The HRville guide to...

Looking to improve your capacity to hire without using third parties? Our ten tips will help you on your way…

1) First, think about why you’re trying to increase direct sourcing in the first place. It will mean more time and work for the team. If you’re going to do it, make sure you’ve talked to those who matter in your business, so they’re (in that terribly overused phrase) ‘on board with it’. If they are keen to cut costs over the long term, improve the perception of your employer brand and will commit extra resource in your team to do it, read on!

2) Employer brand. Do you have one? If not, then it’s time to work with your marketing team or communications agency about the story you have to tell. When you do a lot of recruitment through agencies, they do the hard work of marketing candidates for you. When you’re direct sourcing, you will be controlling that marketing message to candidates, so make it as clear and compelling as possible. The story will also need to be pretty consistent across all the different ways you source people.

3) Careers site. Now is the time to have that long-planned revamp. Your company page will be the main portal for more of your candidates, so it needs to be a true reflection of your employer brand. It also helps to refresh content frequently. If you have an application system or process that isn’t user friendly, then it should be top of your list to fix. Otherwise, you risk candidates dropping out along the way.

4) Social media. This is your friend, but maybe not in the way many companies think. If you mainly use it to feed jobs from your careers site, you’re wasting your time. That’s just plain boring for job seekers. Two things to think about: firstly, make sure you know the audiences for different social media so you can push content to the right place. Secondly, decide on where the responsibility for uploading content sits. It’s time consuming and yet needs someone who is great at communicating. Could this responsibility sit outside recruitment, so that there are frequent updates about interesting projects/events from across the business to vary your communications?

5) LinkedIn. Think seriously about investing in a company page and again, keep the content fresh. Build up your network and make sure you keep abreast of what competitors are doing. Participating in group discussions will raise both your and your business’ profile in the industry. Consistency is also important – agree on what the recruitment team profiles will include and how you will market the employer brand. Consider whether you will invest in LinkedIn Recruiter. It’s expensive but can give good returns, so I’d suggest getting opinions from people you trust in your network.

6) Referral and alumni programmes. The companies who succeed with direct sourcing usually have these, and pay out decent amounts of cash or other benefits in return for staff referrals that result in hires. They also ensure the scheme is always top of the agenda, with the senior team talking about it as a priority. These programmes can be very cost effective, and employees hired through them are proven to stay longer than average.

7) The telephone. Yes, I know! Given that, within the workforce, 10% of people are looking for a job, 70% aren’t looking but would consider an approach, and 20% of people are pretty happy, you’ll need to reach out to these ‘passives’ with a strong reason to talk. Whether it’s approaching candidates through LinkedIn, chasing referrals or following up on a CV from your careers site, it’s important to talk to people directly. If their only contact is through email or automated systems, you run the risk of not engaging with them in the first or (even worse) losing them somewhere down the line.

8) Candidate experience. There’s a reason why businesses have spent millions over the years hiring through agencies – agencies invest time and effort into engaging candidates and managing the interview and offer process. To be successful in direct sourcing, you’ll need to do the same. Some businesses commit to candidates having a named recruitment contact, or to launching a telephone helpline, or have installed portals on their careers sites so candidates can see the status of their applications. Whether or not any of these ideas are right for you, you still need to make the candidate experience your number one priority in resourcing.

9) Networking. If you’re trying to raise the profile of your employer brand, then you need to get your name out in the right places. Whether that’s attending events yourself, getting hiring managers to network of sponsoring industry events, invest in this. While it’s important to build up a good network on social media, nothing can replace that face-to-face contact.

10) Selection process. So, once you’ve got a candidate’s CV, the direct sourcing process is complete, right? Wrong! It’s only the beginning. For a passive candidate to take the risk of leaving a secure job they will be making judgements about whether your business and job role are right for them. Coach hiring managers about the differences in mind-set between a candidate who has approached the business, and one who has been headhunted and therefore needs to be marketed to that bit more. Make sure that interviewers are trained, that they talk about what your business has to offer during the interview process, and that they commit to make decisions quickly.

About the author

Ruth Miller

Ruth has worked in senior roles within recruitment teams in businesses such as Debenhams, Dixons Retail and HSBC and has a wide range of experience from setting up resourcing teams to developing selection strategies. Since launching herself as a consultant within the industry, Ruth has partnered with companies internationally to help them identify and source great people and train their resourcing teams on best practice.