10 Ways to Attract Passive Candidates Right Now, Part 2
Jobs board are not a great tool for attracting such passive talent. These people aren’t looking for new jobs; you’re not going to find them on job boards, where the whole name of the game is “looking for a new job.”
To tap into passive talent, employers will need to add some new strategies to their recruiting efforts. Yesterday, I set out five such strategies. Today, I’d like to offer five more:
6. Abolish the Probationary Period
Abolishing probationary periods shouldn’t be done lightly. If you want to take this step, you’ll need to discuss it thoroughly with your HR department and your legal counsel before doing so.
That being said, you should definitely consider doing away with any probationary periods your company has. Starting on probation at a new job can make a hire feel insecure, which is a massive deterrent for passive candidates especially. Think about it: You are asking them to move from their permanent, secure position into a new job that may not even work out. Ouch!
Contrary to popular belief, you are not necessarily disadvantaging yourself by removing the probationary period. These periods don’t make it any easier to fire a candidate in most circumstances. In fact, according to Lawyers.com, probationary periods have little legal impact. Most states in the U.S. are “at-will” employment states, which means that employers can fire employees at any point for any fair and just reason with or without a probationary period. In reality, then, all that a probationary period does is make new hires feel more insecure while providing little legal benefit to the employer.
Instead of probationary periods, you can rely on your normal performance management processes to retain or dismiss new hires. Doing so will make the opportunity seem secure and more attractive to those risk-averse passive candidates.
7. Institute a Longer Notice Period for Employee Dismissal
8. Guarantee Commissions for Six Months
I have personally witnessed the effectiveness of this tool when it comes to attracting passive sales talent. When a salesperson jumps into a new job, their commission checks often take a hit for the first few months as they work to build up a network of clients. This makes a lot of salespeople wary about changing jobs.
If you guarantee commission for the first six months or so, the a passive sales candidate will be more willing to entertain your offer, because they’ll know their commission checks will stay consistent as they settle in.
9. Offer a Sign-On Bonus
A sign-on bonus appeals to most people’s sense of good, old-fashioned capitalism. Who among us couldn’t use a few extra thousand dollars in the bank? A sign-on bonus is an exciting incentive that can give a passive candidate the impetus they need to leave their current job and join your company.
10. Allow Candidates to Design Their Own Jobs
Upworthy recently saw some success with posting an open-ended job advertisement, in which the job title and job description are left blank and candidates are invited to propose their own ideal job descriptions.
Is there a particularly strong passive candidate you’d love to have on your team? Consider reaching out to them and letting them know they can design their own job if they choose to work for your company. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could be the spark that lights a passive candidate’s flame for your company.
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Of course, that doesn’t meant that passive candidates are always better than active candidates, or that a company should disregard active candidates entirely. Rather, the point is that employers should be working to attract both populations. Doing so will give an employer a wider spread of top-tier candidates to choose from.