There is an unwritten rule in many corporations that you will never see written in any handbooks or policy guidelines: Stay within your own bubble.

We don’t want to see Accounting fraternizing with Information Technology or Human Resources hanging out with Legal. It is just the nature of the business community. Stick with your own and they will have your back. Well, aside from getting first dibs on the food at a birthday team party or access to all the inside jokes, this is a very narrow minded perspective on doing business especially in Talent Acquisition.

We have all embraced the “business partnership” or “internal client relationship” piece of Talent Acquisition but to what extent. Having open communication on the specifics of the role, culture of the team, day to day responsibilities, soft skills, technical components and key logistics are critical elements, but we perhaps are missing the most significant piece of the relationship: Knowledge sharing.

As you review the professional portraits of your senior and executive leadership, you will see some common elements including consistent industry experience. As these more senior members move through the path of their career they develop expansive networks. These networks offer a hidden batch of talent on the passive side. This network of successful human capital will not be on the search engines or active in the talent communities but will provide you with the key skills to generate sales and increase business value.

Talent acquisition needs to partner with senior leadership to access the contacts and begin a process of warming that talent and bringing them into your stratosphere. When you can bring these top performers into your network, the rest is up to you. Then sell, sell, sell. With your persuasive skills you can entice this talent to your side and when the key roles open up, you are a folder away from closing the deal with the top industry talent.

When you are looking for that needle in the haystack, they may be closer than you think.