Talent Bank

June 18, 2009
I have continued my quest in search of the right balance between Talent Acquisition (using all the latest technology and social media networks we have at hand) and Talent Management. So far what I ve discovered from research is that the modern day jobseeker or employee is more confused than he would have been say 7 to 10 years ago. Lets take a look at a couple of reasons listed by some of the over 70 candidates I interviewed below
1, Too Much information to consume at the same time
2, Difficulty in keeping pace with change((Huge)Across all Industries especially online)
3, Not enough Knowledge management experience
4, Lack of Mentors within organisations
5, Predicting the future * (Recruiters Delight)
Thinking back on some of the answers it came to my mind that most organisations especially in these times of reccession, are not doing enough to help employees or job-seekers re-invent themselves or keep up with the change happening at lightening pace in the current global job market. A lot of jobs created in the past couple of years due to the growth in online technology dont have any real growth pattern, or very few can carry along the vast number of employees who have taken up temporary career paths in some of these industries.
My main focus on this part of my discovery journey is how the recruitment world can help with this change and become a trusted advisor to jobseekers and employees(Like a sales man who becomes a trusted advisor to his client over a lifetime). A couple of things come to my mind, recruiters are in the front line of change, so naturally we should be more upto date with whats going globally. We have the ability to become the foundation for the general job-seeker looking to change their career path or looking to improve in their current role. I ve heard jobseekers come out of meetings with career advisors in various universities and are still not clear on what next for them in the job market. Our role as recruiters and the gate keepers become fundamentally important to the future of the job market and how change will affect most people on a daily basis. A job seeker once complained to me that he went to a known recruitment agency and was looking to find out what other type of career path he could take in regards to his next move. The recruiter told him that it would be almost impossible for him to change career path at this late stage, so he should go for a higher paid job (most likely a dead end). I will leave it to you to come up with your opinion on how the recuiter should have handled that problem.
The internet has provided us with the greatest opportunity in our industry, to acquire new and passive talents for our clients but also like one recruiter in Singapore put it creat your own Talent Bank over a life time.
Your talent bank come become your cash line in so many ways she said, her idea was very simple. In the old days people dealt with recruiters based on relationship they had built up or the reputation of the agency. These days we have the internet and the opportunity to reach thousands of people but also the ability to keep track of our people and create a Talent bank of your own. The recruiter was able to create a talent bank of top calibre candidates using some of the basic things we know in the industry(relationship management) and also increase her tracking scope using the internet. She had a Talent bank of 500 top candidates who made up 60% of her cash line every year and also gave her in-roads into new companies and new opportunities. The key to her success was in the service she provided to her “Trusted (Passive&Active) Candidates” in her Talent Bank.
She gave them career Advice, she gave them industry updates, she provided them with information when they needed it and sometimes a go to market strategy in terms of career development programs. She also worked with them to analyse the future and were the next opportunities were going to explode. The beautiful thing was that 70percent of her Talent Bank were based around the world. My point is that her Talent bank become her cash cow, the people who trusted her with their careers. Even if she couldnt find them a job when they were looking for one, they still asked her to be part of their process. A lot of her Talent bank are A level candidates.
It got me thinking how can I use the awesome value of the internet to build not just a network or people but a Talent bank of candidates who place me in their circle of trust. She finished up by saying that the candidates in her job bank are in what she calls “Her circle of Influence” and every other candidate is in her circle of concern. I will be back with my next discovery soon, the search goes on.
John Kamara