Brian Breth: Sourcing the Right Players Creates a Company of Legends

Sourcing! Knowing who to target is far more effective recruiting strategy than casting a wide net when it comes to hiring correctly for your company. Even without a recruiting team, business leaders must be sourcing to engage and hire the right talent.

Today’s Quote:

"Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story." - Casey Stengel

Show highlights:

• What is sourcing and why is it so important
• Sourcing strategies
• How to execute on your strategy!

What is sourcing?

Sourcing Definition according to SHRM

“Sourcing is the proactive searching for qualified job candidates for current or planned open positions; it is not the reactive function of reviewing resumes and applications sent to the company in response to a job posting or pre-screening candidates.  

Sourcing is typically part of the recruiting function performed by the HR professional, but it may also be conducted by managers within the company. Sourcing can identify either candidate who are not actively looking for job opportunities (passive job seekers) or candidates who are actively searching for jobs (active job seekers).”

• Identifying your players
• Building your ShortList
• Collecting data needed to engage them
• Figuring out your Positioning
• Where is time best spent?
• Most important capital investment is your people. Good hires always provide ROI

 Sourcing Strategies

• ATS (applicant tracking system) /Database …
  • Job boards are recruiting databases
• Social Media
• Job Postings
• Misc. (recruiter networks, internal, alum networks) 
• Referrals  - Should be the place you start

Where does Sourcing fit into the recruiting process?

• Brian’s formula
  • Kick off meeting- Identifying needs
  • Sourcing -a place (ats, rolodex, spreadsheet)
  • First Contact

• Rick’s Formula
  • Understanding your core values
  • Benching needs of the work to be done
  • Sourcing - building contact collateral 

How to Source (Small company sourcing/business leader sourcing)

*** Plan and develop the relationship before you need to hire the person.

Database/Referral Network first-

Best Methods for sourcing:

Under limited resources (self-recruiting)

• Identify competitors - Your Talent competitors
• Connect and network with everyone to become known and build brand awareness
  • Give before you take
• Do your homework on the person, let them opt out then ask for referrals

Best tools for Sourcing

• Referrals - internal/external   
• Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
• Sourcing Tools: Hiretual, Entello
• Resume Data Bases - Internal ATS, Angellist
  • Archives
• Portfolios - Carbonmade, Github
• Creative sources
  • Meetups

Here’s How I source

• Identification of Source companies
• Target list
  • Define what to look for in potential people
  • Contact directly outside of social platforms and augment with social connections
  • Personal email, text messaging - Highest response rates

Engagement

• • Marketing/Messaging aligned with company values
  • Job Descriptions with clear performance metrics
  • Application process…. RESPOND!

Brian Breth is a talent acquisition leader and US Marine Corps veteran with proven of experience forging, adapting, and applying best practices to complex business challenges in recruiting.  He has a proven track record as an entrepreneurial leader whose ability to align teams, enact change, and build sustainable frameworks enables businesses to attract top talent and become more efficient, productive, and competitive.  Brian currently leads recruiting for the Publishing and Esports teams at Riot Games.

Not only is (Brian etc) speaking at the ERE Recruiting Conference in April in San Diego but yours truly is too! Join both of us there.