Each day that passes where you don’t have dedicated sourcers is another day that your competition is outpacing you.
We have a philosophy at Beacon Lane that no requisition should start at point zero. This means that every time a requisition is filled, there is a “silver medalist” to be considered for another role within the organization. It’s a game changer both for the organization and for your candidates.
The world of recruiting is fast paced. Its pace is especially amplified amid supply and demand imbalances, when there is not enough available talent to fill the countless job openings.
Hiring managers want to see candidates — more candidates — while recruiters are barely able to keep their heads above water. This often results in a “first-fit” hire as opposed to a “best-fit” hire.
Talent leaders tend to get so caught up in the inertia that they can’t see the bigger picture. The truth is, it doesn’t need to be so hard.
Dedicated sourcing as a solution
While the solution isn’t one dimensional, a non-starter is your recruiting model. Modern, forward-thinking talent leaders invest in dedicated sourcing for their organizations.
At the most basic level, dedicated sourcers mark the difference between planning and winging it. If you’re going to “hire” any sort of health provider, you don’t just wing it. You do your homework, then narrow down your final prospects. The same process is true with recruiting. You need to do your homework, really get to know the market and candidates, and then make best-fit, not first-fit, decisions.
This is where sourcing comes in.
6 truths to understand about sourcing
Here are 6 things you should know about sourcing to help improve your hiring outcomes:
- There is a difference between a recruiter and a sourcer. All recruiting teams have recruiters, but they don’t always have sourcers. There is a false assumption that recruiters have time to manage the hiring process, serve as strategic advisors to the business, field countless inquiries from hiring managers, focus on continuous improvement, troubleshoot in real time, AND source for new talent. Recruiters simply perform better when they have the support of dedicated sourcers. It’s a win for the business, your recruiting function, and candidates.
- Talent acquisition is, and always will be, a human function. Technology is designed to enable us, yet at the end of the day, we must connect with people, know what’s important to them, and really hear them. It is the sourcer’s job to discern whether or not candidates are potential fits, and if so, how to create mutual interest. This, in and of itself, is a full-time job and the absolute most important part of the hiring process.
- Being a great sourcer requires a different skill set than that of a great recruiter. This doesn’t mean that a person can’t have both skill sets, but it does mean that if they are doing both, the effort of each is diluted.
- Posting your jobs on various job boards and looking to see who applies is not sourcing. This is what we call “post and pray.” Throwing some clips up on social media highlighting your employment brand is also not sourcing. These are both actions that could be taken, but they will fall very short if you don’t have dedicated resources for building relationships and pipelining talent.
- Your competition is out there building relationships in every corner of the world. You will continue to be in a reactive model if you don’t rethink the role of sourcing within your recruiting function. Put simply, your competition will outpace you.
- Sourcing on demand is not the same as working with a search firm. Sourcing on demand involves adding an outside organization to your existing team. Sourcers go to market as an extension of your organization, consistently building a pipeline of qualified, interested candidates; plus, they are held to the same standards as your internal team.
It is unnecessary — and a competitive disadvantage — for your recruiters to be drowning in requisitions and your hiring managers to be operating without the talent they need. Beyond this, it is a disservice to hire first-fit talent as opposed to best-fit talent.
Dedicated sourcing is key to improving hiring
The market is tough right now. Unemployment is at an all-time low, and people are demanding more from their employers. Putting a sourcing model into place is a quick and easy way to turn your hiring around almost immediately.
If you are curious about how to make sourcing work for your organization, Beacon Lane is here to help. Our Sourcing & Recruiting on Demand services enable you to swiftly scale up and down, benefit from blue-chip expertise, and most importantly, hire best-fit talent in less time.
