We’ve discussed it here before, and it’s likely you’ve overheard or even joined the conversation yourself. When it comes to talent pipelines, networks and communities, a key differentiator is level of engagement and communication between the members and your organization. With this in mind, you may be wondering, “How do I engage my network to grow a real talent community?” And while there are countless ways to answer your question, here are two that you may have overlooked in the past.
Engage Your Talent Community By…
1. Leveraging internal stakeholders. Technology and the use of all things digital has made communicating with large groups of users quite simple. With one click of a button, you can share videos, photos, news, job openings and more, and typically, organizations charge a single person with the responsibility of initiating conversation. However – by doing so – you may be missing out on a huge opportunity to leverage internal expertise.
While it’s great to have one community manager (so to speak) to develop deeper relationships and focus on member needs, other employees and execs should also create content for your talent community to provide an experience representative of your company as a whole. One way to ensure this happens is by creating an editorial calendar at least one month in advance. Include pieces and topics from designated teams, and give them a submission deadline to keep things moving smoothly.
2. Segmenting target audiences. If you choose to house your talent community on a platform other than Facebook (which is advisable), you likely have the ability to segment and target users within the group. As with consumer marketing, targeted content provides a much better candidate experience, as talent community members don’t feel they’re being spammed with irrelevant information. Plus, by avoiding “one-size-fits-all” messaging, members will notice you’re playing an active role to create a positive experience.
Now it’s your turn! Tell us how you engage your community and which techniques have proven most effective.
Image: Nils Geylen/Flickr
Author: Autumn McReynolds
Autumn McReynolds is a master of communication, and with two years in the recruiting industry and over five years of experience in journalism and content creation, she was thrilled to take her career in a new direction as a Blogger and Content Strategist focused on talent acquisition in the digital age. In addition to writing, Autumn spends her time managing social media accounts for business and pleasure. Follow her on Twitter @AutumnMcRey.
Absolutely agree, Autumn! Your current employees’ networks are the BEST source of top talent. So, incentivize them to participate in the talent community — referring friends, touting the company culture, even answering questions for interested candidates.
Lauren Smith
Marketing Director
http://www.ascendify.com
Thanks for commenting, Lauren! As the praised source of quality hires, referrals are something we need to approach more proactively. Many employees may not know enough about a company’s ERP and will simply not participate. Time to educate and engage for better participation.
Autumn
[...] amcrey Thanks for commenting, Lauren! As the praised source of quality hires, referrals are something we need to approach more proactively. Many employees may not know… – Read Post [...]
[...] amcrey Thanks for commenting, Lauren! As the praised source of quality hires, referrals are something we need to approach more proactively. Many employees may not know… – Read Post [...]