As this research report points out, the most predictive factor in hiring success isn’t credentials, experience, or skills – it’s the degree of connectedness between candidates and the organization.
The graphic above reveals an uncomfortable truth. Internal mobility succeeds 92% of the time. Employee referrals hit 88%. Traditional job postings deliver a pathetic 48% success rate – worse than flipping a coin.
What’s also even more interesting is that the candidates hired for these roles based on their known performance often have a different mix of skills and experiences than listed in the job description. That’s why you also need to play “Moneyball for HR!” to redefine the criteria for success.
Yet where do most companies start their hiring process? With job postings – literally the worst-performing channel available and the most expensive. And they then make it even worse by demanding people have all of the skills listed and offer an ill-defined lateral transfer in the bargain.
It’s Time to Flip the Sourcing Switch – Start with Networking
The pattern is unmistakable: the more relationship depth a hiring channel provides, the higher its success rate. Internal promotions work because organizations have perfect performance data. Employee referrals succeed because they leverage trust networks. Direct sourcing can thrive when recruiters build genuine connections rather than spamming the wrong candidates.
Meanwhile, job postings fail because they’re transactional by design. No algorithm, no matter how sophisticated, can replicate the predictive power of someone saying, “I’ve worked with this person – they’re exceptional.”
The 60-30-10 Sourcing Model Flips the Switch
Here’s the radical shift: Start with networking, not with job postings!
Spend 60% of your effort on generating referrals. Since everybody knows at least 50-100 outstanding people you need to start backwards and ask,
“Who in my company or in my network would have worked with someone outstanding for this role?”
In fact, AI can now build this type of network map as shown below. Then connect with the people shown on LinkedIn and search on their connections for some outstanding prospects. AI can now do this part, too. Contact us to see this in action using one of your open search projects. The network map and candidates we uncover will be yours!
This is the foundation of PERP – a Proactive Employee Referral Program. It means searching through your employees’ LinkedIn connections, identifying strong second-degree profiles, then asking your mutual contact: “Would you consider this person a top performer worth recruiting?” Then, of course, only call those who get a strong yes.
In this way by using PERP you shift from cold outreach to warm validation, surfacing high-quality candidates who won’t apply but would take your call. Of course, you now have to recruit these people, but this is relatively straightforward if the job is worthy and career focused.
Stop Direct Source Spamming
In parallel to PERPing spend another 30% of your time direct sourcing for only the top 25% using “Moneyball for Hiring” search criteria. These are people who will be seen by the hiring manager since they’ve demonstrated great success doing comparable work.
Surprisingly, most recruiters still use direct sourcing to find active candidates filtering on skills. Then they automate this with agentic AI to do it faster and in the background. This is comparable to farming for people who didn’t see your ad and hoping they respond.
Instead by using advanced filteringto prequalify prospects you can build a deep pipeline of specialists in your field who are interested in career growth not ill-defined lateral transfers. While a few could be perfect for your current open role, you’ll also be able to identify others to build a deep and expanding network of remarkable people for future roles.
Spend the remaining 10% on Compelling Advertising
Consider a job posting as a piece of marketing collateral, not an entry point for your job.
In this case, use the post to invite prospects to understand the career opportunities of the role rather than listing requirements. Then ask interested candidates to submit examples of major accomplishments comparable to what the role demands. This filters out resume-spammers and attracts genuine achievers.
Why Most Companies Won’t Do This
Implementing this 60-30-10 sourcing program requires courage most organizations lack since it requires:
- Measuring recruiters on relationship depth, not activity volume
- Admitting expensive ATS and job board contracts were bad investments. This “sunk cost fallacy” is a big hurdle for anyone – especially HR – to overcome and it retards growth.
- Stopping the knee jerk excuse making: “We already tried that and it didn’t work.” “We don’t have the budget.” “It won’t scale.” “It adds friction to the process.”
Collectively, this is how HR prevents progress. The counterpoint is this LinkedIn Learning course on change management for HR. It describes how to overcome these mountains of inertia and resistance that continue to plague the industry. My 24/7 cohortcan also provide some instant advice to help you tackle these types of hiring and recruiting challenges.
The Relationship Revolution Starts Now
After $2.5 trillion spent automating the wrong things, the answer was always in front of us. The best person to identify great talent is someone who’s worked alongside them.
The 60-30-10 model isn’t just a sourcing strategy – its’ an acknowledgment that hiring is fundamentally about relationships. Companies that embrace this truth won’t just hire better. They’ll build organizations where connections matter, trust compounds, and success becomes inevitable.
It’s time to flip the sourcing switch. Start by joining our “Moneyball for Hiring!” group and learn how to network like a pro.