremely valuable to identify churn and zero in on positions that are difficult to fill. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), HR representatives have the metrics at their disposal to better plan for unpredictable changes in the employment landscape.

Finding the right candidates can be tough, but ultimately the best candidates are in demand. Augmenting and making the most of sourcing strategies has a big payoff in the end. Top talent helps to make a business top tier and brings business success. Streamlining the process, weeding out what doesn’t work and continuing to challenge what does brings the best people into the business. And people are who make a business go from good to great.

Author Bio

Amy Mosher is the Chief People Officer at isolved. With more than 20 years of global human resources experience, Amy has contributed to the success of multiple public and private companies across various industries, including software, biotechnology and hardware. For the last decade, she has served as the Head of Human Resources with Accel-KKR SaaS software portfolio companies, including HighWire Press, Inc., KANA Software, Inc. and, now, isolved – enhancing cultures and building positive employee experiences at each.   Connect Amy Mosher Follow @isolvedHCM