Emma Neary and Alan Walker talk direct sourcing, and how candidate experience plays a big part in this. They discussed what an organisation needs to do to move towards a direct sourcing model, the important things to be mindful of, and some of the quick wins that can accelerate this approach.

In this conversation with Emma we discussed:

• The key things that need to change to move towards a direct sourcing model.
• How to move a recruiter from being an order taker to being a business partner.
• The essential elements of taking a recruitment brief, and the need to ask “why?”
• How taking a brief improves the ability for a recruiter to support candidates through the recruitment process.
• What a recruitment team can do to be seen as strategically important.
• How infusing a recruitment culture throughout an organisation, can deliver better results.
• Things we can do to improve the candidate experience.
• The role of technology, and how it can support a direct sourcing strategy.
• What technology can do better than humans.
• The importance of the recruitment process moving quickly, and the bottlenecks to work on.
• How an organisation can market their opportunities more effectively.

Here's the link to the video version of this conversation:-

https://academy.clickiq.co.uk/emma-neary-on-the-guide-to-direct-sourcing-candidate-experience/

In this episode, Alan Walker talks to Kasia Tang, about the secret to building high-performing recruitment teams.

They talked about:-

• Why having the right team in place is the essence of recruiting success
• The risks of getting recruitment team building wrong
• How aiming for a diversity of thought, background and experience can bring huge advantages
• Why hiring people you feel uncomfortable working is a good thing
• Solving the biggest problems needs people who challenge the status quo
• That people who make mistakes and learn from them are more valuable than those who (seemingly) never make any
• How fostering a culture of true candidate centricity will deliver high performing recruitment teams

In this episode, Alan Walker talks to Mohammed Baig of VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) on how he has overcome the challenges of being asked to hire over 4,000 volunteers per year.

They talked about:-

• How introducing modern recruitment tactics have made a significant difference
• Why being more data-driven and technology-savvy has led to considerable improvements
• Talent nurturing and community building making a huge difference to time-to-hire
• How pre-boarding candidates in advance of project sign off helped reduce onboarding from 5 months to a few weeks
• Why improving candidate communications improved reduced candidate drop-off
• The huge difference between hiring employees and volunteers

In this episode, Alan Walker talks to Akbar Karenga on why recruiters should act more like marketers if they want to be successful.

They talked about:-

• His time managing 16 hiring managers across 16 countries globally - and why embracing cultural differences was key to doing it well
• How lesser-known brands can compete
• The need for recruitment to behave more like other functions if they want to secure c-suite buy-in
• Business leaders demanding metrics that are meaningful to them - think "what's the bottom line impact"
• How understanding your total addressable market of candidates is essential before you start hiring
• Why pragmatic analysis of your recruitment process can lead to significant improvements
• How approaching recruitment like sales & marketing is the key to our functions future success

In this episode, Alan Walker speaks with Theo Smith about Neurodiversity in hiring and employment.

They talked about:-

• Why being a champion of neurodiversity is important to him
• His journey of exploration is going on, and how this has been driven by finding out he himself is neurodiverse
• That 15% of the population think differently and are neurodiverse
• What he's doing to be an advocate for neurodiversity
• Some of the initiatives businesses (including NICE) are undertaking around this topic
• Why it is important for employers to look at Neurodiversity, particularly when hiring
• How employers can become better at hiring (and retaining) neurodiverse talent, and some of the challenges they'll need to overcome
• Why businesses shouldn't be afraid of neurodiversity, and it's all about treating people as individuals

In this episode, Alan Walker speaks with Liz Dowling about hiring in a hyper-growth start-up.

They talked about:

• What defines a "hyper-growth" start-up and the challenges recruiters face in these type of businesses
• How understanding the company's strategy, vision and roadmap is the first step towards moving from being reactive to proactive
• Successful TA teams building out a hiring roadmap that aligns to the business' commercials
• TA people needing to be able to challenge, ask questions and understand the plans of the business
• Questions to ask the business e.g. "Where are we going?", "Why are we going there?" and "What do you need?"
• Why recruiters need to feed the business with intel - including talent market data and dashboards on how the recruitment team is performing
• Educating the business as being essential, so they understand the commercial impact of TA being resourced appropriately
• The fact that confidence is key, as is quickly earning the respect of hiring managers
• How getting the basics in place - process, rules of engagement etc - is as important in these businesses as it is in large corporates
• Why creating a "recruiting culture" across the business will solve many challenges

In this episode, Alan Walker speaks with Phil Catcheside about the candidate market segmentation project he is leading at Network Rail

They talked about...

• Who Phil is, and what it is he does
• What market segmentation is, why it's important and the decisions it can drive
• Why this project is so relevant for an organisation like Network Rail
• How he has managed the project
• Executive buy-in
• What external support he brought in
• Some interesting finding so far, and how they challenged perceptions

Jim discusses the latest innovative recruitment strategies.

Links cited:

https://www.one-tab.com/page/VOjhy9XNR1CL2Zwxj0c-xw

Jim Stroud discusses the world of recruitment.

Links cited:

https://www.one-tab.com/page/AfUBeXOvQtSHT7fm8PmwZg

Alan Walker speaks to Yodel's Head of Resourcing Ben Gledhill, on how he is transforming hiring in their business.

We heard

• About his role as Head of Resourcing at Yodel
• How he has revolutionised driver recruitment and candidate experience via ChatBots
• Why the challenge of a large transformation project attracted him
• Where to start with a transformation project
• Why quick wins are important, but the long term goal should be fundamental change
• Why having the right people in place should be the first step
• About key parts of his project - process, attraction, onboarding and retention
• How hiring Employed and Self-Employed people offers different challenges
• Why it's important not to be destracted by shiny tech, and it's important to do your homework
• That positioning Resourcing as a key strategic business partner has been the most important thing he has achieved
• Why TA doesn't need a seat at the main board!
• About the key changes he has made from a tech perspective
• How recruiter experience can be as important as candidate experience
• Why automation tech isn't about headcount reduction, it's about headcount optimisation

In this episode, Alan Walker speaks with Gary Manning of Touch Surgery about life as a recruiter in a fast-growing startup, some of the challenges and his advice as to how to overcome them.

They talked about...

• Gary's time with King, and his new role with Touch Surgery
• The unique people challenges startups face, and how adjusting to startup life can be a challenging experience
• Why knowing who you are, your values and communicating your purpose is key to attracting people when competition for talent is so high
• Why the role of a TA person in much broader than just recruitment in a startup
• The importance of delivering a positive candidate experience - think fast & slick
• How treating each piece of recruitment as a project (with a process) is key to consistantly good hiring outcomes
• Why kick-offs (think job briefings) and washups are essential - with the latter creating great data for providing feedback, and for developing onboarding and learning plans
• How to handle pushback from hiring managers, and why it's important to get them to stick to a process
• That when you're the first person in a new TA team, it's important to go in with your eyes open. Network, attend events, spend time with peers.