Building a Consistent Candidate Pipeline Part 2
By Andrew Hammer

Last month we discussed the advantages of creating a consistent candidate pipeline (click here to read that article). Part of building a consistent candidate pipeline is the implementation phase which we will detail in this article.

A fundamental building block for a successful recruiting process is your candidate pipeline, and as we discussed last month, creating a consistent candidate pipeline by constantly recruiting (even when you aren’t hiring) is the best way to smooth out your hiring process. This naturally begs the question, “How exactly do I build a consistent candidate pipeline?” My answer is, “the same way you eat an elephant…one bite at a time.”

I view the creation of a consistent candidate pipeline as a process made up of several components linked together by the common element of quality communication with your employment candidates. Each component in the system must perform its own function well, but the system can’t work without proper communication with the candidates. Here’s how I view the three major components of the process (the bites it takes to eat the elephant).

1. Candidate Acquisition – Where do the candidates come from and how do I get them?
In order to keep your candidate pipeline consistently full, you will need several sources of candidates. I like to view each source as a funnel leading into my pipeline. Some are big funnels designed to gather a large volume of candidates. Others are small funnels that will only yield a few candidates each year. Regardless of size, each funnel (source) is an important part of the system. Here is a sample of some of the many candidate funnels you should be using to keep your pipeline flowing.

• Your Recruiting Web site – It’s 2007. Every employer should have (or be developing) an area of their corporate Web site that is dedicated to recruiting. This is not just a listing of open jobs with an email link for candidates to send a resume to. Space on a Web site is virtually free and you should be taking advantage of the opportunity to communicate with potential candidates everything they want to know about your company. This is your most cost-effective employment brand building tool. Your employment area must communicate the vision of the company, the culture, the jobs, the rewards, and most importantly, the reasons why someone would want to work for you.
• Every Day Recruiting – Every day you encounter hundreds of people minding their own business and doing their jobs. When you encounter someone who is doing an exceptional job or who has a stellar attitude, you should immediately put on your ‘recruiting hat’. It might be the cashier at the grocery store, your waiter at dinner, the guy behind the parts counter, or anyone else that could transition into a role within your company. If they are doing a good job at the job they are doing, they could do a good job for you. And, it’s a simple message to a prospective new employee. I noticed that you are doing a great job and I appreciate that. If you are interested in changing careers please call me. Here is my card. This Custom Recruiting Business Card should obviously have your contact information on it, and it should have a one-sentence description of why someone would want to work for you.
• Referral Program – Referral programs are a great way to find people who share the same values and work ethic as the people you already employ. Your current employees know the jobs that have to be done and know what is expected of them at work. They are excellent judges of who could or should be working for you. As a general rule, your employees will not refer anyone to the company that they wouldn’t trust with their own reputation and their level of endorsement of a referral speaks volumes about that candidate. When managed effectively a referral program also contributes to your employer brand by reinforcing the company through the testimonials of your current work force.
• Consistent Online Advertising – Advertising, of any type, works by frequency and repetition. This is true of online employment advertising also. The best results are typically achieved when advertisements run consistently month after month. By consistently advertising open positions as well as positions that may not be open today, you stay in front of the online audience. This audience may contain the exact candidates you are looking for and it may not. Even if it doesn’t, the advantage of consistent online advertising can be realized in the form of referrals from friends, relatives, and others who know the candidates you are seeking. However, when you advertise continuously, you must change the ads periodically. A consistent presence with an engaging ad is good. A stale boring job posting that hasn’t changed in a year is bad.
• Employer Brand Building – You should never stop working on your employer brand as it will never stop working for you. How your company is viewed in the community goes a long way towards the success or failure of your long term recruiting efforts. In the long run, having a solid employer brand will draw star employees away from other companies and help attract them to yours. This will be a subtle and sometimes unnoticeable force helping to bring candidates to your doorstep for years to come.
• Temporary and Contract Staffing Firms – If you work with Temporary or Contract Staffing firms, you can leverage this relationship to ensure you have the opportunity to hire star performers. Your temporary workforce vendors want to see you succeed and most will be willing to help you with your long term goals. Communicate with your vendors that you are trying to build a consistent candidate pipeline and how you want to accomplish the task. Ask for their support to provide you with the temporary workforce you need and ask them to help you identify those workers who will best fit in your long term workforce. By gaining this commitment from your vendors, you help to ensure that the funnel of temporary workers you can “try before you buy,” continue to come to your attention.

These are just a few of the many different sources of candidates that you can use to keep the funnels of your recruiting pipeline gathering candidates for you to evaluate Regardless of the source (and you should be using more than one) the key in all your candidate acquisition efforts is to communicate well with the candidates. Make sure your job advertisements speak directly to the candidate and clearly explain the job, the company and the WIIFM – What’s In It For Me? every job seeker wants to know. Every time you interact with a candidate you must be clear, honest, and respectful of the candidate.

2. Candidate Processing – In order for your candidate pipeline to work for you, you must have some type of candidate processing system. It can be as simple as a paper system and filing cabinets or it can be a full scale Applicant Tracking System. Regardless of how you do it, you must be able to record candidate applications, respond to them, track them, understand where the candidate is in the process, and most importantly communicate with the candidate. There are volumes already written about Applicant Tracking and Candidate Processing so I won’t belabor the point here other than to say it is imperative that your candidate processing system allow you to respond to your candidates accurately and timely.

3. Candidate Communication – This is the most fundamental and most important element in building a consistent candidate pipeline. You must communicate well with prospective employees if you hope to hire the superstars we are all looking for. Many employers tell me that they communicate very well with their candidates. And usually, when they say this, it is true. . .in some small elements of their overall hiring process. To truly excel in building a candidate pipeline your company must communicate well at every step along the way, not just in your job ads or when you are interviewing.

Every time a prospective employee interacts with your company, they must find the information they are looking for. They must find the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me).

Depending on your unique process the first chance to communicate with a candidate might be on your Web site. If this is the case, your Web site must explain very clearly why anyone would want to leave the job they already have to come to your company. There must be a clear path to apply and when the candidate does apply, there must be a nearly instantaneous response. The response must be respectful of the candidate and explain how the process works so the candidate can clearly understand what to expect from the company. And then, the expectations must be met.

In another case, the first chance to communicate with a prospective employee might be via your online job advertisement. When this is the case, your job ads must clearly explain the job, the expectations for performance, the company culture, and again, WIIFM. Why would the candidate want to leave where they work to take this job? What is challenging and interesting about the job? How will they be measured and how will they be rewarded? How well you communicate with candidates at this stage will set the tone for how well you can move candidates through your pipeline in the future.

It is equally important to communicate with candidates as they move through the process. You should have some communications plan in place for a candidate at each stage of your process. Even if the candidate is not a fit for your company today, they may be in the future. How you communicate with them today will dictate how your candidate pipeline works in the future. There are a few basic things that most candidates expect in these communications.

1. Respect – Think about your communications as if you are the candidate. Respect them as people and respect their time and skills every time you interact with them and you are on the path to success.
2. Honesty – Don’t oversell the company and don’t duck their questions. Even if the candidate isn’t qualified for the job, communicate honestly with them. Most people would rather be told that they don’t have the necessary skills (specifically) or experience versus the old standard of “you’re just not a fit”.
3. Consistency – Try to stay in touch with the candidates in your pipeline consistently. A simple email indicating that the company has fallen behind on the interview schedule or that the job is not going to be filled until the next quarter helps your candidates to understand where they are in the process.
4. Promises Kept – Keep the promises you make. If you promise a phone interview, conduct a phone interview. If you promise a response to an email, respond. This is part of respecting the candidate and can greatly help or hurt your employment brand.

Building a consistent candidate pipeline is not easy and it won’t happen overnight. It is something that is worth pursuing as we all know that hiring qualified people is only going to get more difficult in the coming years. Even thought the individual components and the implementation will be different for every employer, the major components are the same for all of us. Acquire Candidates – Process and Manage the Applications – Communicate Well with your candidates. Of these, the most important and easiest place to start today is with your communications. Every small step you make towards communicating better with your candidates will yield future results as you gradually fill your candidate pipeline.

Andrew Hammer is President of CareerMarketplace, Inc., a leading network of profession-specific employment Web sites focused on engineering, sales, information technology, and healthcare. Mr. Hammer has over 10 years of experience with Internet recruiting as a former Director of Internet Strategy and Vice President of Top Echelon Network, the world’s largest Network of independent recruiters. In his current role he works with employers from across the United States to create candidate sourcing opportunities that allow his clients to compete in the global “war for talent.”