The Talented Community

Social Recruiting

Why it won’t work, unless….

IndiaSocial 2012Gautam Ghosh

India Marketing Lead and Product Evangelist

Topics for today

• The state of Social Recruitment today• Look at the role online communities

play• Discuss how to get started building

talent communities• Explore how to drive long term

engagement• How to measure your efforts

Fundamental shifts – nature of work

1960

2012

Complex Knowledge Work

Team BasedCollaborative

Technical

Time PressuredMobile / Virtual

Task Oriented

Individual Contributor

Generalist SkillsPredictable Workload

Geographically Dependent

Types of Social Recruiting

Driven by the “Rockstar Social Recruiter”

The Company Talent Community

On Employment Branding

Your Culture is your Employment Brand and your employees are your brand ambassadors

Your employees and Alumni are rating you• People sharing

information about your organization’s practices, culture, and it can be represented online.

• Websites like Glassdoor and Google places make it easy to people to analyse such feedback

Content, Conversations

People interested

People with Skills

CompanyEmployees Attract

Dev

elop

Engage

What do companies want?

• To know who follows them• Surprise: No new resumes• Filter talent by skills, location,

education, experience• To communicate with them• Integrate existing talent databases • Incorporate Applicant Tracking System• Attract people visiting the careers

website and not applying

Online Communities

What is an online community?

An online community is a group of people with similar goals or interests that connect and exchange information using web tools.

. . .An online talent community is a group of people that share an affinity for an organization, profession or skill that connect , share opinions, exchange information, and collaborate using web tools.

Three distinguishing points

Connects Organization/Profession/Skillwith all Stakeholders Groups

Connects Members toOther Members

Connects Members toNon-Members (Discovery)

COMMUNITY

Role in the modern world

• Online communities are the new “meeting places” for digital citizens across the globe

• They form the backbone of the modern support system

• They are where content gets discovered

• They are where discussions happen whether you participate or not

• They are where perceptions are formed, vetted and cemented

What talent communities can enable:• True Employer Branding– Segment, share/listen, test alignment

• Broader Talent Ecosystem Engagement– See talent across all labor types

• Discover Talent Otherwise Overlooked– Added insight, pre-applicant assessment

• Cultivate / Grow Future Talent–Mentor, influence, educate/develop

• Leverage Brand Army

Getting StartedKey Action Steps, Success and Failure Factors

Key action steps – the basics

Define how and what you want members to do2

Understand your target member(s)1

Design a community that delivers value to all3

Set realistic expectations4

Plan for the internal change management needed to support talent communities and community mgmt

5

Be realistic about allocating resources6

Warning: Crass lesson coming

Nothing grows in a sandbox … especially one littered with crap!

Healthy communities are like gardens

• You have to seed them (content and interaction)

• You can’t put some plants together

• You need to fertilize infant plants

• You have to manage pests

• You have to eliminate rotten matter

• You need to split them when they grow to large

• Your results grow as your skills grow

• It takes time!

Success factors – beyond the basics

• Great Community Manager – Dedicated champion of transparency– Solicits/drives interaction– Doesn’t judge– Capable of engaging with different audiences– Promotes diversity of thought and inclusion

• Build in rewards for desired member activity• Connect to offline events• Build on member commonalities• REMEMBER: It’s not about YOU!

Failure factors

• Assuming all professions are created equal– If existing CoP’s cannot be found, you face

an uphill challenge

• Focusing solely on the technology• Not dedicating time/resources• Delivering little/no value• Locking down the target member too

tight• Not designing for interaction

Keeping Your Audience Engaged

It’s Just Like Any Other Relationship

Six keys to successful engagement

Dedicated Time Together2

Common Interest1

Two-way Communication3

Tolerance for Honesty4

Authenticity / Empathy5

Opportunity to Grow Together**6

Design for engagement

Curious Applicant Pipelined Newly Hired Ambassador

Alumni

Employee

Contractor/ Consultant

Outsourced Service Provider

Competitor

Intern

Aspiring Employee

Other Stakeholder

This is the only segment that values job announcements.

This movement requires a planned experience.

Questions?

Keep the conversation going

Gautam GhoshE: gautam@bravenewtalent.comT: @GautamGhoshF: http://www.facebook.com/HR.BloggerS: http://www.slideshare.net/Gautam M: +91-97422-39954

@bravenewtalentwww.bravenewtalent.com