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
One of the things many employers struggle with is 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.
Oh dear! Those were her words, not mine.
The business owner in question realised after a month or two that what she needed was someone that was flexible with good rapport skills who could interact with clients and was able to work in a team.
Instead, the individual concerned had great attention to detail, however, wasn’t flexible and worked to her system, rather than using the company process.
If only this owner has sat down and worked out what the immediate business need was, as well as what it might be in the foreseeable future.
Now I appreciate that it would be great to find these fantastic individuals out there that can turn their hand to anything. One or two do exist however I am sure you appreciate the point I am making!
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 how some organisations do and don’t understand the impact and power of their employer brand. We wrote a post on employer branding last month that you can read in full here.
Only last week I was talking to a candidate about the company who was behind the job vacancy she had applied for on our website.
She was stunned.
Apparently, she had wanted to work for this organisation for years.
I admit they are well known in the area as an employer of choice; Why? Because they have worked tirelessly on the employer brand.
Here is a shocking statistic for you. According to one recent study, it was reported that over 75% of candidates would 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 recent workplace survey highlights some of these issues and you can grab our recent copy here
Time to turn sourcing into attraction? I suspect yes.
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 during the week.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with habits, they are incredibly useful. However, we can miss opportunities we are ‘blind’ to bias, especially when it comes to 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 or tells you about Andy who has 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. Depending on the role you are recruiting for it is worth considering both Job Boards and the various Social Media channels where your candidates hang out.
Is it possible to find someone who is a fit for your organisation; depending on the role, of course, it is. The downside is the time it might take you to find them.
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. Look at the start of this post where we cover job descriptions and knowing who you want.
A great advert that is clear 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. A caveat here, if you are considering this option make sure that the person who referred Sophie or Lee 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 the behaviourial testing applications out there 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. After twenty seven years working in the Leeds and Manchester commercial sector, we can help you source the talent your company wants. Email us here or call our friendly and experienced team here on Leeds 0113 367 2880 or Manchester 0161 661 4421.
