It’s one thing to post a job description and sort through applications to find a great talent. But what if you could successfully build a pool of qualified candidates before a posting even goes up?
That’s where talent communities come in.
“The organization’s employees who share that skill or profession become citizens of the online community and actively contribute and participate in activities."
Marvin Smith describes talent communities as “investments that focus on talent segments that are critical to the long-term success of an organization.”
Communities should never be just one-sided communication managed by a recruiter or HR rep. Actively participating in talent community groups helps recruiters build relationships and positive networking opportunities with candidates, resulting in a stronger talent pipeline down the road.
Start building your own talent community today with these three rules:
Make your careers page a go-to destination.
Launching a talent community means creating a space where job seekers can learn more about your company. Turn your career site into a one-stop shop of information about your company, its culture and its employees. Include things like:
- Facts about your organization.
- Video testimonials on life at your company and the application process.
- Photos that reflect company culture.
- Social tools that drive conversation and interaction among community members and administrators.
Target specific audiences within the talent community.
If you work with a large organization with several departments, it’s a good idea to break your networks into niche communities. For example: create separate discussions for engineers and marketers, but steer general questions towards the whole group. This way, you’ll keep your organization’s mission in the forefront, but nurture smaller groups of talent with specific questions.
Give the community value.
A strong talent community will easily lose its appeal if an organization isn’t actively involved. Before launching your online community strategy, make sure you have the time and resources to check on its status on a daily basis. Consider these ways to keep the community engaged:
- Send out regular e-newsletters.
- Provide additional information about job openings or internship programs.
- Write blog posts about the company and its accomplishments or culture.
- Connect with talent through social media.
A talent community should never consist of a list of candidates on a web page or spreadsheet. To make the talent a community, you must create an environment where people can share ideas and innovate, together.
