Whether you like it or not, recruiters who are believers, agnostics or atheists are all bound by forces at work which are beyond our comprehension, benevolent forces that make effective recruiting possible. Unbelievable? Consider this:
When running an ad or posting, more often than not we are actually deploying a strategy called "hope and pray." If we are absolutely certain that the ad or posting will generate the desired result – a hire – that’s called "blind faith." I have seen many instances where "blind faith" has been applied despite the cautionary words, "Don’t do that. It’ll never work." In those instances where a hire was made, I have heard the soothsayers then say, “Well, I’ll be damned.” Conversely, when "hope and pray" fails, I have heard things like, "What have I done to deserve this?" as if the failed sourcing strategy is, indeed, some kind of karmic retribution.
Instances of "hope and pray" abound. Look at the classifieds, think about the readership and demographics, and it is obviously at work among the notices for Sarbanes-Oxley or Six Sigma, for example. Interestingly enough, for these extremely challenging searches, the number of ads appearing for third-party recruiters beautifully illustrates how "hope and pray" can, with the intervention of a shaman, become indistinguishable from "blind faith." News flash: I don’t know of anyone in recent memory who has hired these skill sets from an ad in the classifieds – in print or online. If you do, please let me know. I’m documenting recruiting miracles for a new book.
Similarly, it could be argued that postings are more like opium for the masses than an effective means to drive candidate flow. Most postings for trades, for example, rely on some kind of divine intervention. After all, with nothing to distinguish one posting from another, getting a plumber to pick one among the thousands of openings, and apply, is a little bit like hoping for the Chosen One to show up on your doorstep. And, when the Chosen One comes, and when the Chosen One clicks, what does the Chosen One find? Any employer branding or other signs of wonders? No. A value proposition, maybe? No. A compelling call to action? No. News flash: When the good book said: "Watch and pray for I shall come like a thief in the night," it didn’t mean post your jobs as if He is one, if you see what I mean. The principles of good recruitment marketing apply equally to skilled workers as it does to top-flight talent.
Realizing this, we should consider abandoning the old rituals of recruitment advertising and consider a more enlightened approach. The scarcity of candidates only exists in the God-forsaken places that have proved a wasteland for most recruiters – traditional print and job boards. There is an abundance of available talent that exists for every recruiter who is prepared to embrace a world of "possibility recruiting." Possibility recruiting assumes that one can internalize a problem and draw on the creative forces that can manifest themselves in practical solutions. Here’s how it could work:
I heard of a recruiter who went through the horrors of recruiting skilled trades for the construction industry. I don’t know where this was exactly but the usual strategies of "hope and pray" and "blind faith" left this recruiter struggling to find the meaning of life. A voice said, "Seek and ye shall find." And that’s exactly what she did. And this is what she found:
Tradespeople eat breakfast on the trot in greater numbers than they read the help-wanted ads. Very few fire up the wireless to look for jobs online. They don’t need to. They can move from contract to contract, site to site, and get a job anywhere because they know better than anyone – there aren’t enough of them to go around. But they do need nosh. And cash. With a newfound appreciation for what targeted recruiting is all about, the recruiter took her money and invested it in placemat advertising. Her ad was fairly large; the real estate was fairly cheap. The ad read: "Need extra cash? Send me an electrician, a plumber or carpenter I can hire and I’ll give you $30.00. If I do hire them, I’ll give you $300.00 more." Did it work? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the possibility exists that it could. That’s the point.
Schneider National knows all about possibility recruiting. They have been desperate to recruit truckers for the longest time. Columns and columns of help-wanted ads are producing a diminishing return. Postings are working a little better. Possibility recruiting leads Schneider National to consider alternatives. Example: USA TODAY covers the same geographic footprint as 814 national newspapers. It has a readership of around 248,000 drivers, truckers and related workers in transportation and materials handling. It is read on the road at truck stops, in motels and other places where truckers hang out. That makes its targeted audience and distribution equal to the industry rag, The Trucker, and for national coverage, a drop in the bucket compared to the outrageous per-column-inch rates the classifieds demand. So, for a fraction of the cost, employment branding and targeted recruiting can be delivered to passive candidates as well as active job seekers. Did it work for Schneider? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the possibility existed that it could. That’s the point.
So, how are you going to apply possibility recruiting in your search for talent? You might think this approach is bunk and I will not try to persuade you otherwise. Possibility recruiting relies more on faith and inner strength than white papers and recruitment technology. But if you’re going to revert to "hope and pray" and "blind faith" alone, I hope and pray you find what you are looking for – and in great abundance. Have a nice day!
