Wouldn’t it be nice if talented, qualified employees came to you long before you advertised a position? Building an active talent network significantly increases the chance they will.
The recruiting process has changed drastically in the last 10 years, and gone are the days of mass resume distribution via snail mail. In fact, there are over 272 million Internet users in North America, and 65% of those adult Internet users have a social networking profile. As a result, attracting top talent to your company requires a shift in your recruitment marketing strategy. You must engage and nurture potential employees where they’re at: online.
When a talent network is created, companies, prospective candidates and current employees can connect and share information in one space. Places like Facebook, Twitter and numerous other platforms can be utilized to stay connected for days, months and even years, before a position opens.
By inviting visitors of your careers site, followers of your social careers pages and other relevant users to join your community, you’ll be able to streamline the recruiting process by attracting the best candidates to your employment brand and engaging them in deeper conversation.
- Quality engagement. Web 2.0 has altered the way candidates search for jobs. Today’s job seeker wants to know more about potential employers and what relevant career opportunities exist. When prospects join your network, they are able to familiarize themselves with your company, hear testimonials from current employees and engage with you in a way that wasn’t possible 10 years ago.
- Employment branding. Recruiting top talent requires more effort than ever before. Why should they work for you over the company down the street? Showcase your employment brand on the platform housing your candidate pipeline by communicating the mission, values and culture of your company. By remaining visible to potential employees – even when they don’t fit current opportunities – you’ll be top of mind when something opens up and they’re ready to make a career move.
- Streamlined process. With a group of top-notch candidates at your fingertips, filling open positions is a much simpler process. Conversation with virtual community members has been ongoing, so they’re familiar your company, listen to your employee brand advocates and identify you as an employer of choice. Those who have chosen to stay in your network have remained interested, become an integral part of your community and are more likely to be a good fit within your organization.
In what ways has a talent network benefited your organization? Share with us in the comments!
Image: Celeste Hopkins/Flickr
Author: Katy Zimmerman
As a self-proclaimed social media junkie, Katy has helped numerous companies extend their brands into the ever-evolving world of new media. With over a decade of experience in marketing and PR, she is currently a social media consultant and freelance writer. Katy is a cake decorating extraordinaire and a proud mother of two little boys. Connect at linkedin.com/in/katyzimmerman.
[...] new concepts and tools should not stand alone, but as part of a comprehensive strategy. And talent communities are no different. If you want them to work as an employer branding tool to get candidates talking [...]
[...] body to fill the position. But, if we took the time to create a talent community, we would have a constant stream of players. Just like a football team has bench for when a player goes [...]
I would also add #4: Improve the quality of hires.
Especially if you tie your community to an employee referral program.
The best talent communities make it easy for current employees to refer their social connections into the community, or to recommended job openings.
Lauren
http://www.ascendify.com/10-best-practices-for-building-a-talent-community/