As a start-up entrepreneur, your goal is to build a scalable business. You want to grow into a world-class leader in your marketplace. In doing so, you’ll spend years refining your talent acquisition strategy. In some instances, those revisions lead to a well-oiled recruitment machine (look at Google or Facebook as examples of leaders with an excellent recruitment strategy!) In most instances, you will refine your recruitment strategy only to find that it’s not delivering the candidates that your business is coveting.
As an entrepreneur, you know that you and your team have done a great job identifying the technical gaps that need to be filled through recruitment initiatives. You know that with the right candidates, you can tap the untapped potential of your business. But when you’re recruitment engine is missing the mark on key candidate sources, you miss the opportunity to ‘tap’ into the passive candidates who are otherwise not found in your usual set of tools.
Passive candidates are those who are gainfully employed. These candidates are not known for publishing their resumes online for mass consumption; rather, they’re much more discreet in their approach to evaluating new opportunities. The reality is that the passive candidate market is massive – according to a Linkedin survey, 15% of employees reported ‘complete satisfaction’ with their present employers. There’s an entire 85% of the passive candidate marketplace that could be compelled to join your team and help you reach your untapped potential!
Here is a list of ‘unusual’ sources of candidates that your recruitment arm should invest more time and attention to:
Your competition
If your objective is to scale your start-up for ‘world domination’, then you need to start looking at what your competition is doing. And that includes who your competition has hired. Organizations that are at the cusp of innovation in their market are always abreast of who their competition has hired to help them realize their goals. Practically speaking, your competition has talented people who have the skills you’re looking to incorporate in your business. If these employees you seek are bound by non-compete agreements, then it’s your responsibility to consult with legal professionals who can help you navigate those agreements.
Local events
Tapping into local events will allow your existing employees to engage with potential employees for your business. Local events, like professional networking events, can present an awesome opportunity for people to familiarize themselves with your organization and what makes it special. This is a more ‘indirect’ recruitment model, but that’s why it’s so powerful. This approach is akin to dealing with a commission salesperson vs a non-commission salesperson. It will help better ease into a conversation with candidates that your technology start-up covets.
Your Social Media Channels
If you’re looking to hire the best candidates, oftentimes those resumes don’t make it to the job boards. However, those candidates – perhaps absent of their resumes – are likely subscribed to one or more social media channels. Doing a little bit of due diligence, you’ll be able to scour channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat to do everything from directly speaking to candidates to painting a picture of excitement/intrigue about your start-up.
Your Website
Here’s the kicker: just like how you can use social media to advertise what makes your start-up special and exciting, you can also use your website to share what makes your organization an exciting place for people to want to work. The key is to have more than a ‘job board’ – create a meaningful page that makes people WANT to work for your organization.
At ITS Global, we specialize in workforce management consulting. Our clients rely on us to effectively implement a talent acquisition program that will allow them to scale their growth and be a success. Let’s meet to discuss further – coffees on us! You can reach out to us at 416-689-4653 or email Ross Cadastre at [email protected] to schedule a confidential free meeting today!