Save time and cost: Transform your talent community into strategic pipelines

In my conversations with various folks on both sides, it's clear that it is more of an employer market. With an overwhelming number of applicants for almost every position, the challenge now isn’t about attracting people to apply—it’s identifying the right person. Recruitment teams and hiring managers face a mountain of applicants and have broader talent options.

This is where a well-maintained, screened, and segmented talent community becomes essential. With the rise of AI tools, recruitment teams should look into how they can harness such technology to save time on initial screening, scheduling, and other parts of the process that can be automated and redirect their focus toward building relationships within their talent community.

A marketer's perspective: Harnessing ABM tactics for a ready-to-hire pipeline

Being a marketer who has worked in recruitment marketing, I see parallels between nurturing a talent community and account-based marketing (ABM). Both require a personalized and long-term relationship process intended to target specific groups. Just like how we engage potential customers in our marketing pipelines to build trust and drive the journey to purchase, we should be doing the same with potential candidates in our talent communities.

The key is to ensure your segmented talent pools within your talent community are engaged and ready when the right opportunity comes up. You would have a ready shortlist of people who are qualified and interested, even before the role needs to be advertised.

Strategic management of talent communities—starting with your mindset (and systems)

Many companies are not looking at talent communities strategically. Instead of treating them as long-term assets, they’re often seen as static databases made up of collections of resumes and profiles that aren't segmented or revisited. This reactive approach misses the potential to continuously engage and nurture talent.

Perhaps a key issue lies in the fragmented databases and the lack of a cohesive strategy across teams. Recruitment platforms are often siloed, with information scattered across different platforms—from ATS and sourcing platforms to CRM tools—making it difficult to have a unified view of potential candidates.

Employ experiential marketing tactics to establish a valuable candidate engagement platform

We often focus efforts on the customer experience, and that is not wrong. But it is not right to neglect the candidate and employee experience. I like to see the experience in totality that encompasses everyone that interacts with the brand. Talent community engagement and experiential marketing share common goals of building relationships, creating meaningful experiences, and fostering loyalty.

With respect to talent communities, this is an opportunity for companies to engage and excite talent who have already opted in to learn more about your company. But companies aren't doing it. Instead, companies take a more passive approach that adds time and cost to the hiring process, which results in longer hiring cycles and increased spend on sourcing. Most workers in your talent community are seeking to connect, network, and grow. By providing a platform for them, you would not only build your brand, but it is a strategic marketing tactic.

In summary: Talent communities need to be mined

The shift to an employer market presents both challenges and opportunities for recruitment teams. But it requires a more proactive approach to managing talent communities. This not only enhances the candidate experience but also positions the company as a preferred employer of choice to tap into an interested talent pool when opportunities arise in addition to building a valuable platform. This can also be scaled for developing your internal talent communities.

As we embrace more AI technology to help with processes and predictive analysis, it frees up time for us to focus on higher-impact tasks. By fostering connections and providing value to candidates, companies can reduce hiring cycles, minimize costs, and ultimately build a stronger employer brand.

This is the time for companies to rethink their approach to talent communities. In doing so, not only attract the right talent but also cultivate a network that champions their brand—a forward-thinking approach to sustainable growth and future hiring needs.

I am a seasoned marketer with hands-on experience in recruitment marketing. My background allows me to understand the intersection of marketing and recruitment, enabling organizations to build meaningful and sustainable relationships with candidates (and employees!) If you're interested in exploring how to leverage talent communities and drive cost savings or seeking a resident fractional recruitment marketing specialist, reach out!??♀?