I talk to many businesses and one of the themes that continues to come up is a perceived talent shortage when it comes to exceptional sales people. They almost seem resigned to the fact that they can’t or will not find the right candidate.
In truth, there will always be a talent shortage, the reason is simple, talented people know they are talented. They have worked hard, acquired experience and above all they can deliver real results. Businesses are always going to compete for these individuals.
What can businesses do to attract great sales people?
There are many things a business can do to attract talent. Let’s look at three that you can concentrate on right now.
Make the role more attractive
If you want to attract the best sales people you need to make your role more attractive. Often the easiest and quickest way to do this is make the role more flexible. The best talent often have quite rich lives and interests outside of their role.
Simply stating what the role is means you will attract someone who is just looking for a role. However, if you take the time to build a really attractive role you are much better placed to attract someone who is going to give you so much more than just the role in front of them.
Don’t over rely on screening software
Change the way you build your job brief. Often, businesses want someone who has proven experience in the same role and in the same industry. This is perceived as a ‘safe option’ as it is thought to lower the risk of a bad hire.
What you are doing in reality is dramatically reducing the field from which to choose from. You are also potentially missing out on genuine talent from complementary industries.
Build a talent pool
We have talked before about how Talent pools can help you with recruitment. When we talk about building talent pools we are talking about going well beyond a database that may or may not be current and rich with data.
A talent pool starts with a real understanding of the job brief and your business, where it is right now and where it is heading. Then actually going out into the market and finding potential candidates and building relationships with them over the long term. This approach means there will be the shortest possible distance between you and the best talent.
6 tips to Building a Thriving Talent Pool
Building a talent pool is an effective way for recruiters to ensure a constant flow of candidates are available if needed. They can reduce the cost of recruitment by eliminating the need to advertise. They reduce the time to hire as some of the pre work has already been done to place candidates in the talent pool. They also help to identify quality candidates for future roles that are yet to be filled.
Whether you are looking to speed up the recruitment process, reduce cost or identify skill sets a talent pool could be the answer for your business. The following steps are useful in building an effective talent pool.
- Ensure your current practices meet your future talent pool needs
The whole premise of building talent pools for recruiting is that what employers are doing now, strongly affects the success of the company in the future. You need to know what skills and experience your company needs not just now but in the future. Don’t just keep using the same job descriptions over and over again. Adapt.
- Don’t forget past applicants
Previous applicants that reach the final round of interviews should not be forgotten. Candidates who have already shown interest in the company by applying and have been assessed throughout the interview process are ideal for your talent pool.
Make sure you give constructive feedback as to why they weren’t successful and advise them that you will keep their details on file. These candidates are valuable inclusions into a talent pool because they have been previously considered and are aware of what they need to do to become a better fit for the employer in the future.
- Consider your current candidates
Remember that anyone who has expressed interest in working for your company would be an ideal talent pool candidate. This also includes job seekers who applied for an open position but weren’t the right fit or applicants that may be the right fit for an open position in the future.
- Don’t forget your internal talent
This can be a very reliable and consistent internal source of talent and a truly valuable succession planning tool. By building talent pools internally you are ensuring that you will have experienced and trained employees prepared to assume leadership roles as they become available.
- Start at the source
The company careers page of your website is a great place to start. Ask for expressions of interest from people who visit your careers page. Whilst there may not be a current open position suitable, they are showing interest in working for your company and should be added to the talent pool of future candidates.
- Social media is not to be outdone
A massive 92% of companies use social media for recruitment purposes and the effects of social recruitment have proven to be beneficial. 42% of those companies say that the quality of its candidates have improved from using social recruiting techniques. If you haven’t incorporated social media into your recruiting process yet, this means social media could be a new opportunity.
As employers start to face talent shortages, the need for thriving talent pools is clear. They can be a proactive recruitment initiative that will help your organisation select the best candidates in a shorter time frame. Although they may take some time to build and develop, over time the benefits will far outweigh any negatives.
If you would like to know more about how to find great talent for your business please contact me paul@paulgreening.com
