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Imagine you’re the CEO of a fast growing company. You look at the pool of applicants to your company and realize that only a small percentage of them are qualified. You further realize that—of that small percentage that are qualified—only a small percentage of those are a personality fit and share the values of the organization. And of those with the abilities, the personality, and the shared values, only a percentage will decide to accept your offer over that of another organization they’re considering.

Meanwhile, you have positions that you need to fill to support your growth, and you’re very aware of the dangers of putting butts-in-seats if those butts don’t belong to top talent.

Robert Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates argues that sourcing great candidates—just getting them into the beginning stages of that funnel described above—is one of the most important things that a leader at a growing company can spend their time on.

At the 2016 Conscious Capitalism Conference, Waldron shared some powerful ways he helps stack his company’s talent pool with great people:

1. Source candidates from your great people

Waldron asks all 500+ people at Curriculum Associates, “who are the top five people you’ve ever worked with in your life, regardless of industry?” Everyone lists their top five and all names get entered in a running database. Then Waldron reaches out to every person in the database (a team member helps send messages on his behalf), saying that he’s heard great things and that the company would love to learn more about their interests and what they’re up to, even if they’re not currently looking for a job. If the person is willing to speak, they get started in the funnel (phone screen, interviews, etc.).

2. Source candidates from your great candidates

Waldron takes the above approach a step further. Since the people in the database have been deemed great people by great people, they probably know or have worked with other great people. So, when a candidate has made it through to the interview stage, Waldron asks the candidate, “who was the best manager you’ve ever worked for?” The candidate usually dives into why that person was their favorite manager, but meanwhile, Waldron makes sure to jot down the name of that manager and adds the name to the talent database.

Hire for people, not positions

The two ideas above are so simple and obvious; it’s a matter of tapping into the networks of great people, since great people tend to surround themselves with great people.

Behind the scenes, there’s something else going on at Curriculum Associates that makes the two ideas a little more feasible: Curriculum Associates hires for people, not positions. The company hires great people from all different backgrounds, and industry experience is not a consideration. The thinking is that the best people will succeed regardless of the position they’re in, and there will be many opportunities to grow to new positions within the company anyway.

Before you brush off the possibility of hiring for people, not positions as impossible at your company, think about how many more great people you’d have access to at that vitally important stage at the beginning of your candidate funnel. Could you start small, implementing these ideas within one team to see how it goes? Are there other ways you’re tapping into the networks of great people?

Engaging those candidates with stories

Now that you’ve got ideas about how to find new people for the top of the funnel, what do you say to them? Examining effective methods other firms have used lends some ideas.

Employer branding content lets you communicate your culture, strategy, and values with external parties. There are a number of aspects to consider when creating content. First, of course, is the material of the content itself—from our experience, stories from real team members at a company provide proof of all the claims you make about how awesome you are on your careers site. Take Ericsson, a technology company that asked its team members to send in stories to share on corporate social channels with candidates. Their stories generated more than 8 million online impressions and boosted the diversity of their talent community.

The other feature to take into consideration is form: how are you communicating your message? You can get creative with it. If you’re coming up blank: ideas include videos, blog posts, comics, podcasts, or culture eBooks. The way in which you communicate your message should be the one that is most likely to appeal to the people you want to hire. For Thermo Fisher Scientific, that meant appealing to scientists’ desire to foster positive change in the world, leading them to release a “What Story Will You Tell” revamp of their employer brand. This has helped them increase qualified applicants and decrease time to fill positions.

Regardless of what method you choose to pursue, the ultimate goal of your new content should be to accurately portray your brand’s culture and employer value propositions, increase relevant applicants, and reduce “noise” in the talent pipeline.