Talent Community

Talent Community

What is a talent community?

A talent community is a group of people who gather around our brand to take part in our recruitment projects – as candidates, referrers, or ambassadors. It is not simply a candidate database. It is a living community that should identify with the values of our brand and respond positively to the value proposition it offers.

Recruitment in the era of digital communities

We live in the era of digital communities. The company that provides us with the most rides does not own a single taxi. The one that provides the most overnight stays does not own any hotels. The main source of the content we consume every day is media that do not employ a single journalist. The social revolution has not bypassed HR and recruitment either. To see this for yourself, just look at what is happening across the ocean.

Examples of modern recruitment solutions

Careerify mobilizes company employees to become headhunters and deliver valuable candidates to their employers – in exchange for rewards. Recruitloop gathers a community of professional recruiters who can use the platform to engage with clients as freelancers. RolePoint goes even further and invites both professionals and amateurs, employees and people not directly connected with the company, to refer their friends in exchange for an attractive reward. On the Polish market, a model close to RolePoint is run by ShareHire.pl. BountyJobs finds its counterpart in the home-grown HRfactory.pl.

Community as a resource

All these solutions have one thing in common – they recognize the community as a valuable resource. Perhaps even the most valuable one, because it cannot be copied, it grows on its own, and it delivers a powerful return on a small investment. Recruiting through a community allows us to plug into the contact networks of hundreds or even thousands of people. Everyone such an occasional recruiter reaches with information about a vacancy at our company will not only have the opportunity to see the offer, but will also receive a clear message: their friend believes we are an employer worth recommending.

Benefits for both sides

The terms on which we engage the community are generally convenient for both sides. The company pays for results (a hire), while the community recruiter refers whenever they want and whomever they want, without much effort. Recommending an employee in the ShareHire.pl system takes 40 seconds and can be worth as much as several thousand zlotys.

The problems of traditional recruitment

Although the need to adapt to the realities of Web 2.0 seems obvious, most companies are still stuck in an outdated model of one-way communication. According to Ascendify data, as many as 90% of visitors to corporate career pages neither submit an application nor leave their e-mail address to stay in touch. Even assuming these figures are exaggerated, it is impossible to deny that the vast majority of internet users slip through recruiters' fingers. In fact, this should not surprise us. Most companies give visitors to their websites no reason to want to maintain a relationship with them. Potential candidates are offered neither interesting information, nor a chance to get involved, nor entertainment. They usually have to settle for a handful of dry facts (yes, “you will get a Multisport card”) and worn-out slogans (“join a team of young, dynamically growing industry leaders…”). In the Web 2.0 era, that is not enough.

Building a talent community

A modern employer should aim to consciously build a real talent community drawn from employees, trainees and interns, alumni, candidates, and people who interact with the brand on social media. Their task is to do what Uber and Airbnb are already doing: turn the community gathered around the brand into a resource, into a significant factor in creating competitive advantage.

A leader and a brand vision

How do we achieve this? First of all, we must be a brand worth gathering around. Every community needs a leader who sets the direction. The vision of a career path at our company must be appealing and inspiring. If we cannot count on a charismatic CEO or a talented community manager, the brand itself must become the leader of the community.

A place to meet and interact

Next, we need a meeting place. If people are to exchange ideas, share content, and make recruitment referrals, they must have somewhere to do it. A dedicated section of the website is therefore essential – or an entire community system that takes on this role. This is exactly what applications such as RolePoint and ShareHire.pl specialize in.

A value proposition for the community

Last but not least, a value proposition is essential. The community must feel that it benefits from the arrangement we propose. If we ask internet users to suggest an idea, fill in a survey, or look among their friends for candidates to work with us – we offer a reward in return. It may be financial, material, or symbolic, but it must be a genuine expression of gratitude and recognition. Another kind of value we can offer is knowledge.

Examples of employer branding activities

PwC Hungary created a game that let anyone experience what a working day looks like at a Big Four firm. Hungarian internet users solved case studies, analyzed data, and learned not only to compete but also to collaborate with other participants. This gave them solid preparation for a job interview. They now knew where their gaps were, discovered their strengths, and… found out whether working in consulting was what they had imagined when leaving business school.

Rival Deloitte decided to create a dedicated service exclusively for students and interns from New Zealand. This specific community requires appropriately calibrated communication. The premise was simple: who knows the language, tastes, and concerns of Generation Y better than someone who is part of it? Hence, Deloitte handed the service over to its interns and trainees. Their task was to create light yet practical, information-rich content and to engage young people in conversation.

Those who visited the Deloitte Grads and Interns Facebook page were meant to be convinced that becoming an ambassador of this brand was worthwhile. The team managing the project answered their questions and took their suggestions on board. They also showed what working at their company looks like “behind the scenes”. They kept offering concrete calls to action: come to a meeting, join us in a charity initiative, submit your application for the new internship program. Interacting with the brand, both on- and offline, was enjoyable, because it came down to contact with peers and brought first professional experiences. Students eagerly shared valuable content – especially multimedia. In this way, they gave the Deloitte brand exposure on social media. Through selfies, hashtags, and blog posts, they themselves created content that helped position this employer in the eyes of twenty-somethings.

The Dell community

Dell, in turn, decided it would gladly engage its community in referring others for jobs. Every successful referral comes with a reward. Interestingly, in its communication the company focused on the non-monetary side of the matter. In its promotional materials we see, among others, John, who used the money he received to fulfil his dream and buy flying lessons. The elegant (and branded) message ends with the question: “and what will you do with your reward?”. It makes more than a few people wonder why they have not yet joined this company's talent community.

The concentric circles model in recruitment

The American company adapted its entire recruitment strategy to the community model. Its talent community can be imagined as concentric circles. At the centre are employees, so recruiters are expected to “prioritize” CVs coming from internal recruitment. Next come CVs from people referred by employees. Then, people recommended by someone other than an employee. Someone from outside the community ends up at the very back of the queue.

The key: engagement

The methods of reaching people vary. The communities that gather around brands are also different and unique. The common denominator, however, remains the same: engagement. The key to winning applications, referrals, ideas, and likes is the ability to attract people and sustain their interest through engagement. An ordinary careers page is not enough here.

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