Let’s suppose you make contact with a candidate, Brian, who you feel would be a great fit in your organization.  More than likely, you will have spent time and resources locating and contacting this person.  
 
After making a connection with Brian over the phone, you convince him that it would be mutually beneficial for you to set up a short, informational interview with the Hiring Manager, Nancy.

You follow up after the interview and discover that the Hiring Manager loved the candidate.  A quick call to the candidate reveals a similar feeling:  

“This is a great opportunity and I appreciate you setting up the interview with Nancy.  We really hit it off, and I can see myself working on her team and thriving under her leadership.”

Like many high-quality candidates, Brian is already immersed in his current job and does not really need to pursue the opportunity immediately.  He has a good income, a family to support, and a network of friends and contacts who regularly share new opportunities with him.  The next part of the conversation often goes something like this:

“I have a lot to process from what Nancy shared with me.  I’m also in the middle of a significant project at work that is going to take a lot of focus over the next couple of weeks.  Can you give me a call in a few weeks, after I’m done with the project?”

Now, what happens if you call Brian in a couple of weeks and ask him if he wants to work at your company, and he says he’s not ready to make a decision?  Many recruiters communicate a message something like this:

“Brian, I appreciate the time you’ve taken to learn about the opportunity in Nancy’s group.  You have Nancy’s contact information.  If you decide that you want to move forward with the opportunity in the future, just give Nancy a call.”

Of course, you never hear from Brian again.  Nancy never hears from Brian again.  Both of you have moved on to the next candidate, starting back at the beginning of the process.  If you’re like many recruiters, you rationalize this course of action by telling yourself that if Brian were really a good candidate, he’d chase you or Nancy down and show initiative on his own.

This thought process is not reality.  It is your bruised ego telling you to justify an emotional decision.  “You’ll teach that candidate for blowing you off!”
 
The reality is you’ve wasted the sourcing time and resources it took to originally make contact with Brian.  You’ve also wasted the time that both you and Nancy spent teaching Brian about the benefits of working in your organization.  This type of waste makes the recruiting process inefficient and frustrating for you, the managers you recruit for, and your candidates.
 
How can this be remedied?  Here are some thoughts:

1. Stop insisting that your company’s timing takes precedence over the candidate’s timing.  The best candidates have lots of opportunities and make career moves according to their schedule.  You need them, they don’t necessarily need you – At least not today.

2. Stop playing a numbers game you can’t win.  On occasion, you will happen upon a high quality candidate whose life circumstances have caused him/her to make a job change in perfect sequence with your company’s need to fill a position.  But as you well know, this doesn’t happen very often.  The candidates who immediately jump at your opportunities are often misfits, losers, and desperados you don’t really want anyway.

3. Approach your candidates with humility and empathy rather than arrogance.  The high quality candidates that you want to attract to your organization have lives.  They are going to respond to thoughtful and empathetic dialog much better than to someone implying they’re an idiot for not jumping on the opportunity that is in front of them today.
   

If you want to recruit the Brians out there, don’t give up so easily.  Follow the advice above and be diligent in your follow-up.  When these candidates are ready to make a change, you will be there to guide and entice them to consider joining your team.