Innovative Sourcing Strategies for Mastering the Talent Landscape

In the current period of global economic growth, talent acquisition teams are engaged more actively than ever in the pursuit of sourcing the most valuable hires. One key trend is the evolution of a recruiter into a marketeer.
 
Here are some recommendations for sourcing strategies that talent acquisition teams should be exploring.
 

1. Try Gamification

Consider engaging social communities with trivia, contests and surveys to stimulate and challenge the audience. These efforts can also provide an induction of candidate knowledge, personality and strengths.

For example, an organisation seeking web designers could embed hidden job openings into the HTML code of the company website.  You could then post a hint on social media with an incentive. The users could then compete to find the hidden code, thereby demonstrating their skill through healthy competition.

2. Find Them in Class

Sourcing candidates with specific degrees or certifications can be a steep challenge. Develop a schedule of skill aligned courses that are being held locally or in the nearest metropolitan area. You can then engage the potential candidates with branded materials in communal areas. If possible you can arrange for a current employee in a similar role to be a possible speaker or career mentor to these classes.

3. Share Their Interests

Demonstrating attentiveness to candidate interests instantly validates the individual and draws their attention to the employer. Investigate the probable hobbies or interests of the requisition demographic. Perform a deep search of blogs, vlogs and social media pages surrounding these topics.

For instance, an employer actively seeking mechanics might approach potential candidates through popular V8 blogs or consider exhibiting at local blogs or consider exhibiting at local motor shows.

4. Practice Transparency

Leverage social media to provide an unguarded window into the culture and personality of a business communicates a sense of hospitality and credibility to candidates. Encouraging dialogue and expression through photos and videos implies the employer fosters a similar environment in the physical workplace.

5. Seek Them in Their Element

When researching your talent demographics, research and attend industry events at which potential hires might be attending or speaking.  The subject matter of the event is an ideal icebreaker in which to engage candidates. Create a calendar of anticipated events that align with the skill set of the talent you are targeting.

6. Renovate the Job Description

The cost of a bad hiring decision can be very expensive. To improve the match between the job and candidate, start be revisiting the job description. Ensure the job descriptions are through and accurate, more clearly defining the tasks then new hire will perform, the hard skills they will need to carry out these responsibilities and the individual traits and soft skills that will be essential to succeed in the role.

Consider incorporating more than just words. Recruiting videos featuring pertinent job types will resonate further when paired with a strong description. Providing a detailed illustration of the role will increase transparency and establish further trust with the potential candidate.

7. Be Simple, Direct and Personal

Make the candidate experience as direct and simple as possible. An employer might, for example, print flyers or cards with direct social links or career website links that make it easy for busy individuals to access job information on the go. Create a simple and direct route to the job to encourage passive candidates.

8. Appeal to Diverse Candidates

When seeking diverse employees, show current diversity by using images of real employees, not stock photographs. Employee testimonials and success stories featuring diverse individuals help candidates see themselves in the workplace environment. To promote gender diversity, for example, consider focussing on social media platforms that consist of predominantly of females users.

9. Be Altruistic

Become an advocate for the issues that matter most to the demographic will resonate on a personal level with candidates. By identifying, cultivating and proactively nurturing relationships with causes candidates associate with, they are able to connect with the employer of a personal level.

10. Prioritise Employee Engagement to Build a Compelling Employer Brand

In the current social media culture, there is nowhere to hide for companies with unhappy employees. Effective employee engagement initiatives thrive upon the nurturing a workplace culture that encourages open communication, recognises and rewards quality work, enables workplace health and wellness and encourages teamwork and solidarity among colleagues.

11. Flaunt the Employer Brand to Candidates

There are a range of innovative ways to elevate the brand without a dramatic monetary impact. Consider communicating the brand in the form of video testimonials from top performing or tenured employees who present distinct views of the employee experience. Socially sharing photos from workplace activities such as charity events, teambuilding exercises, or celebrations of personal and professional milestones will inspire and excite prospective candidates.

Open blogs and surveys will demonstrate that your organisation is interested in two-way communication, while social media participation of employee advocates will illustrate employee satisfaction and loyalty to potential hires.

 
Whether the objective is the hiring of niche talent or high-volume short-term positions, creativity is essential in successfully tackling and mastering the talent landscape.
 
 

If you want master innovative sourcing techniques, join your peers and global leaders at Sourcing.Social.Talent in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.