Middle market firms don't have much time for employment gaps, regardless of whether an open position is at the entry level or the executive level. On the other hand, you generally don't have an HR team that can dedicate significant effort toward finding and maintaining relationships with desirable potential employees in order to fill openings quickly and properly.

This recruitment dilemma can hold back a middle market firm in two ways: First, work falls through the cracks during the time needed to find a suitable replacement for a departed employee. Second, there will be many missed opportunities to upgrade overall talent within your organization — a serious problem over the long term.

In companies of any size, it's necessary to proactively stock the talent pipeline even when there are no positions available. To keep from overloading your departmental managers and their HR liaisons, midsized firms must develop a steady, efficient recruitment effort.

Entry-Level Recruitment

For entry-level positions, it's most effective to recruit candidates to the company as a whole, not just to specific positions. Robert LaBombard, CEO of college-recruiting firm GradStaff, suggests clearly outlining your firm's market focus, business model, value proposition and internal core values. Make sure to promote your interview process as geared toward matching candidates to the right position, rather than funneling candidates based solely on their course of study. This maximizes your business's access to raw talent that you can mold later.

Naturally, career centers at colleges and universities in your region are excellent places to conduct this type of promotion. What's more, offering partial scholarships to students in particular majors or disciplines, making donations to campus organizations, taking sponsorships and filling booth space at job fairs will expose your firm broadly. Make use of volunteerism and other public-outreach efforts to inform potential employees of what your firm does and to reinforce its reputation as a responsible corporate citizen. Such efforts will prompt young candidates to follow your company's news and happenings through your social media and other channels.

Approaching Midlevel, Managerial and Executive Candidates

When it comes to filling the recruitment pipeline for positions above the entry level, tactics become more refined. First, external talent pipelines should strongly support your firm's core strategy and its competitive advantages: Are these centered in research and development, manufacturing, technology, service, sales or another aspect?

In areas where an infusion of outside talent will deliver skills and innovation that propel your company, HR personnel and department managers should be close partners in maintaining their pipelines. HR support includes crafting communications about the firm's employment opportunities, as well as its progress and outlook, on a regular basis. For certain active and passive candidates, it's wise to personalize those communications beyond just greetings to encourage a response.

Strengthening the Pipeline

As for maintaining the quality of the company's talent pipeline overall, one thing is clear: Your career site should not only be mobile-friendly, but mobile-optimized as well. A 2014 Glassdoor survey of 1,000 employed and unemployed job seekers found that 89 percent said they were likely to use a mobile device during the job search. What's more, according to CareerBuilder's 2013 Candidate Behavior Study of 5,518 people, 40 percent of candidates said their perception of a company is negatively impacted if its career site is not mobile-optimized.

Employee referrals of active and passive candidates are also critical to building a strong base for recruitment. Coach employees to be perceptive of others and to start thinking of their contacts outside the industry. Consider using small incentives to reward employees if a referred person passes your initial screening, in addition to the larger incentives typically given when a referred candidate is hired.

Don't just rely on HR. By getting your entire company involved in the job search, you'll attract varied talent that will give you more options when openings arise. Staying active is the best policy here; you never know when a contact will reveal itself as a potential fit for your business.

What are your favorite job-search websites to use for recruitment? Let us know by commenting below.

Rob Carey is an NCMM contributor and a features writer who has focused on the business-to-business niche since 1992. He spent his first 15 years at Nielsen Business Media, rising from editorial intern to editorial director. Since then, he has been the principal of New York–based Meetings & Hospitality Insight, working with large hospitality brands in addition to various media outlets