By Ross Campbell, Toronto Financial Services & Insurance Recruiter
Unsuccessful hiring is arguably the biggest problem in business today, and getting the upper hand in the war on talent is increasingly challenging. As part of the blog series, Hire Wisdom: The 12 Keys to Successful Hiring, I will dissect Key #1: Pipeline Talent.
Why it’s Worth Your Time
In case you were wondering, building a talent pipeline simply means proactively recruiting with the intent to bring the individuals into your company once a role becomes available or once you create a role for them. So why would you bother when you have so many other things to do? Think of it as an investment; it will save you time when you do need to hire and money when you retain a top producing team.
You ultimately want to automate your hiring process and become a proactive long-term networker and talent scout instead of reactive seat filler. With less time pressure, you will make less hiring mistakes, hire more wisely, and hire wiser candidates. This will give you a huge competitive advantage to help you get to the talent before your competition.
How to Pipeline Talent Effectively
1. Plan
Start with a plan; identify the key skill sets you are looking to pipeline. What are the most critical skills and the most difficult to find based on supply and demand? Have a very clear picture of what you are looking for and what your sourcing strategy will be before going to market.
2. Get the Buy-in & Declare Your Intent
From the top to bottom of your organization, gain everyone’s buy-in and declare your intent to build trust within the team.
3. Create Achievable Weekly Goals
Now that you have the buy-in, re-develop the sourcing strategy with the team. Identify the number of candidates you plan to meet and track the candidates you are interested in.
4. Conduct Thorough Phone Screens when Recruiting
Stop bringing in unqualified candidates; start to perform thorough phone screens on working and non-working candidates, knowing what you are looking for (as you established in the planning stage) to save you the time of meeting everyone.
5. Build Friendships & Create a Candidate Experience
Stop treating it like a cattle call; start to create a candidate experience, building stronger relationships and don’t assume that they are interested in your opportunity (especially the candidates who are currently working!). Keep selling them on your company and what would motivate them to join your company every time you connect. Follow up with candidates, reminding them why you liked them, and add valuable industry insight by sending them articles, career advice and keep them updated. Have them follow you on social media platforms to brand and continuously sell your company.
6. Ask for Referrals
Ask everyone you meet for referrals, as you are typically pipelining talent for multiple positions. It’s always good to know of the top talent in the industry, regardless of your current hiring needs.
7. Automate Your Calendar & Measure Your Metrics
Set ongoing reminders to keep in touch with the candidates and prevent them from falling through the cracks. Understand where your top candidates are coming from to prioritize your time and focus in those areas.
8. Maintain the Process
Meet your weekly goals to stay on track.
It can be a daunting task but start to pipeline talent today. The return on your investment will be a strong and growing company… and you will now have the virtual “bench” to fill the influx of new positions.
For more tips about gaining the most from your headhunter, check out our other Headhunter Insights blog posts. Also check out Toronto Financial Services & Insurance Recruiter Ross Campbell’s other blog posts and connect with him on LinkedIn.
IQ PARTNERS is a Recruitment Agency with offices in Toronto, Montreal & Vancouver, We help companies hire better, hire less & retain more. Our recruiters specialize in Marketing, Communications, Consumer Goods & Services, Retail, Sales, Technology, Finance & Accounting, Financial Services, Life Sciences, HR & Operations, and Construction, Property & Real Estate. IQ PARTNERS has its head office in Toronto and operates internationally via Aravati Global Search Network. Click here to view current job openings and to register with us.
