Step #2—Improve Candidate Gravity

Generate a Continuous Flow of Quality Candidates

Not all recruiting methods are equal. Some give you outstanding candidates for a modest effort. Others are labor intensive, producing hundreds of people, many of whom are a poor fit. Using the correct recruiting methods is essential if you want to efficiently hire better employees.

Picking the best talent-finding options can be a challenge. There are lots of ways to recruit, including job boards, social media, advertising, and requesting referrals. New innovations, improved technologies, and an expanding range of service offerings are added every year.

Some talent resources require a sizeable investment. Marta, a talent acquisition executive for a large financial institution, found this to be the case with job boards. She couldn’t believe her eyes when her company’s primary job board sent her a renewal quote. The same level of service was going to cost nearly double. She tried to negotiate a better deal, gaining a few concessions and a slightly lower price. Unfortunately, this lower price was still not within her budget. “I’m not sure what to do,” she said. “We’ve been using that job board for a decade. It’s one of our top resources. But, every year, it’s gotten increasingly expensive.”

I asked her what makes it a top resource. “Our recruiters have relied on it more than any other recruiting tool,” she replied. “That why it’s such a hard decision. I can’t make the numbers work, but I also can’t afford to let it go.”

“Since you can’t afford to let the board go,” I said, “I assume it provides lots of good candidates.” Making a face as though she’d bitten a lemon, Marta closed her door, leaned closer, and in a near whisper said, “What I’m about to say isn’t politically correct, but that board brings in a ton of candidates, many of whom are garbage. We waste so much time reviewing resumes of people who don’t fit.”

Marta’s experience isn’t unique. You, too, have likely gotten poor results from certain recruitment methods. Does that mean that these methods are a waste of time? No. The issue is how they’re being used. To hire efficiently, you need a healthy talent flow. Generating a continuous flow of quality candidates requires using the right resources in the right way.

Post and Pray

Many sources provide a generous flow of quality talent. However, no one source can be the do all, end all. Each resource ebbs and flows. That’s why these resources must be used in the proper combination.

As we looked closer, Marta’s situation had two issues. First, her team relied too heavily on this single job board. Second, they handled it incorrectly. “Marta,” I said, “your recruiters are using a common yet unfortunate practice called ‘post and pray.’ They post open positions, then pray for responses.”

Marta chuckled, “That’s spot on. They’ve been posting and praying for years. I’m guessing that’s because it does produce candidates. However, never enough and never quickly enough. I’ve talked to the team about pipelining talent before we need it. But they’ve been resistant.”

The status quo is sticky. Like a spider’s web, it’s a trap. You get stuck in current circumstances. The longer you’ve done something, the more likely you are to repeat it.

I suggested to Marta that the time for talking was done. Instead, it was time to act. “I’m part of the problem,” she said. “You’ve told me you can’t think your way into change. You can only act your way into change. If my team is going to see things differently, it will be through action. How do you recommend we do that?” This began a discussion about the alternative to post and pray.

Plan and Produce

Waiting until a job opens to search for talent keeps you stuck in the old way of hiring. Many organizations hire in this manner, duking it out with one another over a limited candidate supply. Often, they’re fighting over leftover third-tier talent.

“Passivity is our problem,” said Marta. “When we wait to recruit, our results are inconsistent. We sometimes find decent people. Other times, we don’t. We end up battling other organizations for the best of the three ‘un’s’—the best of the unhappy, unemployed, and underqualified. It costs us too much time and effort.”

Shifting from reactive to active recruiting is an important step to hiring faster. However, recruiting actively isn’t enough when you’re searching for quality talent in a sea of “un’s.” You need a clear distinction between qualified and unqualified candidates.

Marta incorporated the Hire-Right Profile, working with hiring managers to create a clear picture of who was the best fit. She used that information to write improved posts for the job board, adding details that had been previously overlooked. The Hire-Right Profile also guided her in selecting better ways to recruit. “Never again will I be left flat-footed,” she said. “Relying heavily on our primary job board has never been a good idea. Our poor results prove it. We need a constant flow of candidates if we’re going to eliminate hiring delays.”

When Marta introduced these improvements to her team, they were openly skeptical. They’d heard talk about change before, then nothing would happen. This time was different; we’d planned for their skepticism. Marta started by indicating that she was part of the problem, admitting she’d been all talk and little action. This got their attention, especially since she was taking the blame versus casting it on them. Marta went through reports on sources of talent, showing why they’d been struggling to fill jobs. By the time she finished explaining how they would be cultivating top talent and waiting for the right job to show up, the recruiters were like a sports team ready to take the field.”

This is plan and produce. You create a plan to produce a continuous flow of qualified candidates. That flow is generated by tapping into an expanded pool of talent (Figure 4.1). The strength of your company’s pull on top talent is called “candidate gravity.”

FIGURE 4.1 Candidate Gravity

Candidate Gravity

Drawing in people is a critical function in business. Stores that don’t attract enough customers fail. Restaurants that don’t fill tables close. Gyms that don’t sell enough memberships fold. Companies with a weak pull on prospective job candidates always struggle to fill their open jobs.

Candidate gravity is the pull your organization has on talent. This pull may be weak, drawing in an insufficient supply of candidates; inconsistent, coming in ebbs and flows; or strong, generating a consistent stream of people. Companies with strong candidate gravity always draw a stronger flow of top talent their way, leaving second- and third-tier candidates for everyone else.

Eight streams of talent generate candidate gravity (Figure 4.1). Each one taps into a different pool of people.

Talent Stream #1: Advertising

Job ads are one of the oldest forms of recruiting. Yet, running such an ad isn’t necessarily an old-school approach. Campaigns place targeted advertisements in the results of an Internet search engine. Banner ads on web pages are often viewed by hundreds of potential applicants. Numerous online magazines, newsletters, and classified ad sites offer you the ability to advertise job listings.

Old-school promotion still works. Each week, millions of people peruse job ads in printed publications. Flyers on bulletin boards at schools and houses of worship continue to attract applicants. Signs on buses and benches create awareness of job opportunities.

Advertising works when it delivers a persuasive message to the appropriate audience. Your ad content must be compelling and succinct, communicating to readers what’s in it for them to pursue a job at your company.

Talent Stream #2: Automation

Technology can generate talent and streamline your recruiting. Job boards and career sites come in many sizes and specialties. Sourcing systems find candidates for you. Automated telephone calling services alert job seekers to opportunities. Other recruiting tools find passive candidates or mass distribute job postings. We’ll explore how to choose automation in Chapter 9.

Talent Stream #3: Candidate Mining

The longer a company has been around, the more resumes fill filing cabinets and databases. Many are covered in real or digital dust, having been overlooked for years. The resumes in these files are a rich, renewable source of potential hires and people who can provide referrals.

Mining this untapped pool of talent is a simple exercise. Methodical searches of databases convert old resumes into new leads. Working through a filing cabinet a few files a day reestablishes contact with potential hires and referral sources. Searching previous candidates in applicant tracking systems could uncover prospective employees and networking contacts.

Talent Stream #4: Market Presence

Your company has a presence. This presence is created by your physical locations, online identity, organization’s reputation as a place to work, and overall standing in the community.

Market presence can draw in top talent. Storefront signs can convey organizational values. Websites can share stories of how employment at your company has lifted careers. Videos on social media can highlight where your organization stands on important issues.

Talent Stream #5: Networking

In the old days, if you wanted to network, you had to leave your house. You’d drive or fly to a conference, job fair, or reception. Today, you can also network virtually. Social media, online communities, and comments on articles have all become places for us to connect.

Getting the most from networking requires participation in both the physical and virtual worlds. Joining conversations on a discussion board before a conference leads to meaningful interactions at the event. Staying in touch with people on social media after a job fair may deepen relationships. Attending cocktail parties at the local chamber still offers opportunities to meet people who aren’t active online. Colleges and schools are prime territory for connecting with talented people who have fresh perspectives. Full-scale networking taps into a wide stream of people who can become your job candidates and provide referrals to top talent.

Talent Stream #6: Referrals

Referrals have always been the most potent talent stream. One person can guide us to many others, pointing out who’s particularly good at a job.

We have many opportunities to ask for referrals to potential job candidates. Current employees, along with their family and friends, can connect us to thousands. Every candidate interviewed by your company can be a source of introductions to colleagues and friends. Reference checks also provide us ready-made opportunities to ask for help with referrals.

Talent Stream #7: Talent Manufacturing

Job candidates aren’t just found; they’re also made. How? Through “talent manufacturing” programs like internships and education, which provide potential hires with experience and new skills; and cross-training programs, which provide current employees with the skills needed for advancement.

Of all the streams, talent manufacturing is the most underutilized.

Talent Stream #8: Talent Scouts

Actors on stage and screen have agents, professionals who land them their next roles. So, too, do people in every profession. Staffing firms and recruitment agencies are external corporate talent scouts, providing contract workers and full-time hires. The staffing industry has evolved into an entire ecosystem of services to help your company procure one person or an entire team of people.

Picking a solution from this ecosystem can be daunting. Chapter 10 is dedicated to this topic.

Only 10 percent of organizations across the globe maintain strong candidate gravity. Why? They maximize all eight of the talent streams; the other 90 percent do not. If you want your company to have stronger candidate gravity, you must identify where your pull on talent is weak and improve those areas of weakness.

Improving Candidate Gravity

Answers to common questions will show you how the process of improving candidate gravity works:

1. Why is our candidate gravity weak or inconsistent?

It’s important to remember that each talent stream gives you access to a different group of candidates. Some of the talent streams provide overlapping access to the same candidates, but no single stream can secure every qualified individual. If your company is experiencing an inconsistent flow of qualified candidates, you’re not using all eight streams effectively.

Marta’s talent acquisition team wasn’t in the habit of asking everyone for referrals, nor were they regularly participating in networking opportunities. Improving these two streams brought in top talent they hadn’t previously found using their primary job board.

2. How does our organization improve a talent stream?

Improving the flow of talent in each stream requires choosing the correct methods. For example, there are many automation options, including products from Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster, and CareerBuilder. Referrals can be generated using different techniques, such as querying current employees or asking for referrals during candidate reference checks. Picking the correct methods, in the form of resources and techniques, maximizes the flow from each of the eight streams of talent.

The recruiters on Marta’s team began asking for referrals in every reference check. They also launched different referral initiatives, including asking for leads from current and past job candidates, internal staff, and the friends and family of team members.

3. What makes a resource or technique the right one for us?

Finding qualified people for a specific role requires tapping into the groups of people who may fit the role. Hire-Right Profiles will guide you in choosing methods for producing prospective employees from these talent pools.

The Hire-Right Profile Marta created for one of the company’s core roles, financial analysts, included two important Dealmakers: Active industry connections and strong verbal and listening skills. Recruiters researched options for finding people with these Dealmakers, looking for possibilities among the talent streams they weren’t using effectively, including networking. They found several monthly networking opportunities widely attended by financial analysts that fit the bill.

4. How do you know you’re using a resource or technique properly?

That’s simple. If a resource is giving you a flow of qualified candidates, some of whom become good hires, you’re using that resource correctly. An inconsistent flow from a resource indicates that you’re likely making a mistake.

Two recruiters in Marta’s firm generated a flood of financial analyst candidates from referrals. The rest of the team, in comparison, was drawing a trickle of talent. The success of the two recruiters stemmed from how they were asking for referrals. They made specific requests, based upon whom they were speaking with. Currently employed financial analysts were asked for referrals to colleagues at other firms. Requests of internal staff were focused on who they’d like to see join the company. Once the rest of the team adopted these practices, everyone had success in bringing in a steady flow of candidates from referrals.

5. Do we really need to use all eight streams to achieve strong candidate gravity?

Most organizations find they need to use all eight to maintain a strong talent flow, especially since each stream draws in candidates unique to that stream. Small companies, though, are the exception. As long as they leverage the most potent stream—referrals—smaller organizations can often generate a robust flow from four or five streams. The leveraging of this selection of talent streams is handled by managers, an HR leader, the business owner, or a combination of these individuals.

Marta and her team initially found the idea of using all eight streams overwhelming. In a short time, they discovered that employing all eight streams takes less effort than relying on only a few. Why? They were drawing candidates from a wider audience rather than struggling over a limited pool.

Maximizing each talent stream creates a continuous flow of talent. How do you create and sustain this flow? By using recruiting methods correctly, consistently, creatively, and completely.

The Four Cs

Why does a recruiting method fail to supply enough talent? Often, the method gets the blame. However, it’s usually the people who have failed to use it properly. To generate a flow of talent that’s continuous, each recruiting method must be used correctly, consistently, creatively, and completely (Figure 4.2).

FIGURE 4.2 The Four Cs

Correctly: Is the Method Being Used Correctly?

There’s a right way and a wrong way. The right way (often referred to as a best practice) is the one that gives you the best results for the least effort.

Take job boards, for example. Marta’s team previously spent hours sifting through job-board resumes of people who didn’t fit. This unstructured and exhausting approach produced only a handful of acceptable candidates, never enough to fill all of their open positions.

Marta and her team eliminated the need for all that mindless sifting by planning ahead. They posted positions on job boards before the real need came up. Dealmakers from Hire-Right Profiles were added to better communicate who should apply. The number of matching candidates grew as the volume of applicants decreased.

Consistently: Do People Use It Consistently?

Properly using a recruiting method that fits your circumstances always increases the flow of talent, as long you apply that method consistently. Lack of consistency is the most common issue among the four Cs.

The referral initiative developed for Marta’s team focused on consistency. Called “Engage Everyone,” the initiative operated on the belief that every individual knows at least one person who could be a potential employee or source of candidate leads. This effort paid off: 85 percent of people provided at least one referral. Four new hires generated from Engage Everyone started with the company within two months.

Creatively: Are They Using It in Creative Ways?

Best practices are proven methods that are meant to be repeated. Creating twists on these proven ideas makes it easier to sustain these methods.

Marta noticed that networking and referrals were generating the strongest flows of candidates and the most new hires. To leverage this success, we designed the “Collaborative Community” campaign. The goal was to partner with leaders in centers of worship, community organizations, and other groups that provide help to their members. Leaders in many of these organizations were happy to participate. Job notices were placed on bulletin boards, announcements were made from pulpits, and recruiters were invited to attend a variety of events. Leads from Collaborative Community led to a dozen hires during the campaign’s first six months.

Completely: Is the Method Being Used Completely, to Its Full Capacity?

An improved flow of candidates in a talent stream can have unintended consequences. It’s normal that you’ll become satisfied with better results and overlook untapped potential.

Marta collaborated with her firm’s marketing and PR department as part of her sourcing strategy. Together, they fortified the company’s market presence. Videos of new hires sharing about their job successes were posted on YouTube and social media. A podcast series was launched featuring employees sharing heartwarming stories about their tenure at the company. The website was upgraded, making it easier for qualified candidates to have immediate contact with a recruiter. Each of these methods proved beneficial, keeping the company top of mind and generating quality candidates.

During a progress review meeting, Marta proudly reviewed the successes resulting from their enhanced market presence. I congratulated her on this progress and asked when she planned on leveraging her company’s physical locations as a recruitment method. After a moment of silence, Marta laughed, admitting she’d forgotten all about that idea. “It’s so easy to be satisfied with current results,” she said. “In some ways, satisfaction is a trap.”

A contest soliciting inspirational quotes from employees provided content for banners and signs, which were displayed inside and out of the company’s physical locations. These drew in additional candidates, one of which became one of the best hires of the year. “Had we continued to overlook using our market presence to its full capabilities,” said Marta, “we wouldn’t have found that candidate.”

The four Cs are an indispensable tool. They’ll guide you in determining why a recruiting method is failing and how to fix it. They’ll also help you implement new methods correctly the first time around.

Increasing Your Organization’s Candidate Gravity

Given all the ways to recruit, the thought of using more of them may feel overwhelming to you. That’s normal. You’re probably already managing a full desk and a packed calendar. The thought of doing one more thing may seem impossible.

Improving candidate gravity takes time, but less than you might expect. Expanding one talent stream at a time immediately draws in new candidates. When you’re ready to move to the next stream, you do so, expanding the capacity of each at your pace. After you implement recruiting methods, managing them becomes part of the daily routine.

This is why candidate gravity works in organizations of all sizes. It meets you where you are today and grows at a pace that works for you. Over time, the stronger flow from each talent stream increases candidate gravity, providing more candidates with less effort.

A timeline will help you stay on track and eliminate being overwhelmed. This tool defines deadlines, allowing you or your entire team to allocate time appropriately. The sample in Figure 4.3 was similar to the approach used with Marta’s team. Every month was focused on improving a different talent stream and the methods that fed that stream. Prior to the beginning of each month, the four Cs were applied, allowing Marta to guide team members on what to improve and how to improve it. Specific actions were planned for each week of the month, such as adding referral generation to phone interviews one week and then to reference checks the following week.

Eliminating empty seats and long time-to-fill is all about people. The people in your company have to know who fits a job, and who does not. Then, talented people are lined up before they are needed. Strong candidate gravity supplies those people, empowering your company to cultivate qualified candidates and then wait for the right jobs to show up.