What is a Talent Community?
A talent community is a platform that employers use to keep active pipelines of talent for future recruitment. Talent pipelines consist of potential employees who are interested in working at a given employer, but are not ready to apply. This group is engaged with on a frequent basis so that when the potential employees are ready to seek a new job, they have a relationship with the company.
Common Pitfalls of Talent Communities
Many employers mis-step in their execution of talent communities. First, the majority of companies never engage with their talent community members given the lack of marketing DNA within the HR function. It becomes overwhelming for most companies to write relevant emails to each segment within their talent community on a regular (weekly or monthly) basis. Second, many companies will send job openings to their talent communities. However, the members of these communities have explicitly decided to sign up for the talent community in lieu of applying for a job and are much more interested in information regarding company culture or professional development. Last, companies do not proactively engage with the most relevant people who may be a good fit for an open role and are much more prone to take a passive strategy.