In a previous post, we opened up the idea of talent pool engagement—keeping candidates and potential candidates engaged and informed about the organization before they’re even being considered for a role. We discussed a few reasons why it is in a company’s best interest to do this. Now, let’s take a look at a few ways to improve talent pool engagement.
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Tips for Improving Talent Pool Engagement
- Interact with people on social media. It’s important to pay attention here to see where your organization’s social media team is focused. Many organizations focus their social media on customers and public image. That’s completely fine, as long as interested potential future employees are not being ignored as a result. If it doesn’t already exist, consider creating a separate space for the recruiting and applicant-facing side of social media. This might be a “recruiting” or “jobs” page or sub-page of any existing social media accounts, or it might mean devoting time to both public image and candidate interaction on the existing page.
- Create ways for people who may be interested in the organization to stay in touch, such as newsletters to sign up for, contests to enter, etc. The key is to have interactions with people before they’ve even applied, and have ways they can continue to get information.
- Contact former applicants to encourage them to keep their information up-to-date with the company. (This is obviously most relevant for organizations with an existing portal for candidates to interact.) This can keep the organization top-of-mind, and it can also help to ensure that previous applicant information is updated so the employer can search it along with current applications. This process can get started by simply continuing dialogue with candidates who were unsuccessful with their first application. Find out what other areas of interest they have and what other expertise they have which may be applicable for other job openings. Simply incorporating previous candidates into the recruitment process can put you ahead of other organizations.
- Use a mobile app to communicate automatically. If the organization doesn’t already have one, consider working with other departments to get a mobile app created specifically for recruiting. Ensure that the app can be set up to send notifications to those who have installed it, to let them know when new jobs are posted.
- Continually curate the employment brand. This is important because interested people will be watching the organization, even if they’re not directly interacting with it. As such, it’s still critical to ensure the organization is actively putting information out there to show what it’s like to work there. This may be in the form of press releases showcasing company events, or it could be news articles showcasing the company values. Or, perhaps it comes in the form of showcasing current employee profiles or employee development programs. The key is to continually provide information that gives the talent pool more data to see what it may be like to work for the organization. Every interaction is forming the employment brand.
- Work with other departments if necessary to find ways to track potential applicants who have abandoned the application process along the way. There may be ways to contact them and find out what caused them to stop their application. This may lead to improving the process—even if it doesn’t pull that particular candidate back in. Or it could be a simple move that brings someone back who merely got interrupted during their application and didn’t complete it. Either way, it can be a positive interaction, but the organization has to have ways to identify and contact these individuals.
- Utilize recruiting software that sends gentle reminders to applicants or those who have expressed interest. Or perhaps one that sends reminders to recruiters to follow up in person!
Has talent pool engagement been on the radar at your organization? What other methods have you utilized to keep potential candidates interested and informed? How do you incorporate this into your employment branding initiatives?