Passive recruiting and 6 key strategies to adopt

What is passive recruiting

Most job hunters are well aware of what active versus passive recruiting means. Passive candidates are those who are not actively looking for a role because they already have one and are content with where they are. This might be either because of the organisation or their personal situation. Why should an employer go to the trouble when there will always be a supply of passive candidates? Savvy employers know how you must have a recruitment strategy that delivers high quality candidates to maintain business success. With the appropriate staffing strategy in place, recruitment teams can fill a position fast. They can also fill it with the right candidate at the right time. This would be regardless of if it’s an active candidate or one that needs a more pro-active approach.

Strategies to use

1. Reach out to people that already know you

One of the most useful strategies when looking for passive candidates is to reach out to people that already know you, either by affiliations or by your past actions. You can use methods like social networking, or leveraging past customers. Regardless of what you use, the point will be to generate interested prospects and track them down to show them what your company has to offer. The goal here is not necessarily a quick close on a qualified candidates – it’s about reaching out for a high volume of prospects that aren’t chasing after you. Ideally, this is time well spent as these prospects are warm leads rather than cold ones.

2. Use all platforms

Do not only focus your efforts on recruitment specific sites. Use all of the platforms that you have. Social media is a platform that can be used to learn more about your candidate and share about your company. Further, reach beyond social media to online forums where candidates may spend their time. Knowing more about them through these platforms will also help you better tailor messages in the future when reaching out.

3. Emphasise the value in your company

The value of your company will extend beyond salary offering. A lot of the time, employees are look for and valuable L&D, career progression, culture and growth.

There are also other ways you can provide incentives. This could be in the form of  salary increases, more time off, learning and development opportunities or better career progression. Further, you will also want to put together a benefits package comprising comprehensive health and well being benefits in addition to any private medical payment plans. This can also include additional social packages such as holiday insurance or corporate discounts.

A survey by Metlife found that more than half of employees worry about their well being. Thus, by addressing these concerns, it will help applicants feel like joining your company is worthwhile from the start.

4. Ask the right questions

Passive candidates will require a different set of questions to be asked. You need to understand what they like and do not like about their current position and show them how your company addresses these.

Examples of such questions:

• What do you currently like and dislike about your job?
• Is your current job fulfilling all your needs?
• Do you think you are maximising your use of time?

5. Build internal advocates

Keep your current team happy. They are likely the people that the candidate reaches out to when considering the job. You want your company to have good culture, branding and strong advocates from people who work there. Negative employee feedback on websites such as Glassdoor can impact your success in passive recruiting.

6. Use relevant tools

Before you start passively recruiting, you can use tools like Triggr to help you uncover the best talent most relevant to you.