Four innovative ways to expand your talent pool

The UK’s unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in 42 years. So it stands to reason that, increasingly, organisations are finding it difficult to attract the right calibre of candidates because they are fighting over the same pool of talent. Our clients, for example, are turning increasingly to executive assistant search firms in their quest to hire executive assistants.

A wide talent pool is invaluable way of securing the very best employees who will add value and make a positive long-term impact on your organisation.

By casting your recruitment net wide, you’ll be able to reap the benefits of a diverse workforce, which can introduce a new range of skills, experiences and innovative ways of thinking to organisations of all shapes and sizes.

And, by taking steps to widen your talent pool, you’ll be making the recruitment process easier and it will ultimately help to aid the future health of your organisation.

Here are our four tips:

Be flexible in your terms of employment

You’ll immediately be able to broaden your pool of potential candidates by offering flexible working as you’ll appeal to a wider geographic area and people with families.

This might mean you allow your new starter to work from the office or from home, offer them part-time hours or recruit two people who can job share.

Reconsider who you’re looking for

When you’re recruiting for specialist position, it is vital that you look in specific areas to find an appropriately skilled individual.

However, for more generalist roles, you might want to reconsider the key attributes of the person that you’re looking for because on-paper skills do not always equate to a good hire.

For example, ask yourself whether it is absolutely vital that your receptionist has a degree or if your PA has to have undertaken a project management course. You might be able to train them on the job.

Use social media

A diverse range of people now spend a lot of their time on social media, so by being visible on these platforms, you’ll be able to grow your reach and brand awareness beyond your immediate audience.

Think about who you’re trying to reach and hone your social presence accordingly; if you’re hoping to attract graduates, platforms like Snapchat can be useful as this demographic uses it more than any other.

Remember, social media is conversational and you want to get people to interact with you, so keep your posts snappy and topical to generate the most traction.

Review your recruitment method

If your organisation has worked with the same recruitment agency or has used the same in-house recruitment approach for many years, it could be time to consider reviewing these methods.

Most businesses evolve considerably over a period of, say, 10 years. So does the labour market and wider economic outlook, so it is important to review your approach to recruitment accordingly.

You might want to consider collaborative recruitment, which combines the use of external agencies with input from employees and social media, to maximise the pool of candidates.

If you’d like help sourcing a wide range of candidates, get in touch with us today.

Author Tiger Contributor Tiger Recruitment Team