PASSIVE CANDIDATEENGAGEMENT

A PLAYBOOKA guide to keeping your talent

pipeline active and flowing

ACTIVE

A good job candidate is hard to land.

Thats especially true when it comes to passive candidates those individuals currently employed but who may be open to new opportunities. But there are strategies you can use to grow your sources of qualified candidates and keep them engaged so when youre looking to fill that next job role, youre not solely reliant on posting new job listings. As a recruiter, youll want to make sure you always have a warm pipeline of potential candidates to tap into as positions are available; you can easily find the right skillsets and reach candidates with up to date contact information; and, you have a queue of candidates who will be receptive once you reach them.

The solution is to practice ongoing brand awareness, relationship management and passive candidate engagement. Its all about keeping these potential employees feeling good and interested in your organization before, during and after your initial outreach. Its about educating your hiring managers to interact with this audience, building and marketing your brand, and playing the social media field to engage.

This playbook offers best practices as well as practical tips on finding, engaging with and recruiting passive candidates.

Look for this icon throughout this e-book for helpful tips and information on best-in-class passive candidate engagement!

www.skillsurvey.com

Table of Contents

Hard-to-Get Passive Candidates: Why Theyre Worth Pursuing

Finding Passive Candidates

Get Social, Online and Off

Referrals Make it Easy

References Expand Exponentially

Other Sources

Engaging: Keep up the Dialogue

Hooking Them: Brand and Engagement Management

Winning with a Passive Candidate Strategy

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Hard-to-Get Passive Candidates Why Theyre Worth Pursuing Did you know that three quarters of the fully-employed workforce could be considered passive candidates? Theyre people who have a current position so theyre not on a formal job search, but who would be open to a new position if it was presented.

Why should you care about passive candidates? For one, theyre not so passive, really. According to an Indeed.com report1, 7 in 10 (71%) of workers say theyre either actively looking at other job opportunities, or open to new career opportunities. And, another 58% said they look at job postings every other month. In a new report by ManpowerGroup Solutions2, they are called continuous candidates.

And, there is another category of candidates you should also keep in mind. Consider all the great candidates youve encountered who may not have been the best fit for the position you had available at the time, but who would be top contenders when the right role comes around.

Highly skilled workers are more likely to be open to new opportunities.

1 Talent Attraction Study: What Matters to The Modern Candidate, Indeed Inc., 20152 http://www.manpowergroupsolutions.com/manpowergroup-solutions/candidatepreferences/

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You Know Theyre Experienced The Indeed report found that 85% of employers agreed with this statement: Highly skilled workers are more likely to keep an eye out for new employment opportunities. Plus, for hard-to-fill positions with specific skillsets, they may just be the only candidates you can find.

You Know the CompetitionTheyre less likely to be interviewing with other companies and that means youve got more of a shot to land them. You are competing with a defined salary and benefits plan.

Youre more likely to get the real deal during the hiring process Since theyre already in a position, initial conversations with passive candidates are likely to be real conversations about their skills, talents and goals versus well-prepared, rehearsed presentations. After all, you contacted them not the other way around.

Room to recruit?

Active candidates are 48% satisfied with their current role, while passive candidates are 76% satisfied.

LinkedIn Talent Trends 2015

Finding passive candidates Get Social, Online and Off

Potential candidates who are currently employed are increasingly aware of other opportunities in the job market, and theyre using more sophisticated tools to keep an eye on those openings. According to Jobcast3, 14.4 million job seekers have used social networks to find a job, and 73% of companies have successfully hired a candidate using social media.

Social professional networks such as LinkedIn are the largest source of quality hires, according to LinkedIns Global Recruiting Trends 20164. In the report, 43% of companies surveyed said their top source of new talent came from social professional networks.

3 26 Social Recruiting Stats & Facts, 20144 LinkedIn surveyed 3,894 talent acquisition decision makers in corporate HR departments.

Go to conventions and other events for your industry to meet and network with potential candidates. Get their cards; connect on social media; save the hard sell for later.

Post about job opportunities in strategic groups on LinkedIn. Or, tweet or post in Facebook about a success story. Again, no hard selldraw them in.

Speak at industry events, networking meetings and job clubs. Talk about your organization; promote the brand to make it about attraction not promotion.

Finding passive candidates Referrals Make It Easy

Some of your best, new talent will come from employee referrals. According to LinkedIns Global Recruiting Trends 2016 report, 26% of HR professionals consider employee referrals an essential and long-lasting trend in recruiting. About one-third, 32%, said employee referrals were their most important source of quality hires within the past 12 months.

What makes them high quality hires? Because theyre being recruited by someone who knows them, theyre likely to be a cultural match. Its also faster to hire new talent from employee referrals, and once hired, they stay longer. The 2016 Jobvite Index5 reports that new employees hired via referrals from existing employees are hired 55% faster than those who came through a career site. Meanwhile, 46% of employee referrals stay for three years or more while only 14% of those hired from job boards stayed for that period.

5 The Jobvite Index aggregates social recruiting data drawn from over 600 Jobvite customers who use social recruiting applications.

BEST PRACTICEKeep your employees regularly

informed of new positions that are available. Try newsletters or emails

with a call-to-action (CTA) to forward referral contact

information.

Make it as easy and simple as possible for employees, especially those who are just hired, to refer a candidate.

Dont expect employees to navigate your applicant tracking system (ATS) to input referral information. Just ask that they email name and contact information then have a talent acquisition team member enter the information.

Send them a link that they can use to submit a contacts email or one forward to a contact.

Provide employees with a referral email template they can use to send their contacts information and direct potential candidates to where they can easily apply.

Have a process in place for new hires that asks for referrals as part of their initial on-boarding.

Finding passive candidates References Expand Exponentially

Another rich source of passive candidates are your candidates references. Top reasons active candidate references are golden:

You can easily access contact info. References contact information is always provided! No digging required to start building your database.

Good people know good people. References are your already vetted candidates managers and peers. Otherwise they wouldnt be listed.

Theyre likely to be in the same industry, or your desired job role a bonus for those hard to fill positions.

You typically get two or more for one. Because you usually get contact information for 3-5 references for each job candidate, its an exponentially growing passive candidate source.

Searching for passive job candidates? Good people know good people.

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Its easy to build a rich, quality database of passive candidates from references, if youre using online reference checking technology.

Make the reference checking process more efficient, and more informative and build a new talent pipeline at the same time. In addition to responding to surveys about the job candidate, references provide key contact information. They do so because the system generates and sends them an email request from someone they know: your job candidate.

With SkillSurveys Pre-Hire 360, on average, surveys are completed by 4 references in less than 2 days. As part of the process, references can be invited to join the hiring organizations talent pool.

Pre-Hire 360 also has an add-on solution SkillSurveys SourceTM to manage the reference/passive candidate database such as setting up specific talent pipelines based on key job criteria and creating alerts when a match for talent takes place.

And, through integration with your ATS, you can mandate or foster consistent use of reference checking. As a result, you streamline processes and consolidate your reference data into a single easily-accessible database.

Other passive candidate sources Sometimes the best candidates to consider are those who have already expressed interest in your organization. They may be the silver medalists who were not quite the best person for the particular job that was open at the time, but who would be perfect for another position.

Set up your ATS, database or other solutions to flag these candidates and keep them in your pipeline. It is one of the features of SkillSurvey Source, along with a candidate dashboard that makes it easy to select a candidate and send communications. Well discuss later how important it is to maintain communications so you have a receptive response if you decide to reach out to a past candidate for a new position.

Engaging: Keep up the Dialogue Social media has extended the way you can target and engage with candidates, not only because you can influence future job seekers but also because you can build referrals.

Job seekers, passive or active, are like the rest of the population they visit and re-visit social media daily. According to 2015 Pew Research Center statistics, 63% of Americans use social networking sites. Seven in 10 (71%) adult Americans who use the internet participate on Facebook, 58% of the adult population. Among adult internet users, 28% use LinkedIn, or 23% of the entire adult population.

In terms of usage, 70% of Facebook users engage with the site daily and 45% do so several times a day. For LinkedIn, 13% engage daily and 7% visit several times a day.

Communicate and keep your brand top of mind by posting in candidates industry- or job-related groups.

67% of those who used social media to find their most recent job used Facebook.

Source: Jobvites Job Seeker Nation Study 2016

LinkedIn is the most popular place for recruiters to mine job candidates (87% of recruiters6 use LinkedIn), and its where job seekers do things like get referrals or view an opportunity or read a current employees perspective on their workplace. Maximize your presence to stay top of mind. Post, or share updates about your organization, trends in your industry or news about employees. Make sure your organization keeps up its page and builds followers.

In a recent Linkedin Webinar, Josh Brown Talent Acquisition Manager at Clemson University, noted that his organization has used the Sponsored Updates feature to promote posts to specific audiences based on group, job role or industry.

A good way to reach and influence passive candidates is to join the LinkedIn groups to which they belong. How to find out that information? Ask job candidates. You can also survey your current employees chances are they belong to many of the same groups. Using LinkedIn Recruiter you can also identify the LinkedIn Groups these new contacts are part of. When we load these contacts into LinkedIn, we not only engage with them early, we also find relevant groups full of potential candidates, says Brown in an article in The Higher Education Workplace. These are groups we never would have discovered on our own.

Case Study

Clemson University synched its online reference database of contacts to the LinkedIn Recruiter tool to expand and enrich its passive candidate database. Heres how it worked:

References opted in through Pre-Hire 360 with their current job and contact information. The team used LinkedIn, which then searched and synched those candidates full profile information, including work history and other resume data.

Clemsons Results after one year of using Pre-Hire 360, the average number of reference responses increased to more than 4 per candidate and over 400 passive candidates are opting-in for future consideration through Clemsons passive talent network.

6 2015 Jobvite Recruiter Nation Survey

For Facebook, posting information about jobs on your company or organizations page makes it easy for your employees to share jobs with their own network. Thus, your recruitment efforts can easily go viral. Beyond that, you can post to relevant Facebook group pages. For example, if youre trying to fill a public relations position, post in a Facebook public relations group page. Facebook also offers advertising options to reach its user base based on key demographic criteria, which is another area that the Clemson recruiting team has met with success.

If your company is a lifestyle brand or in the consumer goods space, social media channels such as Instagram and Snapchat may be better tools to reach your audience. These, can be top tools of choice for recruiting millennials, or entry level candidates. With snaps and videos of events, employees, product highlights and other events, you can shape and build a story about your brand. These tools are good for keeping your audience in the loop about job developments, too, via snaps of job ads.

Get in the habit of re-posting or forwarding your organizations marketing announcements with an HR spin.

For example, when forwarding a post about a new product announcement, highlight your stellar product team. Facebook Tips

When writing your post, make the first four words attention-grabbers.

Post with appealing pictures of your offices, employees and customers.

@SkillSurvey ebook offers advice on attracting passive job candidates: Make your landing page or talent portal simple!

Blogs are also a great way to influence and build favor with potential candidates. One best practice is to frequently monitor blogs and forum posts in order to identify potential, passive candidates. Like their posts, and, where appropriate, give feedback. For example, if your candidate writes about a grueling job interview process, offer tips on how to perform well in a one-on-one.

For Twitter, maintain a regular stream of tweets. You can tweet about new jobs and events (for example, a community service day or an earnings announcement) to your followers. Encourage employees to tweet about jobs to their friends and followers (their reward is referral fees). Follow industry influencers, retweet and use trending industry hashtags when you can to expand your reach.

Danielle Johnson of SkillSurvey likes YouTube because people love videos. Her advice: Go above and beyond the regular text format and take advantage of more interactive opportunities, for example videos that showcase how former candidates youve hired have progressed in their careers.

Regardless of the platform, dont forget to ask candidates to follow or like you. By doing so, they stay up to date on new positions and other news at your organization.

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Hooking Them: Brand and Engagement Management So, now that youve found passive candidates, how do you get them interested in your organization and your brand and maybe consider a move? Well, thats what recruitment marketing is all about. Consider these strategies:

Become a brand ambassador. Create a hiring brand message platform that aligns with your overall corporate message and vision so that its always clear to candidates who you are, what your corporate strengths and competitive points are and what value there is for them in coming to work for you. Get personal, and make it exciting and compelling.

Get up to speed on digital marketing strategies and techniques. The goal is to get passive candidates to join your talent network. Evaluate all of your online assets and make sure there is an easy way for candidates to join with hyperlinks in emails or social media posts. For help, collaborate with marketing and leverage content theyre already using to reach customers, for example, newsletters, success stories and client testimonials.

Building a Hiring Brand

Tech giant, VMWare was featured in a recent case study on ERE.net which discussed how the company created messaging to compete for talent against new, trendier, Silicon Valley firms.

Following in-depth employee surveys, the team discovered that for its employees, it came down to owning your future. The hiring message was boiled down to Dare to drive change: dare to be yourself and profiles of employees were used alongside the messaging on a new, engaging company careers page and in advertising campaigns.

TIPInstead of having a candidate upload a resume or fill out a

lengthy form on your site, ask them for their preferred quick way to get in touch, e.g. text,

email or phone.

Beef up the careers section of your website to keep passive candidates interested even enthralled. For example, develop compelling real-life stories and videos about current employees and their successes at work. Then, put them up on your site.

Promote your talent network on your website. Make it easy with a link which allows them to sign up to join your talent pool and be notified of positions. Adds Johnson of SkillSurvey: Make your landing page or talent portal simple, with the least amount of steps involved for navigating and submitting information. Dont make them jump through hoops because they want to learn more about your brand.

Assess every touch point of your candidate journey. Make sure every candidates (and potential candidates) exposure with your hiring brand leaves them with a positive feeling whether theres a current open position for them or not.

Benefits of a Live Chat on Your Website:

You make your organization instantly available to candidates.

You put a human face to your organization.

You show your organization is technically savvy.

Treat Candidates with Kid Gloves

Your hiring managers are your front-line folks when interacting with candidates. Thats why its so important that they understand passive candidates unique situation, as well as their motivation.

The first, most important thing to remember when engaging with passive candidates, said Johnson: If a passive candidate reaches out to you, get back to them within 24 hours. If you let more time go by, you may miss out on your opportunity because a lot can happen in a day. For instance, a potential candidate may get interested in one of your competitors, or they may become busier with their own work schedules and may be unable to respond, she added. A lot of companies miss out here because recruiters arent proactive enough in responding.

Engaging with passive candidates is different than with others. In addition to promoting your organization, you have to provide incentives for them to want to leave their current position. This may mean a very high-touch approach such as including the team or executive interviews in the hiring process.

Also, this means the conversation doesnt begin with a formal interview. It begins with a discussion about whats great about working at your organization and what the candidate will stand to gain.

#Recruiters: Passive job candidates need TLC. Once they contact you, get back to them within 24 hours.

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Winning with a Passive Candidate Strategy When you continue building a talent pool of quality, passive candidate contacts, and employ best practices to communicate and nurture those relationships, it all leads to heightened interest in your organization.

Take your passive candidate engagement strategies to the next level of success!

SOURCESRelationship Building & Your 2016 Recruiting Strategy, Jibe.com blog, May 2016Recruitment Marketing: Your Thank-You Page Is Broken, eremedia.com blog, May 2016How to Post a Job on Facebook, Workable.com blog, March 2016Engage Passive Candidates: The Three Rules of Recruitment Marketing, Talentculture.com blog, October 2015Four Tools for Improving Your Response Rates When Sourcing Passive Candidates, Socialtalent.com blog, October 2015Why Relationships are Key to Recruiting Passive Candidates, Ziprecruiter.com blog, June 20156-Step Guide to Building The Perfect Employee Referral Program, LinkedIn 2015How to: Use Snapchat for Recruiting, Socialtalent.com blog, November 2015Engagement and Attraction: How to Recruit Passive Candidates Effectively, idibu.com blog, August 20152014 Jobvite Job Seeker Nation StudyPassive is Positive, Jobvite.com blog, September 20147 Keys to Finding Passive Job Candidates, ZipRecruiter.com blog, September 2014Passive Candidate Engagement Strategy: Tips Using Social Media, ERE.net Webinar, January 201420 Tops Tips to Recruit Passive Candidates, Dice.com blog, July 2012 VMware Turns Things Upside Down With Brand, Website, ERE.net, June 2016.

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of SkillSurvey Inc. or its affiliates and are registered in the U.S. and other countries. - SkillSurveys Pre-Hire

360 is a patented solution. For more information see

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EBK-027 - Passive Candidate EngagementEBK-027-08-24-16

SkillSurvey is the leader in online reference checking, providing immediately useful insights to help employers make better hiring decisions.

Pre-Hire 360 provides insight into past job performance and is proven to predict

future turnover, hiring manager satisfaction, and performance ratings.

SkillSurvey SourceTM helps recruiters source, engage and manage a more robust passive candidate pipeline through references and referrals.

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