4 Reasons to Stay in Touch with Silver Medal Staffing Talent

When one door closes, another door opens – for in-demand talent. The fast-paced job search world keeps opportunities, interviews, connections, and even offers constantly at their fingertips. For a busy staffing professional, this means overbearing pressure to source and screen new top talent every time a client has a new role. 

But when there are more open roles than there is the staffing talent to fill them, it’s easy to get caught in the same cycle – identify candidates for clients’ open roles, pass them on, and get back to the grind immediately. 

This repetitive, fast-paced process allows countless silver-medal candidates to slip away. Some end up in your clients’ competitors’ hands, others continue on in their job search, and a few may even halt their job search feeling they’ve failed. 

Without a quick follow-up, you’re losing these quality candidates and refilling their places with new talent. As a result, many stages of your staffing process suffer. 

Here’s why you need to act fast when a client turns away a candidate: 

The candidate experience impacts your placement rates

Candidates are losing their patience with the hiring process. They’re demanding faster hiring times and improved communication throughout their entire journey with you and your clients. 

In fact, the 2018 Talent Board North American Candidate Experience Benchmark Research Report revealed candidates who were interviewed and then given job-related feedback by the end of that same day were 52% more likely to increase their relationship with the employer (apply again, refer others, make purchases if and when applicable). However, if feedback was not provided, they were more than twice as likely to sever the relationship.

While the candidate experience always begins with you, it doesn’t need to end with a client’s review. This is especially true for candidates they push out of their process. Promptly following up with staffing talent assures them your process is trustworthy. Asking for interview feedback, offering status updates, and suggesting new roles keeps them in your funnel as they see you diligently working to find them a new opportunity. 

As you meet candidates’ communication expectations, their experiences improve, increasing your client’s odds of offer acceptance when the right candidate comes their way. 

Your staffing communication speaks volumes about your brand

Prompt candidate communication isn’t just about keeping talent in your pipeline. It’s also effective in polishing your staffing firm’s reputation. 

A lack of respectful and timely communication sends candidates away feeling disrespected. As a result, they could share their negative experiences on social media, marring your online reputation. Poor reviews provide a bias for both new candidates and potential clients’ initial opinions. 

Once a candidate is turned away by a client, communicating quickly and effectively builds trust. Your words of encouragement, questions, and notes on next steps reinforce a level of respect that fuels long-standing relationships. 

A strong follow-up strategy drives more top talent into your funnel

Candidates aren’t just complaining about negative experiences. They’re also quick to share positive ones when they have the opportunity. Whether via social media or talking one-on-one with their network, these candidates are more likely to refer staffing talent to you and your clients. 

Referrals, of course, drive more top talent in your funnel. However, they also improve other critical staffing factors. For example, in a Jobvite survey, 67% of employers and recruiters said the recruiting process was shorter when they used referrals. Another 51% said it was less expensive. 

As these referrals pour into your funnel thanks to an improved candidate experience, your clients will likely see higher retention rates, improving successful long-term placement rates. 

One client’s silver medalist is another client’s gold

As you know, clients turn down candidates for various reasons. They may not align with their company culture, personalities could not mesh well, they discover their specific experiences aren’t right for the role, the list goes on. 

But those candidates could be the perfect fit for another client. The ongoing talent shortage means no candidate can go to waste, especially those who were talented enough to move forward in a client’s hiring process.