A company should establish a talent sourcing function and team to enhance its recruitment efforts by actively identifying, attracting and engaging top-notch candidates. A sourcer’s skills in finding, researching and approaching potential candidates can lead to a more streamlined and effective hiring process. The sourcer can also help save time and resources by filtering the pool of applicants to those who are the best match for the company. Furthermore, a sourcer can aid the company in creating a robust talent pool for future hiring. Simply put, to stay competitive in the market, a sourcing function must be incorporated into the talent acquisition team.
Why build a Talent Sourcing function?
Research experts: Gathering market intelligence, analyzing competitors, and delivering information to stakeholders for informed decisions.
Outreach masters and relationship builders: Acting as marketers to deliver the right message, nurturing relationships with potential candidates, and deepening connections.
Challenge solvers: Constantly experimenting, adjusting to new data and feedback, and finding creative solutions to recruitment challenges.
Domain experts: Understanding the nuances of sourcing in different markets and regions, conducting effective interviews, and identifying unique candidates
How to build a GREAT Talent Sourcing team?
The qualities to seek in talent sourcers to join your team include:
Strong Communication and Listening abilities: The ability to adapt communication style to different situations and stakeholders, present information effectively, and build relationships with the organization and HR team.
Self-Leadership: The ability to prioritize tasks and manage time, act as a talent expert, and understand the business and organization.
Curiosity about the Organization: Understanding the organization and its goals to better prioritize and find the right candidates.
Talent Expertise: The ability to act as the organization’s talent expert, educate and advise on talent matters, and create value.
Analytic & Storytelling skills: The ability to understand data, draw conclusions, and use storytelling to educate stakeholders.
Collaboration skills: The ability to work well with the entire HR department, align Talent Acquisition efforts, and support HR initiatives.
What goals should you set for new team members?
The sourcing team’s deployment should not end with referring candidates to recruiters. They are an essential part of the recruitment process, not just a helpful addition. Here are ways to maximize their collaboration with recruiters:
Establish a feedback loop: Ensure complete visibility of the entire process by allowing sourcers access to feedback from hiring managers and interviewers at each stage. This will enhance their targeting and screening efforts.
Increase interaction with stakeholders: Provide opportunities for the sourcing team to add context for hiring managers and others about candidates. They can act as a source of intelligence, e.g. if a CV does not provide a complete picture.
Assign research tasks: Utilize the domain expertise of your sourcing team to conduct research and provide data on the market. This expands stakeholders’ understanding of hiring challenges and highlights areas that may need adjustments in requirements.
How to start from scratch:
To begin a complex project, including building an internal sourcing team, it’s crucial to determine the first step. Typically, this first step involves finding a skilled sourcing expert. Here are two options to consider:
Option 1: Hire a Sourcing Lead
Find someone who can comprehend your needs and requirements, determine the type of talent needed for your sourcing team, and align with your overall recruitment strategy. Look for a sourcing lead or senior sourcer who can source and engage with top talent. This person should have knowledge of the best sources of talent in your market and proficiency in tools such as LinkedIn, Google x-ray sourcing, Github, Stackoverflow, Twitter, Xing, open web searches, etc. Ensure anyone involved in the sourcing panel understands the value sourcers bring to the recruitment process and does not view them as just “candidate machines.”
Option 2: Engage an External Consultant/Contractor
Inviting external help to establish your internal sourcing team is a good option. Consider temporary engagement with senior sourcers or researchers from a talent consultancy. They bring best sourcing practices from a well-established sourcing team, can help identify top talent, build the team, and develop effective sourcing processes tailored to your needs.
Ramping up new team members
The team will need to assign a ramp up partner to transition into the role well. Recruiters need a mentor in the field to benefit from the mentor’s experience, insights, and guidance. A mentor can provide guidance on industry best practices, offer advice on professional development, share their expertise on overcoming challenges, and help the recruiter network and build relationships. This mentorship relationship can help recruiters grow their skills and advance their careers, leading to greater success in the recruitment industry.
What should a sourcing manager do?
- Set clear goals and expectations
- Adequate training and development opportunities
- Supportive leadership and guidance
- Tools and technology for efficient recruitment
- Fair compensation and benefits
- A positive work environment that promotes collaboration and creativity
- Opportunities for growth and advancement within the company
- Recognition and rewards for achievements
- Clear performance evaluation and feedback process
Metrics to track:
Source of Hire: Determining the best recruitment channels can be done through employee surveys, applicant tracking systems, and web analytics.
% of Referral Hires: Employee referrals are valuable due to faster hiring, higher job satisfaction, and lower cost per hire. Measuring the percentage of referral hires helps evaluate the success of your referral program. A benchmark is 12.5% of hires being referrals, while they only account for 3% of applications. If your referral rate is lower, consider ways to improve your referral program.
Source Quality: This metric tracks the efficiency of various recruiting channels, as not all sources yield the same results. For example, while a social media channel might attract 1500 candidates per month, a recruiting agency might only engage 500 applicants, but the latter may result in a higher number of hires.
Sourcing Channel Effectiveness: Recruiters use various sourcing channels like job boards, referrals, careers sites, and social networks. By comparing the percentage of applications and impressions of the positions, recruiters can determine the effectiveness of each channel and where to focus their efforts.
Sourcing Channel Cost: To calculate the cost-effectiveness of different sourcing channels, recruiters include ad spend and measure the cost per hire by dividing the ad spend by the number of successful applicants.
Note: I’ve written more about recruitment metrics in this (post)←
Final Thoughts
Building a talent sourcing function can be challenging, but it’s worth it. When starting from scratch, there are many factors to consider. My advice is to move quickly, make mistakes, and adjust along the way. Seek guidance from experienced sourcers who have successfully established sourcing teams. I have personally built sourcing teams and consider it to be one of the most rewarding experiences in my career.
I’ve written a book that covers advanced talent sourcing topics that include building a sourcing function and setting up team sla’s (here)←
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