Your recruitment strategy pivots on how you effectively use and deploy different tactics (and mindsets) to reach ideal candidates.   

There's no question we're in a talent shortage, and if you're curious about some of the ways to reach candidates using social media, make sure you take a look at these insights on best practices.

One of the most important tools in your recruitment toolbox is the time you spend focusing on your talent bank.  A talent bank is a depository for talent that you have vetted, interviewed, and have on-the-ready if you have the need or opportunity to grow your team. Many leaders realize that their talent bank is bankrupt, meaning it holds zero talent ready to call should a role open in your organization.   

No leader wants to scramble to find talent or settle for the ‘best person at the time’ and not the ideal new hire. 

You must always be recruiting, even when you have a full staff, to ensure that you're prepared for turnover.

4 Critical Areas for Your Recruitment Strategy

1. Timing 

It's imperative to understand the importance of timing in your hiring process. 

You must take into account the strength and weaknesses of your team, any planned leave that might affect your team, the onboarding time of new team members based on your budget.

If you're pacing behind your target for the year, you must take into account how that could affect your overall number. If you're a sales manager, it's also critical to understand when budgets are set and deployed for your target customers. Not only your potential client's budgets but when they have peak and slower business cycles and your average time to close. 

2. Money Isn’t the Only Thing  

One area that stood out to me as I began to recruit is that many potential employees are not focused solely on money. 

Corporate culture plays a tremendous impact on a new candidate's willingness to consider an organization. In fact, HBR featured an article that said that 9 out of 10 people are willing to earn less money to do more meaningful work. Don’t discount the value of purpose and culture in your organization. 

3. Understanding Talents 

When recruiting for talent, understanding the talents of the employee and assessing if that candidate is the right fit. Ensuring you have a validated talent assessment for the role you are hiring for, creates a talent bank that ensures that candidates you spend time talking through your recruitment process have the talents you need for the role. 

Here is more information on validated talent assessments.   

One thing that saves me a tremendous amount of time is ensuring that the first step in the hiring and recruitment process is our sales talent assessment. It provides insight into a candidate's talent to be successful in our business development roles. 

4. Ask for Support From the Employees in Your Organization 

Ask counterparts in your organization if they might recommend someone for the role you're hiring for, or at least ask them to share the role with their network. 

One of the richest resources for building your talent bank are your counterparts, team members, and people in your organization. We have found some of the best talents is a direct referral from our employees. The willingness to recommend someone for a role in your organization is also a sign of how engaged your workforce is.

Effective recruitment affects every area of your organization; from lost revenue by empty sales seats to increased demand on current team members doing the job of two or three can negatively impact your organization. 

Remember, everyone can play a role in keeping your organization fully staffed with the right talent. Always be on the lookout even if it isn’t for your department.