4 high-touch hiring techniques to unleash top talent.
One of the major challenges facing recruiters and HR professionals today is skills scarcity, which continues to escalate worldwide
By looking to your existing employees as a source of new talent, you can begin to develop a personalized and proactive approach to candidate engagement. Increasingly, organizations are moving away from merely filling job roles to seeking specific skill sets. Many businesses are realizing that the key to success lies in attracting candidates with the right capabilities, rather than those who merely fit the pre-defined job descriptions. Matching candidates' skills with the organization's current and future needs results in more efficient and effective hiring processes.
1. engage in a high-touch ERP strategy
Employee referral programs (ERP) can prove invaluable in combating attrition, reducing your time to fill, and ensuring more suitable candidates are selected for the right roles. But a high-touch and personalized approach is essential.
Gone are the days of generic mass emails that land in inboxes with a soft thud. Instead of sending out a blanket referral request, forward-thinking companies are taking a more tailored approach, actively reaching out to current employees who may know individuals with the specific skill sets required for vacant positions. Perhaps they’ve worked with them previously.
By engaging in meaningful conversations and leveraging personal networks, HR teams can make more targeted referrals, significantly improving the quality of the candidate pool. It’s all about being proactive.
2. value alumni networks
Alumni hiring, an extension of ERP, is another powerful technique in high-touch talent acquisition. By maintaining connections with former employees — often termed “boomerang employees,” organizations can tap into a network of skilled individuals who have already walked through their doors, soaked in their culture and made an impact. These alumni candidates may prove to be valuable assets for future roles.
3. nurture ‘silver medalists’
Another valuable aspect of high-touch hiring is keeping in contact with candidates who were runners-up in previous hiring processes. These “silver medalists” may not have secured a position previously but possess valuable skills and potential that align with your organization's future requirements.
By maintaining a connection with these candidates, you can quickly access potential talent pools, reducing the time and effort spent on new candidate searches. This highlights the importance of ensuring that all candidates have a positive experience during your hiring process — whether or not they get the job.
4. connect with ‘in-flight’ candidates
A fourth group that can become a sustained source of talent are “in flight” candidates who have previously applied for a job with you but may have accepted other offers, withdrawn from the process or simply changed their mind. Often, these valuable prospects can be lost — perhaps they’re not categorized correctly and end up being forgotten in your ATS or CRM system.
But by treating former high-quality prospects as a distinct group worthy of active sourcing, alongside traditional recruitment methods, you can streamline your recruitment process and enhance the chances of successfully hiring them in the future. Don't let candidates slip away; instead, invest in strategies that increase the opportunity to secure them down the line. In doing so, you not only save time but also tap into a pool of candidates who already know and appreciate what your company has to offer.
In a talent-constrained world, adopting innovative hiring techniques to secure best-fit candidates and maintain a competitive edge is essential. A high-touch strategy means you’re not just shouting into the void and hoping for a response. It’s about sparking conversations, exchanging ideas and tapping into networks to find that perfect match.