How In-House Recruiters Can Win Even When Timing Is Bad - Forbes

Employers will often identify ideal candidates for an available position, only to have that person hesitate or simply say no. It’s frustrating! Most of the time, this is just bad timing and can be an ongoing challenge for companies and recruiters. There are several reasons why the timing may be off; candidates don’t want to change their kid’s school, their spouse is actively job hunting, they’re deeply embedded in a project they love, or they will soon be up for a promotion. It happens the other way too. An ideal candidate reaches out but there are no openings. Whatever the reason, recruiters – and the companies they work for – regularly find ideal candidates but can’t hire them

When they can’t make a transition work, the employer often loses touch with the candidate. And without staying in touch, they don’t know when the candidate is ready to make a move and another company may swoop the candidate up. Companies must have a plan for managing instances when the timing just isn’t right.   

Nick Montgomery, Director of Human Resources for EWI, an applied R&D engineering services company, acknowledges this challenge with timing. “Recruiting is very much like buying a house,” he says. “Sometimes the house you want is sitting there ready to go, but it's not on the market, so you have to wait. So sometimes, timing is everything… in life and recruiting.”

The best candidates are not usually looking for open positions. Companies often cast a very wide net with very little strategy, hoping to catch a lot of fish and find the one prize-winner. This approach is unproductive and can lead to hiring people that are not the best fit – for the position or the company. 

To find the right candidate at the right time, companies need a clear strategy that leverages the right assets and soft and hard skills. If done right, the candidate will feel romanced and find it difficult to resist the employer’s pursuit over time. Think of how sales teams pursue potential customers. They stay in touch and go out of their way to make the prospect feel valued so when they’re ready to buy, they know just who to go to. Employers should take a similar approach when recruiting.

Here are some ways to develop your recruiting strategy.

1. One person should be responsible for developing and spearheading the recruiting strategy, ideally the in-house recruiter. The recruiter needs the soft skills necessary to engage candidates and the hard skills needed to track and secure the hire. Part of the strategy should be to incorporate the right mix of third-party recruiters, online job boards, social media and associations. The recruiter must also ensure that internal hiring managers are on board when attractive candidates are identified, even if a position isn’t yet open. Hiring managers should be given a sense of the marketplace, since finding a rare and amazing candidate might trigger the creation of an opening.    
2. Recruiters must leverage a professional network, regularly connecting with key contacts to identify potential candidates. They should leverage their own relationships and ask others in the company to do the same. An example would be asking the head of R&D to reach out to someone they worked with in the past.
3. Maintaining communication is key. Communication should seem natural and friendly but must also be consistent and persistent. According to Montgomery, “Persistence is key in recruitment. You must be willing to hear ‘no’ quite often to get to the right ‘yes.’ And you can’t let the word ‘no’ deter you.” Maybe you reach out to acknowledge a candidate’s birthday or congratulate them on a new baby. Try reaching out about once a quarter, alternating between email, phone, social media and any other methods you choose. The more natural and unforced the communication is, the better.
4. Assign a budget to the recruiting process. The budget should also allow for candidate discovery even when there is no open position. Often, recruiting is viewed as the “ugly stepchild.” Many don’t want to do it and it gets pushed to the bottom of the list. When that happens, there can be an overreliance on third-party recruiters, leading to skyrocketing costs and misunderstanding the objectives of the candidate search. Recruiting is most effective when a company can stick to a budget and over-reliance on recruiters can bust budgets wide open. 
5. As the strategy begins to take shape, incorporating automation is essential. Use automation to track and measure candidate engagement. HRIS systems are great at handling applicant tracking and management and could be organized through the CRM system the company already uses.

Incorporating these practices led to great results for Montgomery. In one example, Montgomery identified an ideal candidate from a national lab with an outstanding reputation in the market. Montgomery reached out, and although interested, the candidate was not able to make a move, as he was involved in an important assignment with his current employer. Montgomery remained in touch and, several months later, he discovered that the candidate was ending the assignment at his current company and was interested in doing more client engagement – exactly what the position at EWI offered. Shortly thereafter, the candidate was welcomed onboard at EWI.

Many times, recruiters are also the lead human resources executives. There are many activities they are also responsible for, ranging from legal issues to employee challenges, which can get in the way of effective recruiting.  Companies must remember that recruiting is a key driver of success and growth and higher priority must be given to attracting, cultivating and hiring top talent.

Finding good candidates is not easy. It requires commitment and a clear strategy to ensure candidates are found not only when positions are open, but also well before positions become available. Companies must seek and obtain the best talent, not just the available talent. A community of top talent that enjoys the journey of engaging with your company, whether they are hired immediately or not, is a strategic asset all companies should cultivate and develop.

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How In-House Recruiters Can Win Even When Timing Is Bad - Forbes
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