There are numerous ways to define recruiting, but our own professional perspective really determines how we see it.
In my opinion, recruiting should be more than just seeking out potential candidates and placing them into a job; we need to step away from transactional recruiting. It should be more interactional with a sense of discovering more about the candidate and assisting them with their journey toward the next career goal.
Whether we are a human resources professional, recruiter or hiring manager, how we define recruiting will set the precedent of our individual and corporate recruiting strategy.
Now, imagine you have an opportunity to hire for your company, and your goal is to find the next top performer for the job. How do you begin your journey?
It starts by how you decide to advertise and market that opportunity.
According to a 2015 study by Management Recruiters International Inc., 90 percent of recruiters say the market now is candidate-driven. This means organizations can no longer just post a job to a company’s career page and various job boards and instantly expect to find qualified candidates.
The good news is 51 percent of employees are looking for a new opportunity, according to Gallup Panel in November. Those top performers may be looking for a new opportunity, but will that be your organization? The opposite could be true as well; those candidates could be the other 49 percent, who currently are working for a company they love and take pride in the work they do.
Where can you start to find that pool of top performers, or as I like to say rock stars? One viable avenue is LinkedIn, particularly in utilizing professional connections to locate quality candidates. When searching for candidates, oftentimes, those rock stars don’t keep their information regularly updated; they may only update once they’re ready to look for a new job or have reached that next point in their career.
Another great resource for finding rock stars is through field-specific groups. An HR association provides the opportunity to seek advice from colleagues in finding rock stars and validating their work. A great starting point would be to connect with local universities, which tend to have student-led groups in that particular field. Additionally, advisers and professors often have connections with outside professional groups.
After you’ve found that proven candidate, what’s next?
You need to make sure the individual is a great fit and aligns with your company’s culture and core values. Part of recruiting is getting to know the candidate. You should discover their story, values, passions and work style to see if they’d fit your organization.
As a company advocate, it’s important to paint that picture of the culture. Candidates want to know if the benefits outweigh the risks of switching to a new organization and starting fresh. Creating an image of the culture in the candidate’s mind also helps them find out if their passions and ideas align.
As a side note, if you find the candidate is a rock star but is not necessarily a perfect match for your company, don’t get discouraged. He may be better for a different organization. Now that you have taken the time to discover who they are, you can help your fellow colleagues. They may be looking, too. This is what recruiting is all about.
It shouldn’t matter if you’re the HR professional, recruiter or the hiring manager. Recruiting should be a part of each role. So, what’s your personal definition of recruiting?
Kaci Pfaff is a human resources generalist and recruiter with Bear State Bank in Springfield. She can reached at kpfaff@bearstatebank.com.
