In 2021, sourcing experienced a significant growth spurt. And with that, the demand for professional sourcers grew. A year ago there were 67 open vacancies for sourcers; now there are 307 (according to the Target Groups Dashboard ). There are more vacancies and fewer people on the market. At Cooble we are of course also experiencing the need for growth. Cooble started 2021 with 8 sourcers and ended the year with 30. And we are still growing.
We experience the same problem as our customers: how do you find the right employees, in our case: sourcers?
Customers join every month who see the importance of sourcing and want to set up their own sourcing branch and/or want sourcers in their organization. Governments are now also really taking action on this. But how can a company like Cooble grow to meet this increased demand? Because there are few sourcers in the Netherlands and most of them are working on a nice assignment or are already with a great organization. Well, we experience the same problem as our customers: how do you find the right and sufficient employees, in this case sourcers? How do you get started with this quantitative and qualitative challenge?
Make the pond bigger
So we know that sourcing makes little sense for existing sourcers. Yet there is a shortage of sourcers and we as Cooble desperately need sourcers to be able to grow with market demand. However, we should not call ourselves experts in sourcing if we could not find sourcers ourselves. So fortunately that was achieved in 2021. And with this approach we think we can also meet the increasing demand in 2022 and subsequent years. We therefore recommend a similar approach to our customers.
We should not call ourselves experts in sourcing if we cannot find sourcers ourselves.
What then lies the secret of that approach? The trick is: there are simply no more fish in the existing pond. So what you will have to do is: make your pond bigger. The following three steps are important in our approach:
#1. Sourcing on skills – talent-driven
Sourcing for existing sourcers makes little sense, but we can look at the skills of existing successful sourcers. We find that skillset (analytical, curious, creative, convincing and driven) in a larger target group. We therefore approach that target group. Becoming a sourcer is not number 1 on their list, if they already know the profession. You therefore have to attract them with what they find attractive and indicate that it is a subject that is easy to learn. Within Cooble we have enough seniority to train people to become what we call ‘ super sourcers ‘. So dare to think differently, dare to retrain people.
#2. Educate – educate – educate
Lifelong learning has always been around, but in the current market, training people is really crucial. We do this in-company and on the job . Of course, you need sufficient seniority, passion for the profession and capacity in-house for this. When we saw the growth coming at the beginning of 2021, we immediately freed up 2 people to continuously focus on training people. In addition, you must link juniors to seniors according to the ‘ role and buddy model’ . You not only want them to learn the trade, but also that they become passionate professionals. So that they, as an experienced supersourcer , can also pass on the baton at some point.
#3. As an employer, be the most attractive
Naturally, as a good employer you know what your employee/target group wants. If you don’t know that yet, that’s the first thing you need to find out. Study sources such as the Target Groups Dashboard, but also do your own research within your own population. We did that too and we saw a common denominator: freedom, freedom and more freedom. Sourcers love freedom, they find it important that they can work remotely: work when and where they want.
We have sourcers who work from Bali, the US and Curaçao. We also have an unlimited number of vacation days.
At Cooble, that freedom was already partly there, but we have given it even more shape and content this year. Now you have complete freedom when and where you want to work. For example, we have sourcers who work from Bali, the US and Curaçao. We also have an unlimited number of vacation days. In this way we respond to the wishes of our (potential) target group. I also see this with customers who know what their target group wants and act accordingly. And that is certainly not always the highest salary. Employers who do not understand this generally already have difficulty finding and keeping people. And that will only become more difficult in the near future.
Outlook
At Cooble we like to look ahead. Not only to 2022, but also beyond. We think that sourcing will only grow. In January, 3 potential supersourcers will start again: 1 from the recruitment field and 2 not at all. We found them by looking at their skills and they chose us because we give them a lot of freedom. The training starts from day 1. At Cooble, we ensure that the group of sourcers in the Netherlands grows and continues to grow. On to 2022, where we want to start sourcing again with passion and success!
About the author
Milou Verhoeks is Senior Corporate Recruiter and SourcingGeek at Cooble .