Talentsumer? A novel concept that the talent we are finding and wooing are actually our customers, consumers if you will. As such, we should treat them…well. I can”t claim to have coined this term, I actually heard Bruce Morton speak about it at HCI”s Strategic Talent Acquisition Conference in May. Bruce represents Allegis Group Services, and if you”re not familiar with how things roll at HCI”s conference, sponsors and subject matter experts are teamed up to create sessions. It”s a bit wearing as a concept when you get to the end of the day, because you”ve heard spiel after spiel…but Bruce stepped up and actually collaborated on the concept of the talentsumer, honing in on the idea that the talent we are recruiting and sourcing is our consumer.
I love it. I had never heard the phrase before, but live and breathe it daily. Sourcers, Researchers, whatever you prefer to call them are tasked with finding potential candidates every single day. Often, as in my job, we also are the first line of contact. As a forward facing representative of our company, or client, we have to interact and be responsive. And that”s tough – no one does just one thing – we all have multiple responsibilities. But if you”re thinking of your talent as more than someone to fill a req, you should probably consider having a “Bill of Rights”…here”s the one I follow:
Acknowledgement. If I call or email you, and you get back to me, I need to acknowledge the conversation. There is nothing worse than wondering if someone got the message, be clear that you did and outline next steps.
How”d I find you? If you want to know where I found you, I need to tell you. I”m honest about this and am happy to show the quick steps I take to locate people online. Same goes with emails, if you want to know how I casino online france located it, I”m going to share that information as well.
Show me the money. If you want to know the salary range, I need to work with you. Most times I can”t reveal it in an email, but we can chat about what you”re looking for, and I will tell you if that”s viable.
The application process should be easy. Cut and paste easy. Every click through costs you a candidate that gives up on the process. If they”re “passive” they weren”t really looking anyways, so why are you making this hard?
Transition. At some point during the process, I am going to transition you to our recruiter(s). You need to know who and why I”m doing this. This is going to be your new BFF, but I”ll always be available to you.
When you say no, I need to listen. There will always be people not interested in your career opportunities, it”s part of the process. How you handle them is key. Again, you have to acknowledge and say thanks. Thanks?? Yes, thanks, because they took the 5 seconds to let you know they are not interested. These days I always say thank you, because I want to leave it on happy terms for two reasons. 1 – they may change their mind. It happens. And 2 – they will be left with the impression that I am more than a bot and will pass on referrals.
As I write this, I think of John Sumser. A couple of years ago, John told me I operate differently as a recruiter and sourcer (i.e. think people should be treated as talentsumer”s) because of the competitive and insular metro area I work within. And that may be true. But I think this concept of being a talentsumer is not just that, this personal bill of rights came out of incredibly bad recruiting experiences I”ve had. Shouldn”t we learn from our own life lessons? Shouldn”t we learn to treat all of our potential candidates well?
