What is the fourth method for developing a sourcing strategy?

 

4) Know Where and How to Source

The actual work of sourcing and recruiting serves as the culmination of the hard work that has gone into your strategy. If you've done things right you'll start to see the dividends be paid out, allowing you to quickly and easily target (and hire) the right candidates. When it comes to the sourcing itself, understanding where the talent is now and where it is likely to be in the future is key to keeping your strategy sustainable. Which networks do you need to use? What's the best way to approach candidates? Knowing this will help you work faster and more effectively.

In stage four, the enterprise achieves end-to-end implementation of best practices and processes that maximize supply value. Systems are put in place that create the foundation for capturing all savings and value, and for measuring and controlling key supply parameters. Contract management and supplier performance measurement systems are deployed to monitor and track all supply parameters. All collected data and other knowledge is fed back into the process of strategy formulation, and future supply strategies are greatly enhanced.

A strong strategic sourcing team with both the authority and accountability to enact major, long-term changes also characterizes stage four. This team often is complimented by major efforts toward collaboration with business units, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders.

At stage four, many companies experience for the first time the benefits that result when customers and suppliers are linked directly, and knowledge transfer occurs in both directions. New efficiencies and new technologies can be created where an informational vacuum existed in the past. Companies that reach stage four in the strategic sourcing process may receive benefits of which they had never before dreamed

At stage four the enterprise is employing highly-advanced technology tools that help procurement manage all key relationships with business units, suppliers, customers and business partners. This highly-advanced software might be called "procurement relationship management," or PRM, software.

When a company reaches stage four, the pieces are now in place for continuous improvement, year-over-year, in the value extracted from supply. Companies that reach stage four achieve a new competitive position in their markets. Shareholder value is enhanced, and a flexible framework works towards continuous improvement of supply value well into the future.

Step-by-step explanation

Five Key Steps for Your Recruitment Sourcing Strategy

1) Identify Your Goals

Your talent sourcing strategy should be derived from your overall business plan and long term company goals. This is the very first step in identifying the future employment requirements of any business, and is a crucial component of sustainable recruitment sourcing strategies. By knowing what your company wants to achieve and when/how it plans to do so you can ensure that you are not only looking for the right talent to meet those needs, but you'll be able to plan your hiring pipeline to ensure people come on board right as you need them.

For instance, you'll need to take into account whether offering relatively low or average salaries with a training and development plan to develop younger talent is best, or if a high salary and/or generous bonus plan for highly skilled and experienced candidates is a better approach. Once you've identified skill levels you need you'll also need to work together with other stakeholders to determine how many employees will be needed at what times. The more clearly aligned your strategy is with company goals the more effectively you'll be able to plan and the more easily you'll be able to request the resources needed to achieve your goals.

2) Designate Specific Sourcing and Recruitment Needs

Sourcing and recruitment, like many other aspects of HR, can sometimes struggle in gaining internal support and approval. In creating your strategy be sure to carefully define exactly what you will need to get it done. Once you've done this, present it to both management and other stakeholders and gain their commitment and support. Doing so will allow you to spend your time executing your strategy rather than fighting for resources.

3) Define the Talent You Are Targeting

There are a variety of ways to identify and define the types of talent you are going to source and recruit. You can base it on specific skill sets, personas, academic backgrounds, broad candidate descriptions, internal versus external hires, and more. Regardless of what criteria you use, the more detailed the profile is the easier it will be to prepare for it. In some instances you'll be able to build your pipeline in advance, before the vacancy has even gone live.

4) Know Where and How to Source

The actual work of sourcing and recruiting serves as the culmination of the hard work that has gone into your strategy. If you've done things right you'll start to see the dividends be paid out, allowing you to quickly and easily target (and hire) the right candidates. When it comes to the sourcing itself, understanding where the talent is now and where it is likely to be in the future is key to keeping your strategy sustainable. Which networks do you need to use? What's the best way to approach candidates? Knowing this will help you work faster and more effectively.

5) Set Checkpoints and Conduct Analyses

The final component of an effective sourcing strategy is incorporating the ability to review and improve it. Set checkpoints (based on dates or key events) where your team will review how things are going. In conjunction with that, determine what key metrics you will need to measure in order to determine the effectiveness of both your strategy and how you have executed it. By making continuous improvement a core part of your strategy you'll ensure your team is able to be constantly improving.

Creating and implementing a sourcing strategy can demand time and resources you may not feel you have, but by making the effort you'll save yourself a lot of time in the long run and position your team to deliver talented candidates at a faster rate and with less wasted effort.