Do you have a strategy for recruiting top performers in your field? If that strategy consists of posting on CareerBuilder™ or Monster.com™ and hoping your next talent star appears in the stack of resumes, it’s time to reconsider your approach. Why? Because your next senior manager may not even be looking for a job.
Are You Actively Pursing Passive Candidates?
Recruiters often toss around the terms “passive” and “active” to refer to levels of engagement on the part of a job candidate. If you’ve stumbled across these discussions, you may be thinking, “I have to actively pursue passive candidates, or passively pursue active candidates…say WHAT??!” In order to make sense of the jargon, you need to understand the terms being used:
- Active—An active candidate is someone who is currently looking for work. Active candidates may be either employed or unemployed, but they are the ones out there browsing through job postings and reaching out to personal networks.
- Passive—A passive candidate is currently employed and not looking to make a move. That doesn’t necessarily mean he or she wouldn’t be open to a change, however. About 75% of the workforce falls into the passive category, but only 15-20% would be completely uninterested in a new position, no matter what the offer looked like. That leaves a large group—60% of the workforce—that could provide the talent you need to fill your next open position.
What Does That Mean For Your Recruiting Strategy?
Right off the bat, these numbers tell us that if you’re not looking at passive candidates for senior level positions, you are missing out on a huge recruiting opportunity. In highly competitive fields like IT, engineering, and science, the top performers aren’t out scouring job boards. They’re already working for your competitors. If you want to stay in the running, you’re going to have to step up your game:
- Proactive sourcing—Don’t wait for top performers to come looking, because they won’t. You need to find them through social media (LinkedIn, Facebook), networking, and referral programs.
- Bring in an RPO firm—Passive recruiting is difficult to do in-house, and while changing your sourcing and social media strategies can help, it may not be enough to get the talent you want. RPO firms like Hire Velocity specialize in identifying and recruiting passive candidates. Take advantage of their broad network connections, experience, and data analysis to find the people you need. RPO’s are very cost effective in sourcing passive candidates and most RPO’s offer a passive candidate sourcing option to supplement a company’s recruiters or talent acquisition group.
- Leverage your social media presence—Use social media to build your employer brand and to network with top performers in the field. Keep your company profile up-to-date, since that’s where many contacts will go first when researching your company. Participate in group discussions and comment on posts to become a recognizable voice in your field.
- Create an employee referral program—Your employees can be your best brand ambassadors, passing along information about job openings to their network of contacts. Make it beneficial for them to do so by offering incentives.
- Be strategic in your approach—Remember, not every passive candidate is open to a new job. Tell them what qualities they have that made you decide to reach out. Offer reasons why they should consider a change, get them excited about what’s happening in your company, and make it worth their while to consider a switch. That means an excellent compensation package, desirable benefits, an opportunity to better use their expertise, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Don’t be pushy—If a candidate isn’t interested, let them know you’d still like to hear back from them and ask if they would be open to being contacted in the future. This can give you an inroad with a particularly desirable candidate without making you look overbearing.
Bringing a Passive Candidate on Board
If you’ve made good contact with a passive candidate, they deserve a little special treatment. Don’t send them through the same application channels your job board candidates go through. After all, you recruited them. They may not have a current resume lying around the office, so find alternative ways of gathering the information you need.
With all candidates, but especially with passive candidates, focus on making the application process a positive experience. Whether or not the person ends up joining your team, you want his interaction with you to leave a good taste in his mouth so he’ll be more likely to recommend your company to others. And that, in turn, could lead to you to your next passive candidate.