Chris Phillips, vice president of international marketing, Taleo

Given the continuing challenge faced by many organisations to find and recruit talent, we recently ran an interesting event on best practices for effective sourcing.  The panel debate came up with some interesting points. We all know there are a variety of approaches for sourcing, but as social and professional networking media has become widespread it also seems to be becoming more popular for sourcing.

Social media - Web 2.0

Jennifer Candee, Head of Talent Acquisition at SABMiller plc was talking about their use of professional network tools for a large proportion of their sourcing - they actually source a high percentage of new hires via LinkedIn. When many companies seem nervous of social media / Web2.0 technologies, it's great to hear of some cases where it's actually being applied to good use. 
 
Professional networking ethics - online reputations

Matt Jessop at AIRS raised a good question; 'what if you find a candidate's blog and it's evident that they are of great interest for the role you are trying to fill, but that it's also clear they are a member of a controversial political party'?

Matt's view was that if you pre-define your criteria for creating a short-list and stick to it, this shouldn't influence your decision. Others may not agree - if information is out there, why not use it? I guess this debate will continue until enough companies are using social/professional media to be able to determine a best practice approach. Either way, a clear framework should be in place so that you can justify any hire and show you've judged their application ethically.

To achieve sourcing best practice, organisations should consider the following areas:

1) Have a methodology:
· Workforce planning is key
· Have a co-ordinated sourcing methodology across all recruitment types, disciplines, locations, brands and divisions
· Start small and build
· Regularly review and refine your methodology
· Make sure the rest of your business buys in

2) Equip yourself:
· Learn from the experts
· Use the right technology

3) Plan each campaign:
· You are throwing your sourcing budget down the drain if quality candidates aren’t attracted to your company
· Mystery shop your own company
· How you source depends on what you are looking for.  Tailor each campaign to the candidate ‘personality’
· Use the tools available to you

4) Manage your time and budget:
· Always back the favourite, spend the most time on what you know works
· Have an each way bet on some outsiders
· Track how you invest your time and expenditure

5) Define your selection criteria:
· Identify not only what you want in a candidate, but also what would make you discount a candidate

6) Be ethical and honest:
· Remember first impressions work both ways.  Where possible use the phone and make emails as personal as possible.  Let the candidate know what is in it for them and be direct rather than going round the houses
· Keep candidates informed and be honest about the process

7) Measure your outcomes:
· Track activity
· Measure the method, source, time and approach
· Use a simple matrix measuring by time and expenditure

8) Review your methodology on the completion of each campaign

It is hard to think we will see any improvement in the global talent pool in today’s recruitment climate.  If anything it will become more challenging and competitive before we see any easing off.  Companies need to recognise this, adopting and exploiting new techniques to improve sourcing methods and increasing engagement with future candidates. I for one am looking forward to seeing how HR professionals take on the sourcing challenge and move forward to the next stage.