Adapting your recruitment approach

With the labour shortage intensifying across various critical markets across the public sectors, and the number of job openings surpassing the available workforce, this issue seems unlikely to resolve anytime soon.

Understanding the underlying reasons is therefore essential. While our clients highlight the end result of their recruitment process, comprehending the fundamental causes of their challenges requires delving deeper.

Implement a recruitment campaign

A successful recruitment campaign hinges on three critical components: effectively reaching your target audience, creating enthusiasm about your job opportunity, and securing applications. Penna's Candidate Sourcing business takes comprehensive measures to address these elements, increasing the chances of success for our clients. However, sometimes, it's prudent to revisit the basics.

Research conducted by LinkedIn reveals that typically only thirty percent of your talent pool is considered ‘active’. The active market comprises individuals actively seeking their next career move. While targeting this segment seems logical, it's vital to consider the broader context. Relying solely on this active pool means you're only reaching a mere fraction of your potential candidate pool.

Moreover, the perfect ‘active’ candidate you seek may not even be looking on the job site where your vacancy is placed. Even if they are, will they notice it? Can a concise 150-word advert truly captivate their interest and ignite enough enthusiasm to prompt them to apply?

What’s clear, many of our clients already actually recognise this limitation. Consequently, they often ask about alternatives to traditional job sites, unsure of what other options are available.

How can you engage the passive market and connect with your primary audience?

So, what is the alternative approach for reaching the passive market and engaging with your target audience?

Given that Penna's Sourcing business focuses on helping clients recruit for positions in the £30-£80k salary range, where the main perception favours advertising as the most cost-effective and 'correct' strategy, this sparks our conversations with clients about the limitations of this approach.

Considering that only thirty percent of the market constitutes active candidates, it's crucial not to overlook the vast potential within the remaining seventy percent of passive candidates. While these individuals might not be actively seeking a new position, research suggests that a significant portion would be open to exploring new opportunities if presented with the right prospect.

And so, the exciting opportunity and the key to securing the best talent clearly lies in incorporating strategies that specifically target passive candidates.

This approach is particularly effective for highly skilled positions facing a talent shortage and critical roles where a poor hiring decision can have significant repercussions.

Attracting passive candidates, however, can be an arduous task. It necessitates extensive research, cold outreach efforts, and persistent follow-ups. Nonetheless, history has proven that adopting a targeted 'candidate sourcing' approach is the most robust and effective way of reaching this talent pool, thus explaining why many organisations opt to collaborate with external providers such as Penna.

While candidate sourcing has been a long-standing practice, Penna incorporates modern methodologies that leverage not only its internal candidate talent pools and extensive networks but also various social media platforms and professional networking sites, thus accessing a more extensive talent pool. Additionally, the utilization of an online Applicant Tracking System (ATS) streamlines the application process for candidates, maintaining a balance between technological efficiency and human interaction.

This comprehensive approach offered by a provider such as Penna adds significant value by:

• Implementing a targeted approach to identify candidates possessing the precise technical skills, experience, track record, and qualifications required.
• Adopting a strategic approach that goes beyond just filling roles, providing insights into the market to help facilitate change, and guide recruitment strategies.
• Managing the entire campaign process, including candidate engagement, promotion of your employer proposition, and facilitating meaningful discussions about the potential benefits of the vacancy.
• Handling the burden of filtering and assessment, presenting you with a pre-screened and evaluated longlist of suitable candidates for straightforward shortlisting and interviewing, thus saving valuable time.
• Demonstrating a commitment to providing you a diverse longlist and employing a diverse recruitment process.
• Establishing a partnership-based approach focused on accountability and achieving results in collaboration with you. 

If you have any questions or would like to know more about our Local Government Resourcing Partnership (LGRP) framework and how YPO can help, please get in touch with the team!