Recruiting Top Talent & The Importance Of Creating A Solid Target List

Top Talent can be hiding within the walls of the competition.

But don't stop there!

After reviewing numerous 2012 recruiting predictions and trends,  there seem to be 2 predictions that make every list.

1. The importance, need and desire to recruit directly from the competition.

2. Finding the much-needed talent with mission critical skill sets specific to an organization.

As I begin to think about this and how I can help my clients with these two trends, it has become obvious to me the need to emphasis the importance of a solid target list. The solid target list acts as a roadmap, a plan, as to where the talent may be sitting and poached. So by taking the time to creat a solid target list, long-term will help with identifying and recruiting the hard to find top talent needed by the organization. It is important to know that each target list needs to be specific to the requirements of each specific job. There could be some homework that recruiters may need to do to put together this solid target list, but it will be well worth the time and energy.

When creating a solid target list, I usually divide it into categories:

1 Target List, 5 Potential Categories

1.Competitors- Direct Competitors, same size, similar brands and services. (J&J)

2.Best Of Breed - companies with critical mass, best and brightest management teams, (companies may include  P&G, General Mills,  Apple, Google, Goldman Sachs, General Electric etc)

3.Back Yard Warriors - Great companies with great talent where recruiting top talent would not require relocation.

4.Small To Medium Companies On The Rise, but in  your space - Since 2008, great talent has been recruited by these companies and they have benefited greatly so great places to investigate and definitely not ones to overlook.

5.Specific teams within organizations - Those that have been recognized or known to have solid management and team players. (Human Resources Awards, Marketing Awards, Retail Creative teams).

If you need help with putting together a target list, call me at 518 843-4611 or email sgreco@sheilagreco.com. Glad you stopped by sgatalent... Until the next time enjoy!

Sheila Greco

Only The Employed Need Apply - Employing Traditional Passive Candidate Research Can Be The Force Behind Doing So

Only the employed need apply.  Agree Or disagree. It is reality to some.

Traditional Passive Candidate Research can be The Force  Behind Hiring The Employed!

For those who use Traditional Passive Candidate Research as part of their recruiting strategy, recruiting the employed really is not anything new. I am not saying that only the employed are targeted to fill the potential candidate pipeline report, but the emphasis is put on finding candidates who are residing at the companies of interest to include competitors, best of breed companies, back yard warriors and other companies the hiring manager has had success recruiting out of. A great way to connect with these professionals is to employ Traditional Passive Candidate Research into the recruiting process.

Not everyone knows about Traditional Passive Candidate Research. That is okay, but should your client ask you for passive employed candidates you should become aware of it. Simply put it is the process of  identifying potential candidates from a target list of companies created by the hiring manager based upon past successful hiring results. This process goes right for the jugular. Calling into companies and getting right to the people of interest. I am not saying to ignore the internet or research and recruiting tools  to find talent. You can use them, but don't solely depend on them.

The benefits of Traditional Passive Candidate Research - can far outweigh using free and paid for service research and recruiting tools.  The center of the search process is undeniably the research phase so it needs to be done right and it needs to be done by those who know how to do it. Having access to top talent right from the beginning can and does shorten the recruiting cycle, not to mention helps the recruiter recruit with knowledge. Most Traditional Passive Candidate Research provides not only names of potential candidates, but reporting relationships, emails, direct dials and often times specific information around the executives and their teams.

Let's face it, hiring managers drive the process and know who they  need. Often times they turn to the internal talent acquisition team to get it done. Depending on internal capabilities, hiring can be done internally, outsourced or a combination of both. Either way the goal remains the same, there is a need to find best of breed talent yesterday. Traditional Passive Candidate Research empowers recruiters to be focused, the ability to get to the right candidate faster, a channel that allows the recruiters to engage with potential candidates, network, and can assist with branding a company just by connecting. Oh, such power! And yes, it gets the recruiter to the employed!

I am not saying to ignore the unemployed...... but do recruiting partners/clients want to see these folks from you?  It depends. Some do, some don't. Remember you don't make the rules! You can choose to follow them or opt out. However in today's world and according to many articles in the news, there are corporations publically saying the employed need apply or privately doing so. Either way,  in order to be a successful recruiter these days, you need to know how to  find the employed.

A few things to ponder.....

Do you agree that the best talent are those who are employed?

Do you consider that statement of "Only the Employed Need Apply" to be discrimination against the unemployed?

Please feel free to comment. My opinion is that as a recruiter you always want to find the best of the best, the "A" Player talent. So do just that. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sheila Greco

www.sgatalent.com

World Class Recruiting

Recruiting Top Talent and Creating World Class Recruiting Organizations Were The Common Threads in SMA's Event This Year.

The day began early as usual, with a gracious opening from Chloe Rada.  The day went by quickly as the speaker line up had many top-notch Industry Thought Leaders, Talent Acquisition & Sourcing Experts.  The Keynote was Andres Tapia, who provided us with compelling insights and practical information on why recruiting and retaining diverse talent is a business imperative for any organization.  Among the speakers, as always a crowd favorite Gerry Crispin who was a great moderator with a five star panel of experts such as Annie Chae, Chris Gould and Tito Magobet.  This session proved to be very informative.  Each speaking openly about their background's,  experiences and shared with us a few of their successes. I am sure everyone learned something from this session.

What a great day for LinkedIn!  The company went public, how exciting for many. Another great panel joined Kevin Krantz, Enterprise Relationship Manager, LinkedIn and discussed the many uses of LinkedIn as a tool for recruiters.  The panel consisted of Suzi Edwards, Diane Hughes and Michele Portfilio.  The day ended with a session on Recruiting Metrics, nicely presented by Steve Lowisz.

This powerful professional community was warm, and friendly, often sharing their own experiences with each other during  sessions, in private and during the event's breaks.  The evening cocktail party  sponsored by us, Sheila Greco Associates was very joyous one.  The room was filled with laughter, buzz around the topics discussed and it was quite obvious people really enjoyed being there and with each other.  This Chicago SHRM is one of a kind we really enjoyed it since it gave us a chance to reconnect with clients, friends, and develop new relationships with future clients.

Again we want to thank Michele and Chloe for giving us the opportunity to be part of this event.  We were a proud sponsor and look  forward to being part of this community.

If you work in Human Resources, Recruiting, Talent Acquisition, and/or Executive Search in the Chicago area you need to be part of the SMA of Greater Chicago organization.