Using talent communities to nurture top talent
It’s becoming more and more common for people to choose companies rather than jobs and top talent is becoming increasingly strategic about when and where they apply. Top candidates may have intentions to work for your company at some point, but for whatever reason, right now, the timing isn’t right. But how do you stay on their radar and avoid missing out when the timing is right for them to make a switch?
Talent communities allow you to build up your talent pipeline with passive job seekers who aren’t ready to apply yet but want to stay in touch with the company and learn more about its culture. Inviting them into your talent community allows you to capture their information and keep them in the loop even though they didn’t enter into the company’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS) funnel.
Recruiters often ask, “Do talent communities really work? If someone wants to build a career at our company, why don’t they just apply?” Here are some reasons they wait.
Five reasons top talent wait to apply:
1. The position they want isn’t available. They have decided to continue in their current position and company until there’s an opportunity to apply for a job that fits their skillset and career trajectory.
2. They’re happy where they are, for now. Despite having wanted to work at your company for a long time, their current position is rewarding, they like their company, and they’re satisfied progressing as far as they can in their current role before branching out.
3. They’re in school. Top talent often chooses to pursue Masters or PhD programs on the side and switching companies in the middle of an academic program feels like a lot to take on.
4. They just got a raise or promotion. Top talent is often loyal and have trouble leaving a company right after they’ve been rewarded.
5. They want to learn more before applying. Once potential applicants decide yours is a company they want to work at, they may want to learn more about the culture before deciding which position to apply for.
What’s involved in building a talent community?
The first step in building a talent community is to capture leads, and strategically placed CTA’s on your careers site will make this easy. Consider incorporating sign-up forms in the following places on your careers site:
- Sidebar callouts. Embed a sign-up form in the sidebar of the job search pages encouraging talent to sign up and stay in the loop even if they don’t see their job perfect position right now.
- Landing page. Create a landing page specifically for your talent community, and link to it from your main careers page as well as in follow-up communications.
What’s next?
Once you have created your talent community you’ll need to segment your leads. Start with segmenting them at least by your company’s functional areas and possibly by geography and interests. Then, the best thing to do is dive right in and start communicating with them. Create an automated email campaign containing content relevant to the role(s) they’re interested in, that also showcase your company culture. Frequency is up to you but consider sending content once a month. More often may be overboard, but less often may leave you looking irrelevant to candidates.
The talent your company needs is out there, and creating a talent community can help you find it. Don’t miss out on building strategic relationships with quality candidates just because the timing isn’t right or the perfect position isn’t available right now.
Contact us to talk about building your talent community and other innovative ways to attract and hire top talent, today.