Winning the War for Talent with Smart Sourcing

How can you get ahead in the war for talent? That’s the question that has been discussed by Allegis Global Solutions (AGS) at a series of Industry Roundtable events across Asia Pacific (APAC) during April.
If you were unable to make it, here’s a recap of what was on the agenda.

Understand your audience

The talent landscape of today is vast. There are more channels available to attract both active and passive candidates than ever before. However, this variety can be both an opportunity and an obstacle. You have more ways to reach the talent you need, but also more ways to get things wrong and waste precious resources.
To take advantage of the vast landscape and gain the upper hand in the war for talent, your sourcing strategy needs to be carefully tailored to suit the nuances of the market you are operating in and the preferences of the demographic you are targeting.
[bctt tweet=”The are more channels available to reach out to your candidates – boon or bane?” username=”ATCevent”]
Candidate preferences can vary significantly between markets. For example, AGS research has revealed banking professionals in Singapore see LinkedIn as a more important career development tool than their counterparts in other major APAC markets. When asked to rate the social network out of 10 for usefulness, Singaporeans gave it an average score of 9, compared to 7 for Australia and China, and 6 for Hong Kong and Malaysia respectively. Facebook and Twitter, meanwhile, received an average of 6 out of 10 among Malaysian respondents, but were rated no higher than 3 by the candidates from other markets. You can read the full results of the survey by downloading our soon to be released whitepaper – ‘”What Talent Wants: Candidate Preferences in APAC Banking“.
This is a perfect example of how sourcing strategies need to be adapted to both the market and industry in question. Informal platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are not seen as particularly useful in the tightly-regulated banking industry, but the picture is different in more creative industries where businesses do not require such tight control of their brand.

Tools of the trade

Once you understand the nuances of candidates in the market and industry you are targeting, you can leverage the best tools to reach them. We discussed a number of different approaches at the Roundtable event.
The use of data analytics, for example, is less developed in APAC, but demand is growing fast. At AGS, we are experienced in drawing on data insights to help clients find the people they need, be it the creation of talent maps to shed light on the talent landscape or examining social platforms to establish contact with candidates and begin sharing a brand’s compelling story.
Having a broad, wide-reaching sourcing approach is key to successful use of data analytics. Instead of searching for talent based solely on the company they work for, searches should also be based on the skill sets they possess and the groups they are likely to be a part of away from work. For instance, looking at professional associations on Facebook and the people who like them could generate some interesting candidates.
[bctt tweet=”Understanding the nuances of your candidates will affect how successful you are in sourcing them” username=”ATCevent”]
Strategic sourcing requires innovation and a willingness to constantly try new tools. A prime example of this is ExtensionFB UID Scraper, a Google Chrome extension that allows Facebook to be searched much more effectively than by using the network’s own search function. Furthermore, metasearch engines, such as Dogpile, can draw on the collective power of all the major search engines, while some can also access the deep web and the vast quantities of information that are not accessible through the likes of Google. You can learn more about advanced search engine sourcing.

Pulling in passive candidates

Also speaking at the events was Simon Townsend, AGS Chief Innovation Officer – APAC. Simon focused on passive talent and how strategic sourcing can be used to engage these candidates with your brand. Find out more about what he had to say about pulling in passive candidates to find the best talent in his blog next week.

This article is sponsored by Allegis Global Solutions.