Traditionally, HR teams have relied on an incoming flow of candidates who respond to job announcements. These are active candidates, open to new opportunities given their current situation (laid-off/open immediately, unhappy in current role, etc.). It’s easy to identify them as they can notify recruiters they are looking on LinkedIn, in addition to uploading their resumes to various online job boards.
At Power-4, we believe this approach closes doors rather than opening them. Instead, we reach out proactively to discover and get to know passive candidates – individuals who are currently employed and not necessarily looking to move. These are folks with whom we can have ongoing communication over time, building relationships and expanding our portfolio of outstanding prospective candidates.
Why Focus on Passive Candidates
Just because someone is happy where they are doesn’t mean they will never change jobs. Exceptional employees are, by definition, drawn to new and greater challenges – as long as it’s the right one. We often hear comments such as, “If you ever come across XYZ position, I’d be interested.” At Power-4, we call this the “when and if” factor, and it’s key to helping us match the right person with the right position at the right time.
Passive candidates are working, not looking around, so they won’t ever see your job announcement, let alone respond or apply. In fact, only about a quarter of potential candidates are actively looking. That small pool seriously limits your chance to find the right person, since you can choose only among those who contact you and who are available right now.
Conversely, 70-75% of prospects are passive. And it could be said that passive candidates have more to offer, in that they are currently satisfied and productive in their career -- and, evidently, well-valued by their current employer -- even if they might be open to something even better. If you aren’t focusing on meeting and attracting this group, you are automatically overlooking most, and perhaps the best, potential candidates.
That won’t do, given today’s extremely competitive hiring market and the urgent need for businesses to ramp up and move forward.
Passive candidates can be selective and take their time engaging with you and learning about your position. This is especially true for senior-level candidates. Both sides can do their due diligence and be more selective to make better-considered decisions. Importantly, you have more time to make your case – why would/should that candidate choose your company?
Focusing on passive candidates means you don’t have to compete with offers from who-knows-how-many other companies vying to land the same candidate or distractions from myriad other recruiters. Both of these are typical scenarios when you focus on hiring active job-seekers.
Results You Cannot Achieve on Your Own
Because they are currently employed, passive candidates require confidentiality. That requires a different approach to contact and engagement. However, HR teams must adhere to contact management regulations that can make informal engagement with passive candidates difficult or impossible. Plus, staff are typically not available after hours, when passive candidates usually prefer to talk.
Power-4 is built on our team’s deep experience with passive search. This has always been our approach to sourcing, and it’s what we do every day. Corporate HR teams don’t have that luxury, because they are distracted with so many other daily talent management and related tasks in addition to recruiting. When you don’t have the resources to seek out passive candidates, you can’t achieve the hiring results your company demands.
It takes time and patience to continuously build and nurture a network of high-value new and previously sourced candidates who fit the profiles of our Power-4 searches. Building deep relationships with passive candidates enables us to build this strong referral network. It also enables us to leverage their contacts. They know and trust us, so they refer friends and associates who are also employed but open to new possibilities. Our network grows.
Some potential candidates are truly not interested in moving right now, let alone entertaining your offer, but they are still willing to listen. We encourage them to share their resume, and we stay in contact because you never know when things might change. And you never know who they might know – perhaps someone who would be a great candidate for your position and is more open to move.
Because we take this approach, we are able to carefully curate a selection of individuals to contact on behalf of each client and position. This model can often avoid a cold search, which means we can deliver superior candidates faster.
You cannot thrive if you aren’t attracting the highest quality, exceptionally well-qualified people. At Power-4, 80% of our placements are passive candidates. If you want to achieve recruitment results like that, we’re here to help.