In today’s competitive job market, your recruiting function can’t afford to operate without a dedicated sourcing model. Many organizations place the responsibility of sourcing on recruiters, which not only results in a strained recruiting arm but also a lackluster talent pipeline.
These subpar pipelines often lead to hiring first-fit candidates (rather than best-fit talent), which can introduce additional issues, like damage to company culture, diminished trust between hiring managers and recruiting, or contributions to high turnover.
Then, when those first-fit candidates call it quits, your recruiters are back where they started — stretched, stressed, and maybe ready to call it quits themselves.
A dedicated sourcing solution (done right!) brings quick relief to your exhausted recruiting functions and delivers a pipeline of high-quality, best-fit candidates, ensuring your organization maintains a competitive advantage.
What is sourcing?
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), sourcing is “the proactive searching for qualified job candidates for current or planned open positions followed by attracting and engaging with potential candidates for both current and future roles within the company.”
In other words, sourcers are highly skilled at finding new prospects and building rapport with professionals who are not necessarily actively looking for new opportunities — and there are a lot of them!
According to LinkedIn, 70% of candidates are passive job seekers. While they may be satisfied in their current positions, these candidates may be even more satisfied with a new career opportunity. Tapping into this talent suddenly opens up your organization to a much wider pool of candidates.
Sourcers are key to connecting with these candidates and building your organization a high-quality, best-fit talent pipeline.
The need for sourcing
There was a time when sourcing did not exist separate from recruiting. It was assumed that the role of a recruiter was to source talent and manage the hiring process. This is often still the case in smaller organizations where hiring volumes are low and where it makes sense for an individual to cover the lifespan of recruiting. When this starts to be too much for one person, it’s often a healthy sign of organizational growth.
When we interact with organizations that still load up their recruiters with sourcing responsibilities, we regularly find that:
- Recruiters are maxed out. They’re unable to source new talent and present the best candidates in the market.
- Hiring managers are overworked. Because the recruitment team doesn’t have the bandwidth to screen candidates, this responsibility falls to hiring managers.
This cycle is unsustainable. You know it, your team knows it, and your entire organization feels it. But because everyone is at capacity, no one can find additional time to drum up an alternative solution. So everyone stays piled on the hamster wheel, unintentionally tripping each other up along the way.
As mentioned earlier, the good news is that these struggles are usually clear signs of organizational growth. It’s probable that your recruiters and hiring managers are doing their jobs well, and because of that, your organization has succeeded. Whatever the reason, your recruiting arm can no longer bear the weight. If nothing changes, it will inevitably break, whether that results in burnt-out recruiters, damaged company culture, high turnover rates (and costs), or stunted productivity.
5 benefits of a dedicated sourcing model
If hiring managers need deeper pipelines but recruiters have no time to spare, the whole team would benefit from dedicated sourcing. In case you haven’t already deduced them, consider these five benefits of dedicated sourcing:
- Better pipelines. Sourcers aren’t looking for ANY candidate; they’re looking for the right candidates for the right roles within your organization. They build pipelines of candidates who are qualified and interested. Imagine pulling from an expertly vetted list instead of crawling through a mess of unqualified applicants…
- Better hiring outcomes. Sourcers take on the heavy lifting of finding and screening candidates, then nurturing those connections, all while engaging with hiring managers and recruiters to ensure the best possible outcomes.
- Increased efficiency. Sourcers make sure your time is spent only interviewing the candidates that best fit the role within your organization. By creating a qualified, engaged talent pool, sourcers can also speed up hiring processes.
- Cost savings. Recruiting new talent costs your organization time, money, and resources. SHRM found that the average cost-per-hire is $4,700. Sourcers save money by saving time, but they also save money by sourcing top talent that leads to quality hires that effectively support longevity and organizational growth.
- Enhanced company culture. New hires are already coming in ahead if they’ve built solid relationships with your sourcers. If your organization is experiencing growth, any new hire can influence culture positively or negatively. By hiring quality people who fit the mission and vision of your organization, you’re more likely to build loyalty and satisfaction with existing employees and to develop strong teams.
Organizations who add dedicated sourcing into the mix are on the right track, but HOW you incorporate sourcers is the difference between success and failure of your recruitment model.
Sourcing as an on-demand solution
A benefit of sourcing on demand is that it allows you to scale up or down based on your organization’s needs. Whether you need more or less sourcing power, an on-demand sourcer can engage with recruiters and hiring managers at any given time to ensure the best possible hiring outcomes.
Beacon Lane’s sourcers, for example, know how to seamlessly integrate into organizations to quickly and efficiently support recruiters and hiring managers. As a dedicated sourcing partner, we become a vital extension of the recruiting function.
Here’s what we mean when we say extension. Sourcing on demand involves adding an outside organization, like Beacon Lane, to your existing team. Sourcers go to market as an extension of your organization, meaning they are held to the same standards as your internal team.
Some believe that sourcing on demand is the same as working with a search firm. On the contrary, a search firm is typically retained for a single search. So, once that search is over, their job is done. Unlike sourcing on demand, there is no continuity or collaboration in this model.
At the heart of sourcing on demand is the expertly-built pipeline of qualified, interested candidates, created for recruiters to present to hiring managers in less time without sacrificing quality.
On-demand sourcing versus in-house sourcing
If your recruiting team is used to handling sourcing on its own, you may ask, “Why would I bring on an on-demand sourcer rather than hire in house?”
Consider these additional benefits of an on-demand sourcing team:
- Simpler approval. Getting approval for FTEs can be a hurdle. Often, it is much easier to get approved funding for third-party consultancies than for additional headcount.
- Quick relief. When hiring volumes are higher than usual and/or the recruitment team has little to no bandwidth, an on-demand solution can bring immediate relief to a recruiting function.
- Expert results. By engaging an on-demand solution, companies gain deep sourcing expertise and ensure that hiring managers are presented with the best talent as opposed to just those who apply.
- Adjust based on your needs. The beauty of an on-demand solution is that it allows you to scale up or down with ease. You can adjust the number of sourcers or the length of time you receive support.
These benefits don’t mean that an in-house sourcer can’t be effective, especially if you hire someone with the right skillset to support your organization. However, what happens when you need to scale up or down? If hiring volumes rise, will your in-house team be large enough to handle them? Or, if you face a hiring freeze, will you be forced to let go of your in-house sourcers to cut costs?
Because on-demand sourcers are, well, on demand, they’re ready to be there for you as much or as little as you need them. This puts your company in a much more flexible position, to adapt up or down in any given market.
Improve your hiring with sourcing on demand
Beacon Lane Consulting offers exactly what we’ve described above on expert, dedicated sourcing. Our sourcers boast an average of 15 years of experience and have worked in corporate HR functions across a variety of industries. Through Sourcing on Demand, Beacon Lane becomes an extension of your team, integrating seamlessly into your organization to relieve recruiting functions and source best-fit candidates.
The other good news? We can get involved fast. In most cases, Beacon Lane can start sourcing for your organization within 72 hours. From there, it shouldn’t take long to start realizing the benefits. This can vary depending on how long you need to onboard us into your systems, but most of our new clients recognize enhancements within two weeks, if not sooner.
As your sourcing partner, Beacon Lane can:
- Find you qualified, interested candidates — quickly
- Screen all candidates and nurture your pipeline
- Engage with your recruiters and hiring managers for the best possible outcomes
- Reduce your search fees, as we have an exceptional track record of sourcing across all levels
- Provide you relevant and personalized recommendations
- Work 1:1 with your leadership team to address timely and global issues
If you’d like to know more and discuss how Beacon Lane can become your dedicated sourcing partner, please contact us to start a conversation or schedule a consultation.
