I was 10 years old when football fever gripped me; and, some years later, I’ve now made it into the Bavarian Women’s League. During these times, I’ve noticed a couple of smart personnel moves made by Jürgen Klopp and other successful team managers: whilst we in Talent Acquisition always focus on just filling vacant positions, Jürgen Klopp has always built a team of 11 players plus a strong reserve bench.
While many companies are still waiting for suitable applications to arrive, in football the best talent is proactively scouted for at a very early stage. Junior talent plays just as big a role as the fans in football. Especially in times of “ghost matches” in empty stadiums, we are once again aware of how important the 12th man or woman is for the team.
But in Recruiting, we often miss the chance to win over internal staff and interested candidates as “fans” and secure their early loyalty.
Wasted potential – and time for a new game plan
I am convinced that, in our recruitment processes, we are still losing too much potential along the way and that the role of the recruiter needs to evolve into that of coach.
Here are my 5 tips that HR can turm from underdog to champion:
1. Build a strong reserve bench to fill open positions more quickly
The availability of talent does not always match our acute staffing needs – but there is enormous untapped potential in all these encounters with qualified candidates. What the reserve bench is for the football manager, the talent database is for Recruiting.
As Recruiter we get to know so many potential candidates, but they may be “second best”: promising, but too experienced or inexperienced for the job we are looking to fill. We forget them. And it’s a similar story with interns, working students, freelancers and alumni. Contact is lost. Start to build your own talent pool now!
2. Keep an eye on internal talent and offer career opportunities.
Baby boomers changed employers roughly every 8 years. Generation Z is already on the move after 1.2 years—often because they don’t want to miss career opportunities. In the future we will either enable internal mobility and career development, or lose valuable employees to another organization.
3. Proactively scout top talent externally. Don’t wait for them to come to you.
If Jürgen Klopp had waited for applications, he would certainly not have become a champion. Yet for Recruiters, Post and Pray is still often the default position. True, active sourcing can be time consuming. But that’s why you need not only a proactive mindset but also the right tools to integrate active search sensibly into your recruiting process.
4. Involve your employees as talent scouts, because they know best who fits the organization.
Cultural fit has been a big issue for some time. It is obvious that your own employees are the best judges of who fits the company culture. And many companies already have a classic “Employees Recruit Employees” program. The implementation, however, is usually inadequate.
Make it not only easy, but also attractive for your employees to become talent scouts for your company. Clearly define the rewards for successful hiring. Offer great incentives and employ gamification approaches, easy ways to share jobs, and a streamlined application process for recommended candidates.
5. Build a community of fans by turning your players into ambassadors.
In the age of social media and the Internet, the opinion of our employees is becoming increasingly important. 72% of respondents in an Edelmann study believe information shared by acquaintances or friends more than from other sources. With kununu, glassdoor, Facebook and LinkedIn watching us, we cannot hide. Indeed, we should be actively enabling insights into who we are - through our own employees.
Make your recruitment a team sport now!
By applying these five sporting tips to your recruitment processes, you will equip your company with a proactive recruitment strategy to compete for the best talent. And just as the Liverpool Reds, Klopp’s current team, “never walk alone” you’ll “never recruit alone” either.
Happy Recruiting,
Yvonne
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