The Ultimate How-To Guide for Recruiters in Sourcing Top Talent

here is an unprecedented movement in talent globally, across industries, as employees re-evaluate their life goals post-pandemic. Based on a study based on 1,500 companies across India, more than 40 industries revealed that attrition was estimated at 21% in 2021, the highest in 2 decades, and much higher than 12.8% in 2020.

Frontline blue-collar-heavy organisations have always been susceptible to high attrition typically, as employees find less purpose in their work. It is critical that recruiters find the right sourcing strategies for securing a skilled workforce.

Companies that can create winning value propositions could gain access to a huge talent pool of quality candidates. Those who fail to attract frontline blue-collar talent could be looking at a large and growing deficit, which will hamper business resilience.

Let’s look in detail at sourcing channels for recruiters.

What is Candidate Sourcing?

Why is candidate sourcing important for recruiters? Sourcing is a vital channel for talent acquisition and accounts for 24-33% of all hires. Recruiters take a proactive approach to search for skilled workers who can fill current and future vacancies. To do this they:

• Collect important candidate information, like personal details, resumes, work experience, samples, etc.
• Pre-screen candidates who match the job description
• Contact candidates to inform them about vacancies and build relationships with them
• Create relationships with potential hires for the long-term
• Develop talent pipelines for various positions
• Measure the results of various methods

Employees in the blue-collar sector are always looking for new positions. Those with seasonal nature of employment actively seek jobs. Through sourcing, recruiters can handpick workers that have the desired skillsets.

Workers can avoid going through an entire application process, and show interest in the benefits pitched by companies. For companies, sourcing before recruitment has many advantages:

• Reduces the time-to-fill vacancies
• Better prospects of meeting long-term recruitment goals, such as companies which might be planning a business expansion or meeting the demand during festive periods

Strategies to Attract Frontline Talent

Frontline workers today have diverse expectations. Here are some sourcing strategies for recruiters to consider:

Defining “Success Profiles”: Recruiters need to be clear about what skills, attributes, knowledge, and experiences they are looking for. This helps them to tailor hiring processes like interviews, realistic job assessments, and previews, to ensure better fits for open positions.

Having a Distinct Value Propositions: Workers are looking at comprehensive financial and health benefits to survive in the pandemic era. Migrant workers especially need assurances about wages, insurance policies, health covers, protective equipment, and more. Companies need to communicate these clearly and consistently. Communications need to be carried out in native languages.

Moving Quickly to Bring in Workers: Companies must have a first-mover advantage in this tight labour market. Seamless onboarding, and automated resume screening, are some ways to get workers on the team quickly.

Sourcing Talent Locally and Through Non-Traditional Channels: Apart from centralised websites, companies can source workers through local programmes to broaden the applicant pool.

Offline and Online Sourcing Methods for Recruiters

Many online and offline tools help in sourcing for recruiters. However, most of them don’t cater to the blue-collar workforce in India. For instance, social networks like LinkedIn, and Indeed don’t contain a database of frontline workers in various sectors. Some offline methods are mostly used to get lukewarm responses such as:

Word-of-Mouth Referrals: Personal referrals from workers already employed in an organisation are a prime sourcing method for recruiters.
Job Fairs: There are local programs in many states to help connect recruiters with local talent.

With limited means to source candidates, recruiters face higher costs of hiring and huge delays in finding the best talent. Moreover, varied procedures to hire workers regionally hamper streamlining efforts.

BetterPlace offers a state-of-the-art sourcing and hiring platform for blue-collar workers in India. It is powered by a massive database of skilled and verified workers making hyperlocal sourcing extremely easy for employers.