How to Pipeline Talent Without a Talent Brand with Jack Copeland of Staffing Future

How are you going to attract the strongest talent for your company when people have no idea who you are? The truth is, you are not! Passive talent and those who are not on the open job market will just ignore you because you are just another me-too company.

This is why you will rely on the “I know someone” method to hire  Your best source for talent is referrals. What if you can gain awareness before you reach out to someone

Today we are talking about How to pipeline talent when you don’t have a talent brand

Today’s Quote: 

“Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.” - Elon Musk

Our guest today: Jack Copeland, Founder & CEO of Staffing Future

Staffing Future, a website development, and technology stack consultancy, with expertise in building, developing and managing technology solutions. The team has built over 600 staffing Agency websites and deployed innovative technology solutions with a multitude of third-party apps to create a holistic sum of their parts.

Jack has worked and consulted with dozens of recruiting software providers who are inclined to augment and develop the industry, they include top tier originations like CareerBuilder, and Tracker RMS. 

Today we are going to cover 

What is a talent brand & why it is important
Framework to build your talent brand 

What is a talent Brand:

The message you want to provide to potential talent about who you are, what it’s like to work for you and why they should work for your company.

What’s the difference between a proactive and reactive Talent Brand?

Most small and medium companies don’t even think about what their Talent Brand is but a proactive Talent Brand is taking the time to understand your message, providing a platform for potential hires to engage before speaking to you and pipe lining potential hires.

Problem

What is a reactive talent brand:
Persuade people why you are the right company to join
You are selling to them
Happens late in the game
Spend money to get people through the door
Eliminated access to Heavily sought after talent 
Not responding, applying or know you
No idea who you are or your value
You have no perceived value

Rick’s input

Talent brand is not as important as answering “what’s in it for me”
About solving an individual problem

How do we fix it?

Optimizing the website to maximize attraction offering a place to engage for potential candidates
Solidify your message around who you are, what it's like to work for you and the ethics and values of your business, make sure your management team and business goals align with these internally 
Identify your target ‘finite’ talent and implement strategies to engage and nurture proactively

What are three practical things I can do:

Understand who you are? Take the time to evaluate your business. Why would I want to work here? Why would I want to stay here? What kind of people are your looking to engage and fit with your culture? How can you retain and attract them. What kind of people are not a good fit? What is our culture and what do i want out culture to be. Summarize this

 Provide a platform for people to engage on your social and website, allow a place for people to understand your business without talking to you and your team. You have no idea who isn't taking your call, applying to your jobs or responding to your recruiters. It’s a marketing exercise to engage potential buyers just like the product you sell. If you have this  is can help your convert taken to the top of the funnel if you don't have this it's a red fag.
3. Be proactive. For most SMB companies there is a finite resource of available talent in their location and market. E,G Python developers in Portland. How can you get them to understand you exist? Connect with potential hires on LinkedIn before you ate hiring at a C-level and have an open door policy, push out social content but focusing on working for your company and it’s values, attend or host career fairs and speak to relevant colleges. Find a meaningful way to tap into your employees network.

Rick’s Nuggets

Perks, benefits and free lunch are not attractors
Companies rely way too much on perks to retain people
People development needs to be the focus

Humanize the messaging

Key Takeaways:

Understand who you are what your message is
Provide a platform for highly sort after talent to understand who you are
Be proactive in pipe lining and reaching your core talent in most cases it;s a finite resource.