By Bryan Chaney
We recently looked at what sourcing used to be, and then examined how it‘s evolved. But it could be so much
more, and it will. Let’s peek into
the crystal ball of the not-too distant future of sourcing.
Candidates
as Customers
As much as some of us may not like to admit it,
we spend most of our cognizant lives as consumers. We buy products and
services, and trade money, time and energy in exchange for items of perceived
value. This is also true in the world of work. Many of our clients and
employees as well as our prospective clients and employees are all connected to
each other in a myriad of socio-economic circles. The sooner we realize this,
the better the candidate experience will become. Sourcing is becoming more and
more a part of that experience.
Tools
In any modern sales organization, we don’t think
twice about paying for a Client Relationship Management or CRM platform. But
candidate relationship management is generally considered a luxury in talent
acquisition today. These tools, or at least the functionality of these tools, I
predict will become mandated and mainstream in the next 3-5 years.
Talent Communities/Networks/Pools
Whether branded, unbranded,
user-generated/moderated or managed by an organization, our prospective
candidate lists are becoming more organic and dynamic, and less of a static spreadsheet
or database. This is taking the form of talent communities, or networks like
TalentCircles.
Now, this isn’t your 1999 “talent community”
which was basically a glorified database. We’re talking about interaction and
discussion, knowledge sharing and distribution. A place where people can
actually have conversations and learn about the real employee experience, via
private and public messages or video chat. More and more, these platforms will
offer a way to foster relationships regardless of geographical distance, over
the span of a few months or years during a candidate’s career.
Just remember that a micromanaged community will
look like a predatory watering hole near the Serengeti. And an unmanaged
community or network will fall as flat as a dance club without a DJ to keep the
crowd moving. The ideal balance is somewhere in the middle, depending on your
audience.
Fit over Function - Soft Skill Sourcing
With the skills gap ever yawning, the emphasis
will continue to be on attitude, personality and train-ability over specific
skills. But how do you source for someone who thinks like a pirate, without the
term “eye-patch aficionado” in your search string?
The answer is technology that interprets the
meaning and intent behind text-based content and social behaviors. More
companies like eiTalent will
develop algorithms for core values and driving motivators. This will help us
determine a better fit on the front end of a search, rather than an assessment
right before a hire is made. Not to mention the positive implications of
getting a recruitment marketing message *just right* for your targeted
prospects. You do want the right people responding, don’t you?
Social Validation - fraud prevention
As sourcing becomes more of the forefront to
talent acquisition, the teams and leadership are being tasked with intelligent
checks and balances. I spoke to an industry colleague recently who was looking
for a way to verify employment information in a candidate’s resume and social
profiles. The reason? A prominent executive was hired with a completely
fabricated employment and education history. I’m sure there were hundreds of
thousands of dollars…lost.
This is another example of one bad apple changing
a recruiting process. My recommendation? To leverage ZoomInfo, Hoover’s and
social aggregators like Klout and Kred, for the double and triple-check.
Teams
Sourcing will grab more of the spotlight as
recruiters have to tackle research and lead generation. They have plenty of
applicants for open reqs, but the appropriately qualified applicants are harder
to reach.
As candidate generation becomes a necessary skill
set, I can see corporate Community Managers turning into Talent Advocates.
After all, a good brand knows it has to nurture relationships with clients as
well as candidates. Which means blended roles for both marketing and
recruiting/sourcing professionals. They are all brand ambassadors and soon
those that haven’t admitted so yet,
will learn to act accordingly.
Tactics
To truly build a relationship, you have to focus
on engagement. Marketers understand this, and build calendars of targeted,
relevant content, to start conversations with their prospects. Why?
They know that if your messaging is only about
the sale, then it will be one-note and turn off the audience quickly. The same
is true for recruiting and sourcing.
Imagine a world where candidates get invitations
to join a passionate network of similarly minded professionals. Not to look at
a job or push an agenda, but to talk about what makes their creative or
analytical engines purr. That’s engagement.
Now imagine that network plugging into their
social graph, to determine who they interact with intimately, as well as their professional
acquaintances. As a sourcer, you will be able to call out specifically who is
connected to the right circles of influence in that niche. You will also see
who would make an ideal referral, instead of asking the ubiquitous “who do you
know?” question.
The future of sourcing is indeed social,
predictive, and growing by popular demand. And as someone who started my
recruiting career as a sourcer, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
About Bryan Chaney: Bryan Chaney is a Talent Branding and Attraction Strategist. He most recently led employment branding and social media for corporate recruitment at Aon. Previously, he developed the recruitment marketing arm of a Texas based RPO provider that serves SMB and Fortune clients. He serves on the board of Social Media Breakfast in Austin and founded careerconnects.org, a community event platform, to gather niche recruiting and HR professionals with candidates to share career strategies. The Huffington Post recently named him one of the Top 100 Most Social HR Experts on Twitter. Connect with Bryan for consulting and speaking availability at Bryan Chaney.
