With skills shortages presenting ongoing challenges to growing HVAC companies, finding high calibre talent often requires a creative approach. Here at Thornhvac, we are specialists at sourcing particular skills for our clients. In a previous blog we talked about some of the ways companies are tackling the HVAC skills shortage and in this article we are going to focus specifically on passive recruitment.

What is passive recruitment?

Traditional recruitment methods tend to target candidates who are actively looking for a new career opportunity. Passive recruitment, on the other hand, is all about building relationships with people who have the right skills for a client’s business – even if they are not currently thinking about changing job.

However, that doesn’t mean tempting people to move at all costs. The job opportunity needs to be right for the candidate otherwise they won’t stay and the client will be left in exactly the same position as before.

At Thornhvac we use our knowledge and networks to build relationships with high performing candidates at all stages of their career. This means that when a fantastic opportunity comes up, we already have a few people in mind who might be interested in the challenge. The relationships we have developed mean good candidates trust us to contact them with genuine opportunities that will help them develop their skills and careers. 

How passive recruitment helps HVAC companies to grow

There are pivotal moments in the growth and evolution of any business and, because HVAC is one of the fastest moving sectors at the moment, there is a lot of change. Changes in technology, compliance and legislation mean that heating, ventilation and air conditioning manufacturers are having to constantly re-evaluate the talent within their teams.

The usual forms of recruiting, such as advertising and social media, don’t always yield the best results and a more targeted approach is often needed to source the people required to meet the demands of a changing industry.

Companies that can identify the talent that will help them maintain a competitive advantage are already one step ahead. If they can also utilise the skills of a niche recruiter to resource passively from a network of high performers, they have the best chance of success in a shifting market.

One final thing worth mentioning is that there has never been a better time to use a bespoke approach to fill the skills gap. With so much noise online and on social media, many professionals have filtered out traditional marketing approaches. Up to this point we have talked about passive recruitment being different to traditional recruitment but that doesn’t mean saying goodbye to tried and trusted communication methods. A conversation on the phone or a chat over coffee can often be the best way to connect with experts in their field. Networking with up and coming talent is important too, because digital skills will only become more important over time and graduate job seekers with a good understanding of the role of technology within HVAC can be critical to the future growth prospects of businesses in the sector.

To find out how Thornhvac can help the growth of your business by finding the people and skills you need, call us on 0115 8714777. If you’re looking for a new opportunity in HVAC why not check out our jobs pages?