I no longer had to experience FOMO – I was finally attending my first SourceCon Digital conference! My excitement levels were at an all-time high! I was finally going to be able to watch my “Sourcing Super Heroes” live and learn from the Top Specialists in the industry.
Day one, session one. The Keynote Speaker to open the conference was Sarah Goldberg – Senior TA Sourcer for the New York Times. I had ‘met’ Sarah before when she had presented at a SourceCon South Africa Chapter meeting so I knew that this was not going to be a talk to miss! I sat riveted to my chair as she opened up her presentation with such humility. “Bringing Empathy to your Sourcing Outreach”. The BIG question of “How can we show empathy and mean it”.
Sarah put her presentation into context. She took us through the journey of 2020 and how COVID had such an impact on the world. People have lost their jobs or might be losing their jobs. They might have lost a loved one to COVID or have a special someone in their lives at death’s door. Unfortunately, for some of us, these experiences have not changed the way we operate and we have simply carried on as before. Spamming generic emails with no consideration to the face behind the screen.
Her words hit home. This was a huge wake-up call for me. I reflected on the insensitivity of my content to prospective candidates. We have continued as before and we all need to put into context that there are humans on the other side of our emails. Sarah highlighted a quote from Maisha Cannon for the times we find ourselves in. “What would someone be doing when they read your message?” They are not in the best headspace. It’s hard to be happy and optimistic when you have lost your job or lost a loved one to COVID.
Sarah understands that we all still have a job to do and metrics to achieve, but this often drives the wrong behavior. We are still blasting out emails, without reviewing the candidate’s profiles or tailoring our message. These candidates are receiving up to seven messages in one day. Can you imagine by the seventh follow-up mail, a funny meme asking if you’ve been abducted by aliens, might not be very well received at all? This is not funny, particularly if you are experiencing stress or grieving the loss of a loved one. It sends the wrong message and ultimately – what does it say about our brand?
My learnings and key takeaways from Sarah’s presentation: What can we do better as an industry, to get across the screen with “Empathy”?
In Conclusion
Reflecting on Sarah’s presentation, we can all show compassion and humility. All we need to focus on is being ourselves, honest, authentic, genuine, and write as we would speak. This will go a long way in building trusted relationships with our candidates.