When Your Talent Team Has Run Out of Candidates
Why searches stall, why "there's no one left" is rarely the full story, and what hiring managers can do about it.
I've worked in Australian recruitment for more than 25 years, and one thing that has not changed is that people hire people. The Australian market is small, relationship-driven and knowledge-driven. Like any country with a small skilled workforce, getting access to the real superstars has always been hard for businesses.
That challenge shows up most clearly when a search stalls, and the people running it start telling the hiring manager there's no one left to see and that you need to compromise on building your A-Team!
What candidate saturation looks like
As an agency, we often work alongside internal talent teams. With some teams and some roles, we hit what I call candidate saturation point.
Here's what that looks like:
- A recruitment process that lasts for many months with no hire.
- Applicants stop applying. Oh no, you need to repost your job again.
- The same candidates you rejected the first time around keep applying.
- Candidates you want to hire, you don't have the budget for.
- Agency partners stop sending CVs.
- You have an extensive internal database, and not one candidate is interested.
- Hiring manager keeps interviewing and rejecting all candidates.
- Hiring manager has tapped out his entire personal network.
- No change from the company in the wish list of skills, budget or personality of the new hire.
Who runs the search decides the result
In recruitment, the person running the process matters enormously. I have had countless HR directors and teams share the same view over many years. Who's driving the process, screens the applications and who does the interviewing will shape the outcome, and whether you end up with a weapon of an employee or a failed process.
A word on where I sit
I've never worked in internal talent, and I never will. I have however delivered on large projects where the recruitment work is outsourced to Hunter. I have lots of friends who do work as internal talent officers and I love them for it, but it's not me. My passion is sourcing the best for multiple brands and jumping on new projects and technologies that are changing the here and now. That keeps me motivated. So, this point of view comes from the agency world and 25 years of placing thousands of people into jobs and company environments. I have a broad range of experience, capability and opinions. ; )
So what do you do when you've run out of options?
My number one recommendation: remove the barriers to hiring. Now, some of this may be unpopular, and that's OK. I know the talent professionals out there will have more to add to this list of blockers, so feel free to comment.
- Hiring managers: if your expectations are unrealistic, you may need to reconsider your ideas and approach. That's fair. There's no point wasting your time, the candidate's time and your brand's reputation.
- Remove the barriers to partner agencies, which includes revisiting candidates your internal process has missed.
- Get a fresh set of eyes on the search. Talent team, step away and trust the supplier (if they're trustworthy of course). Let them influence the outcome and the hiring process.
- Remove internal policy barriers — they're damaging your productivity and corporate results.
- Get the right budget. Budget is influenced by many factors, I get it — I run a business too. But simply put: Budget = Skills to hire. Less budget = less skilled hires. If you have a low budget, get creative. Money doesn't always equal great hires. I have placed many a candidate with fewer skills on paper who ended up outperforming and getting promoted after 6months of being in the role.
- Make sure the hiring manager knows the market and what is realistic. If not, educate and share the knowledge. Just a reminder to hiring managers, that a big part of hiring great people, is your performance at interview and your perceived leadership qualities. People make the decision to accept employment and work for a company, and that will never change. AMEN.
The bottom line
"There's no one left" usually means there's no one left that this process could find.
If the search has stalled and you still believe the talent exists, don't settle — change who's running the search and remove the blockers. Happy Hunting