Innovations in Talent Acquisition: Start with Sourcing
Talent acquisition is a highly technology driven, dynamic sector of the human resources function in any organization. In today’s candidate-driven market, new sourcing strategies and technologies appear almost as often as candidates change or alter their personal job-seeking strategies. How can organizations keep up with this constantly changing dynamic?
Unlike sourcing strategies in the past that relied heavily on job boards and career portals, the most innovative talent acquisition professionals are creating multiple talent pipelines through numerous channels in order to find the best and brightest candidates. What are these talent groups and how can we build them?
- Talent Pools. What is a talent pool? A talent pool is a group of candidates that share a specific job function in common—mechanical engineering, retail management, or software development for example. These candidates are pre-qualified to a certain extent by having perhaps applied to your organization in the past, interacted with you at an event or conference, or via referral by a current employee. A strong pool of pre-qualified candidates that fill a specific function can help ease the stresses of high-volume hiring during periods of growth and change.
- Talent Pipelines. What’s the difference between a talent pool and a talent pipeline? A talent pipeline is comprised of candidates that possess a specific skill or qualification. A talent pool of retail managers, for example, can help a recruiter build a strong pipeline of retail managers with experience in high-end furniture stores with sales in excess of a particular figure each year. Talent pipelines are also a way to identify candidates with a specific degree or certification, such as a PhD.
- Talent Communities. Perhaps one of the most important trends in talent acquisition, talent communities allow recruiters to assemble groups of people who are interested in your company or your industry, but perhaps are not actively seeking jobs and haven’t yet applied. You can build talent communities by giving potential candidates ways to interact with your company outside of just submitting an application. Job alert email subscriptions are an easy start. Further, social channels like Instagram and Snapchat can provide ways to showcase your brand and generate positive interest over time.
Strategic sourcing is just one step towards hiring the best candidates for your organization. Other important avenues to explore include the power of referrals and the importance of a strong employer brand. And, of course, once you’ve attracted the best and brightest, how do you keep them around? Kurt Jones, Director of Product Marketing for Peoplefluent, will explore today’s strategies and best practices in talent acquisition in his upcoming webcast “Innovations in Talent Acquisition: What’s Next?” taking place on Tuesday, July 26 at 1pm ET. Register here.