Only as strong as your team: How to build a successful Direct Sourcing program

Your Direct Sourcing program is only as strong as the team you build to support it.

That means choosing the right people in the right order, which can be a complicated ordeal.

Companies can choose from a wide variety of technology providers, VMS and MSPs, recruitment companies specializing in Direct Sourcing and consultants to meet their needs.

We look at how to create a Direct Sourcing team that supports your long term goals.

Understanding Direct Sourcing’s key players

While every program is unique, most include the following partners:

VMS / MSP

These teams are usually amongst the first to be chosen when implementing a talent acquisition strategy.  

A VMS (or Vendor Management System) allows companies to organize and manage their workforce while growing their Direct Sourcing program. These systems create and release job requisitions, distribute roles, track candidate submissions and manage approvals.

An MSP, (or Managed Service Provider), keeps your Direct Sourcing teams organized and keep the process on track. They can help with the design of your program, manage staffing suppliers and recruiters and enforce compliance and hiring policies.

Recruitment team

The recruiters you choose should specialize in Direct Sourcing. Their role is to engage with top talent and create active talent communities filled with pre-vetted, qualified candidates. This partner should feel like an extension of your team and should leverage your company’s natural brand power to find the right fit. 

Direct Sourcing platform

Your tech platform is the heart of your Direct Sourcing program. It allows you to manage your talent communities, create a smooth application process, and integrate with other partners.

How do I find a Direct Sourcing champion?

Before choosing a VMS or recruiter, it’s important to find an industry champion to guide you through the Direct Sourcing process.

This team will act as a program lead and help you understand your biggest hiring challenge, your short and long term goals and who should own the program internally.

For some companies, this means participating in best practice workshops. TalentNet, for example, runs Program Readiness, a data-forward, industry workshop that helps companies:

• Understand which best practices are needed based on each company’s unique goals
• Mitigating long and short term risks to encourage program success
• Define their hiring goals
• Understand their talent acquisition challenges

When choosing a guide, look for:

• Industry experience and compliance knowledge. Are they new to Direct Sourcing or do they have deep knowledge of the market? A solid guide should be able to help you navigate compliance and data privacy regulations as you scale.
• Strong commitment. Your partner should be aligned with your needs from day one. This includes providing the resources you need from the beginning. 
• Ability to operate as an extension of your internal team. To grow a successful program, your lead must integrate seamlessly with your people and be available when support is needed.
• Training and education expertise. A strong guide doesn’t just implement a program, they help your teams adopt new ways of hiring, align stakeholders, and build long-term confidence in the model.

What should I look for in my recruitment team? 

Finding the right recruiter for your needs is one of the most important steps in creating a successful Direct Sourcing program. It’s important to opt for a curation team that specializes in Direct Sourcing.

Unlike traditional recruiters, curators take a proactive, long-term approach to hiring. They help your team build talent communities filled with engaged, qualified candidates.

Your curation team should:

• Understand Direct Sourcing and have experience in the industry. If you’re looking to fill niche roles, it’s important to consider curation companies with knowledge of the market you’re interested in.
• Have the right resources to provide proper support. Look for curation teams with a solid resourcing plan who are willing to provide enough staff to support your business needs.
• Track success indicators, implementation metrics, and recruitment stats to give you an idea of how well your program is growing. 

Future proofing your technology platform

Choosing the wrong platform can lead to poor candidate experiences and time consuming manual processes.

Some questions to ask include:

• Can the platform integrate with your other partners, including VMS technology, curation teams and MSP service?  
• What is their implementation process? Do they offer support before, during and after, or will you be left to fend for yourself once the program launches? 
• Does the platform include AI-powered tools and talent agents that can automate manual tasks? For TalentNet, these tools are designed to be deployed at an enterprise level and prioritize data security. They include:
  • TalentNavigator, a conversational AI assistant designed to support your curation team. 
  • Job description optimizer, which allows recruiters to write clear, SEO-optimized, inclusive job descriptions.
  • AI profile summaries, a talent agent that summarizes candidate profiles for hiring managers, allowing for a quick review of applicants. 
• Does the platform let companies leverage their natural brand power and create positive candidate experiences? 

Building a program that lasts

Without a solid team to support your growth, it’s difficult to create a successful Direct Sourcing strategy. Not only is it important to choose the right players, it’s vital to integrate them at the right time.

TalentNet provides your company with the guidance and support it needs to launch and scale a successful Direct Sourcing program.

Our platform:

• Includes talent agents that support curation and automate manual tasks
• Creates a 60 second registration process and positive candidate experiences
• Allows companies to leverage their natural brand power to find top talent

To learn more, request a demo here.