By Meredith Camp

We’ve been talking a lot about attracting candidates to your organization this week and something that falls into that same category is your organization’s recruiting strategy.  Each HR department has its own spin on the most effective methods to recruit quality candidates, but many of them make the mistake of waiting until a vacancy comes up to start taking steps to fill it.  The best recruiters and HR managers will tell you that is too late in the game to start the process.  Don’t get me wrong, you don’t want to be head-hunting for people to take over a position that is filled by someone with no intention of leaving, but just as it is important for an organization to have a solid bench of promotable employees within its ranks, it is equally important to have a pool of applicants from which to quickly draw if a last minute opening occurs.  Developing an “always on the lookout for top talent” mindset prevents a reactionary approach to filling a void in the organization, which can lead to a rash, and often poor, hiring or promotion decision.  Just as many in the workforce are apt to keep in contact with their network in case of a layoff or ideal opportunity, it is wise for hiring managers to maintain a network in order to draw upon it for advice, ideas, support, or hirable candidates.

Does your HR department have a solid network and bench to draw from in case of a sudden vacancy?