You want to take your recruitment process from reactive to proactive but you don’t know where to begin. Sound familiar? Many organisations struggle to evolve their recruitment process enough to get to the ever-elusive point where applicants are coming to an organisation before there is even a vacancy to fill.

While it may seem like a pipe-dream we’re here to tell you the fantasy can be a reality, and is for many organisations across Australia.

The answer? Good quality talent pooling and candidate nurturing.

Tudor Marsden-Huggins, Managing Director of Employment Office, says employers need to treat candidates who don’t get the job- as well as the one’s who do.

“Employers need to consider that when a role is filled, it’s usually only filled with one person. This means if you’ve been lucky enough to have 100 applicants, 99 people won’t get the job. While some may be unsuitable, the top five candidates (or more) might all be great employees with a lot of potential, and best of all – they’re already engaged with your brand because they’ve applied for a role with you.

“But what happens to most unsuccessful candidates who apply with organisations without a talent pooling process in place? They’re left without any communication, any explanation as to why they didn’t get the job, and directed to a generic email that says their details will be kept on file.”

So what can employers do to engage these candidates even after they’ve been told they haven’t got the job?

Marsden-Huggins says it’s all about communicating relevant and engaging information to them until they’re ready to apply again.

“Hiring managers need to collect data on the candidates they’re turning away. How many are unsuccessful because they don’t have a certain qualification or because they were too nervous at an interview to answer the right questions? Maybe the didn’t know enough about the organisation or maybe they hadn’t had enough work experience.

“The point is, all these candidates will grow and develop and may turn into just the right person for one of your roles. If you communicate information like top tips on how to have a successful interview , or how to upskill in our industry – maybe even the top five facts to know about our organisation, then you’re educating and informing your unsuccessful candidates and as they grow and develop you’ll still be front of mind,” he says.

Ultimately the only way to nurture your candidates is to communicate with them over a period of time with great quality information even once they’ve been deemed unsuccessful. You never know when they might be right for your next role.

Consider implementing recruitment technology and software that can help you build and nurture a talent pool – contact Employment Office today on 1300 366 573.