Talent sourcing is one of the most important activities of modern business. It is where firms locate and groom the most talented people for a variety of positions within their organisation. But it is a skill that can be hard to identify and bring together; particularly if your firm has a diffuse system and recruits employees through a number of different channels.
Talent sourcing describes the process of investigating, identifying, developing, and subsequently networking with possible job candidates so as to convert those applicants into viable employment candidates. The broader aim of talent sourcing is, of course, to produce a consistent stream of highly skilled candidates, available to meet your organisation's needs. While this objective is admirable in itself, identifying the best candidates for every job can be a complicated exercise. For recruiters, this is especially troublesome as the pool of available applicants is often littered with unsuitable applicants: this often deters the recruiter from moving forward with the candidate, or worse, rejects the application altogether.
One solution to the problem of evaluating a candidate's suitability for a job is through the practice of talent sourcing. The idea behind this is that firms need to look beyond the traditional sources (often highly qualified HR professionals) and instead focus on the people within their own organisation who possess the hidden talents that are not visible to their HR staff. By tapping into these potential talent pools, recruiters can bypass the often restrictive criteria that recruiters apply to hiring and instead gain access to candidates who have not been adequately tested or whose true talents have not been realised by their current employers. This can then be used to create a more diverse talent pool, making recruiting more effective and allowing recruiters to gain access to candidates who might otherwise be turned away at the initial interview stage.
When it comes to using talent sourcing effectively, both recruiters and hiring managers should be clear about what they want from the sourcing process. Recruiters should first of all identify their needs and the skills they wish to find in their candidates - what exactly do they want from each applicant? In addition, recruiters should set out a realistic but achievable time scale for the search, including deadlines for qualification and interview re-qualifications, and when they expect results. These should be clearly defined in both the hiring manager's hiring philosophy and hiring policy.
Once both the needs and the time scale for the talent sourcing process have been established, the next step is to define the criteria by which the candidate will be compared against other applicants for the job. This can be done through a detailed job description that clarifies what the job requires, the recruitment requirements of the company, the talents that are needed, their relevance to the job description and so on. The job description should also explain the sourcing process and the methods that will be used to source the best candidates for the position. This will help to ensure that all candidates are assessed against each criterion and that those that do not match the pre-defined criteria will be excluded from further consideration.
When a company begins to run a talent sourcing exercise, it is important to set clear and measurable goals and metrics to use to track progress over time. Goals should be both quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative goals refer to such things as the number of candidates who are considered for a specific position, the number of jobs that are completed as a result of the sourcing exercise and the cost per candidate that is hired as a result of the process. Qualitative measurements are important because companies will need to develop hiring processes that meet the exact needs of their staffing needs, as well as helping candidates express their interest in working with the company. Metrics allow companies to track progress in terms of the number of candidates considered, the number of jobs completed as a result of sourcing and the cost per candidate hired as a result of the process.
Once a company has established what it needs in its candidates and what it expects from the candidates during the sourcing process, the next step is to develop a talent acquisition strategy. The goal of the strategy is to locate and hire talent that meets the requirements of the job description. This means that the candidate hiring process is much more focused during the initial stages. Job descriptions will also likely describe specific qualities that are required of candidates for the position. For example, a job description might specify that candidates must possess certain professional skills in addition to having a strong technical background.
After finding candidates who meet the job description and the requirements of the job, the final stage of the hiring process involves relationship building. A talent acquisition manager may establish contacts that can be leveraged throughout the sourcing and relationship building processes. These contacts may include former colleagues or customers that can provide information about past and current opportunities as well as providing information on their own experiences as a result of engaging in a talent sourcer. A good relationship with a sourcing manager can prove to be invaluable throughout the entire sourcing, hiring and relationship building process.