Do you keep hearing the term sourcer, or sourcing? More and more, it seems that any time Talent Acquisition or Recruiting is mentioned, sourcing is not far behind in the conversation. With Sourcecon right around the corner I thought it would be a good time to discuss why organizations, both big and small, should consider bringing on a sourcing resource to some capacity.
In my opinion, ideal sourcers are ones who are hybrid recruiters. They do more than just react to talent coming to them. Rather, they have a strong and dedicated focus on doing the leg work—including internet research and cold calling--to identify hard-to-find talent who are typically not actively looking for a new position. Consider sourcers as being your own mini search firm. Their sole job is to find talent by any means necessary, taking on all roadblocks as additional challenges and being motivated to explore other avenues to find the right talent. They should have a natural curiosity about learning new tools and techniques to uncover hidden information that will lead them to potential talent.
One of the major reasons "sourcing" came to be a necessity in recruiting is because full life cycle recruiters are being overwhelmed by the high volume of candidates applying to positions. They are often inundated with sifting through large volumes of resumes—many of which are often unqualified. This leaves little room for them to pro-actively search for qualified talent. This is in addition to the complex operational requirements around setting up phone screens and interviews, and maintaining good relationships with the hiring managers.
So rather than “post and pray,” doesn't it make sense to have an internal resource who's sole responsibility is to go proactively out and find the talent that matches your positions (a.k.a. the people you really want to talk to), rather then hoping for the best with the people that apply?
While many companies don’t want to spare the expense to pay for an extra resource, I have personally seen how having a sourcer on a Talent Acquisition team can not only save money and time in the long run, but how they truly add value to the organization by bringing in a higher echelon of talent--talent they may have otherwise missed out on. Hewitt has seen a significant savings in agency fees, increases in recruiter productivity, and a higher manager satisfaction rating.
In my next segment, I will discuss the roles and responsibilities of a sourcer, the tools and training you need to arm them with, and the differences between a phone and internet sourcer.
What do you think, HCI members? What role does sourcing play in your talent acquisition process? We'd love to hear your comments below.
Tim O’Connor is a Talent Acquisition Consultant, strategist, and speaker originally from Northampton, Massachusetts, now residing in Southern Maine. Tim currently manages Hewitt's Social Media Platforms such as, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin. He is in charge of strategy to leverage Social Media to increase brand awareness and build Talent Communities. Mr. O'Connor also manages a Global Sourcing Team out of India that is responsible for providing talent pipelines for North America, Europe & Asia. Prior to his current position at Hewitt, Tim managed a dedicated team of sourcers for Hewitt's Consulting, IT, Legal, Finance & Executive Practices. Prior to Hewitt, Tim was the Strategic Sourcing Lead for Capgemini North America, one of the largest IT Consulting Firms in the World. In this role Tim was brought on to create and implement Capgemini’s first ever Strategic Passive Sourcing Program. He also managed a Sourcing Team in Kolkata India, which was responsible for developing both active and passive pipelining for North American recruiting.
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Hi Irina, I agree. A sourcer can be utilized in multiple ways, both in low volume hard to fill positions, and high volume entry level roles. I think the important aspect of having a sourcer is that they are focused on candidate development, regardless of the source. Also, as Alison mentioned, it would be ideal to have a sourcer who is focused on a certain industry, which I think adds value to any position. If you do not have that luxury, a good sourcer should be able to adapt quickly to most industries. Thank you all for your comments and I should have the next post up next week.
Tim,
I enjoyed reading your post. I agree with you on all points. I also think that a dedicated sourcer can help sort and search resumes if the volume is/becomes too high, in addition to exploring resources outside of the organization.
Look forward to reading next parts and to seeing you at SourceCon.
Tim,
Thanks for the support of a sourcing model. I, too, agree that sourcers are the key ingredient in the recipe for successful recruiting. It also is so important that sourcers come with the appropriate industry knowledge. While gifted sourcers may be able to yield hard-to-find candidates in general, the most successful ones are those who have the specific knowledge of the industry they are recruiting for, enabling them to turn the leads into hires.
Alison Citti, Blogger at http://www.theseamlessworkforce.com
Good to see ya blogging for HCI.A great topic from a true sourcer.Looking forward to hear more on the topic especially the problems/complexities you faced making recruiter and Sourcer work together.
Great case for sourcing, Tim. I'd like to add, too, that some recruiters are great a sourcing and some are great at relationships. Very few are great at both- this is a terrific way to get the best of both worlds on your TA team.