The demand for employees in the job market is higher than the number of people actively looking for work. This causes an issue for hiring managers and employers who are trying to fill their professional rosters. With the declining number of active candidates, what exactly can you do to find talented and capable individuals? Try aiming your recruiting strategies at your passive candidates instead.
All You Need to Know About Passive Candidates
Just like the term itself, passive candidates are people who are not actively looking for a new job. Usually, the said candidates are still employed in a different company but are open to considering any offers or opportunities presented to them.
Since passive candidates are active job seekers and are already a part of the workforce, they are often experienced and already equipped with the important skills needed in the industry they belong to.
Considering the words used to describe passive job seekers, you can already tell that these people are important to companies and staffing firms.
They are vital for the success of a company because they help widen the talent pool during recruitment. And a wider talent pool means higher chances of filling open positions with the right people.
Passive Candidates Need Active Hiring
According to extensive research done in recent years, 73 percent of potential candidates are passive job seekers while only 27 percent are active ones.¹
This means that your company needs to shift its focus from simply recruiting active candidates to attracting passive candidates as well. Although it’s easy for any company to agree with this shift, it is not as easy to actually see it through.
Since passive candidates are not actively looking for job openings, traditional advertisements or job postings may not effectively reach them. To remedy this, your company needs to adopt creative methods to attract and engage passive talent.
5 Strategies and Tactics to Utilize
To successfully convert passive candidates to active applicants, the list below includes specific strategies, tactics, and techniques to utilize in recruiting passive candidates.
1. Proper Usage of Social Media
Since passive candidates are not actively searching, it means they are also not browsing LinkedIn profiles or job boards. Instead, they are using other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram which are rarely used for job hunting.
To utilize this fact, your company needs to start using your social media profiles as a way to attract passive candidates. For example, you can start doing the following:
Publish evergreen posts.
Evergreen posts, by definition, are content that stays relevant for a long period of time. They aren’t based on any existing trend or event that could become forgotten after a few weeks.
To figure out the topics you can post about, brainstorm with your content team while also putting yourself in the shoes of potential candidates. Examples of evergreen content are “How To” guides relevant to your field or industry.
Provide a glimpse of the company culture and experience.
A survey done by Glassdoor showed 77 percent of 5,000 workers consider a company’s culture before they can consider working there. 56 percent of them also claimed that company culture contributes more to job satisfaction than any salary.²
Considering these statistics, you need to provide a glimpse of the culture within your company through the social media posts you make. This can be done by sharing testimonials or employee stories complete with appropriate visual and audio content.
2. Improved Reputation and Employer Branding
What if the passive candidates that are right for your company are not reached by your socials? Then it’s time to shift your focus to improving your company’s reputation. This can be done by developing your strong employer brand.
Read More: Brand Guide Dos and Don’ts 2023 Checklist
The following are some examples of things that you can do to improve your brand and attract passive talent.
Use employees as brand ambassadors.
The best people to advertise for your brand are none other than your own employees. Aside from being cost-effective, using employees as brand ambassadors can provide an authentic perspective for your candidates.
When choosing which employee for the position, you need to first identify who among your people is passionate about your company and its culture. After you’ve identified a few people, check who among them has a strong network or noticeable online presence. By choosing the right ambassadors, you can definitely attract the candidates you’re looking for,
Promote the vision and mission of the company.
To reach the right people, you need to advertise not only your company but also its heart and soul. This can be done by ingraining your vision and mission in every campaign effort.
The vision and mission of a company dictate their values and plans for the future which, according to 73 percent of respondents in a 2019 survey, is an important factor to consider before applying to any company.
Read More: Winning the Tech-Savvy and Values-Conscious Candidates of Today
3. Organize Events for Passive Candidates
Aside from social media, how else can you widen your network of professionals? One possible way is to create events for them to develop their professional skills.
Organizing events is a great way to source passive candidates since they willingly join for the sake of their own skills and interests. Take the chance to recruit passive candidates through the following get-togethers:
Internship Programs
For you to be able to create passive recruiting opportunities that can attract both fresh and experienced passive candidates, consider building internship programs for local universities.
Graduating students would be able to learn more about your company and gain practical skills. Also, having positive experiences in your company can make them interested in your hiring process and company environment despite not actively looking for a job yet.
The importance you give to the future workforce can also impress current professionals and spark their interest in your company.
Events for Learning and Development
These types of events allow passive candidates to benchmark the skills they may use if they join your company. It also gives them the opportunity to receive constructive feedback that they don’t normally get in their current work.
Offering events like webinars, workshops, and other training programs for anyone interested is a great tactic for engaging passive candidates. Just make sure the programs you plan are in line with your mission and vision. This is important so that you can show your company’s values and priorities to those participating.
4. Give a Spotlight on Why They Should Work for You
To help you in talent acquisition, you need to put yourself in the shoes of your candidates and even employees. Ask yourself, what are the factors workers consider when choosing their jobs? Why should people choose to work in my company over others?
Highlight employee incentives.
In sourcing passive candidates, you need to ensure that your offers are better than their existing compensation and benefits package. If you give the same or fewer incentives, then you’re not giving them any reasons to jump ship.
Start by making a clear list of benefits and perks your employees receive. This list can then be shared on your websites or social media pages in order to attract candidates regardless if they are passive or active.
When making your list, make sure that you consider the needs of your employees. For example, having a flexible schedule that reinforces work-life balance, or providing health insurance plans that fit the lifestyles of your people.³
Encourage employee referrals.
Another way of attracting passive candidates is establishing clear referral programs. There is nothing better for a company’s reputation than having actual employees explain the positive experiences they’ve had working for you.
Providing this type of program also ensures quality hires from your employees’ networks. Your people will get the chance to receive incentives while they help their constituents with getting better work, which the company also benefits from – basically, it’s a win-win-win situation!
5. Maintain Healthy Relationships with Passive Candidates
No matter how great their candidate experiences are during a recruitment process, passive employees are rarely willing to leave their jobs immediately for your open positions. Remember, targeting passive candidates is for the long run and should not be forced when immediate hiring is needed.
To increase the chances of hiring the passive candidates you’ve communicated with, you need to maintain a healthy relationship with them. This is the only way to make sure that they will still consider moving to your company when the time is right.
ABOUT ALLIED INISIGHT
Allied Insight is a fractional CMO and growth marketing company for staffing agencies. It specializes in leveraging the best practices of recruitment marketing, inbound marketing, SEO, lead generation, account-based marketing, and sales enablement.
We provide the best strategic insight and necessary support to scale your business successfully. Contact us!
References:
Flynn, Jack. “23 Recruitment Statistics [2023]: What HR Professionals and Hiring Managers Need to Know.” Zippia, 23 Feb 2023, https://www.zippia.com/advice/recruitment-statistics/
Kaado, Bassam. “A Positive Company Culture Is a Top Priority for Job Seekers.” Business News Daily, 28 April 2023, https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15206-company-culture-matters-to-workers.html
Forbes Human Resources Council. “11 Passive Recruiting Strategies To Help Employers Land The Right Candidates” Forbes, 22 Sept 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2022/09/22/11-passive-recruiting-strategies-to-help-employers-land-the-right-candidates/?sh=76ecb70767cb
