In a recent post, we talked about employee growth and gave five critical things for you to consider, we now turn our attention to how you source these candidates.
Depending on your current talent pipeline and your growth objectives, recruitment will be an ongoing task as your company grows.
The big question is who do you need where, and how do you attract them to your organisation?
In this post, we will cover some essential areas of focus.
What Do You Want? Your Job Description and Skill Set
Many employers struggle with identifying their key ‘must have skills’ for their next crucial hire.
Recently I was chatting with a business owner at a networking event. She was lamenting how she had employed someone to ‘plug a few gaps’ for her... not my words, hers!
After a month or two, she realised that that what she needed was a flexible individual, with good rapport skills who could interact with clients and and work in a team. However, the individual that she had already hired had great attention to detail, but wasn’t flexible and worked to her own system, rather than using the company process.
If this owner had sat down and worked out what the immediate business needs were, and those of the future, this situation would have been avoided.
So the message is, 'before you go fishing, you need to know what you want to catch' because then everything else can fall into place, from creating the right job description to choosing the right recruiting partner.
Focus On Your Employer Brand and Turn Sourcing Into Attracting
In never ceases to amaze the team here at Lucy Walker Recruitment how some organisations do and don’t understand the impact and power of their employer brand.
We wrote a post on employer branding that you can read here.
According to one recent study, over 75% of candidates do a basic ‘audit’ of your employer brand before deciding whether to apply for a job, and that is even before they make judgements about the company during the interview process.
Yet only around 57% of the employers studied had a dedicated strategy in place for building their employer brand.
In a skills short commercial market, not having control over your employer brand is a dangerous oversight that could damage your sourcing success.
Our workplace survey highlights some of these issues and you can grab a copy here
Zig Rather Than Zag and Remove Bias from Your Recruiting Process
Let’s be honest, we are all human beings and tend to live our lives in patterns. I tend to ‘do' my shopping in the same place and take our golden retriever on the same circuit when I walk her.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with habits, they are incredibly useful. However, we can miss opportunities when we are ‘blind’ to bias, especially in terms of sourcing talent.
For instance, do not assume that the thirty-something you employed will leave in a year or so. Conversely, that the fifty-something, does not understand how to use social media to create an engaged tribe for your organisation.
When your recruiting partner lets you know about a more mature candidate with transferable skills and a fantastic work ethic; don’t go on autopilot and say no. Stop and think about it.
Be open-minded, ask questions and you might be surprised by what you find.
Job Boards And Social Media
We live in an online world, so depending on the role you are recruiting for, it is worth considering job boards and social media channels.
Remember you will be screening the individuals in question, which takes both considerable time and patience, and where you need to weigh that up against the costs of using an agency to source candidates.
Direct Adverts
In a similar vein to social media and job boards, you can place a direct advert for your ideal new hire.
A great advert that is clear and detailed will attract.
A poor advert will still attract, only it will not be the ideal candidate and potentially will waste a considerable amount of your time and attention.
Referrals
In my humble opinion, referrals is one of the few talent sourcing options that can compete with a recruitment organisation. However, ensure that the person making the referral understands what you are looking for. Just because he or she is a lovely person, does not mean they will fit your culture or have the necessary skills for the role.
This is where you may want to consider behavioural testing applications to confirm your thought process.
The Lucy Walker Recruitment Sourcing Process?
With the exception of a referral from a current employee, the fastest and most effective way to source talent is through a recruitment company that understands your sector and the local market.
We are proud to say we can give ourselves two huge ticks on both counts.
We have placed and filled over 100,000 temp and permanent assignments over the last 30 years so have a range of techniques, ideas and platforms which could help you. Why not call us on 0113 367 2880 to have a conversation with one of our team. Alternatively drop us an email here or check out our Testimonials and Case Studies.
