Discover How Our Talent Community Nurturing Keeps Candidates Engaged for the Long Haul with nextSourcing

In the grand scheme of things in staffing, you’ll often hear terms such as talent pool, talent pipeline, and talent community used interchangeably. However, although similar, they’re not exactly the same and should not be used interchangeably as it muddies the waters. Here’s the difference:   

• A talent pool is a passive resource that you turn to when you need it. For example, most staffing agencies maintain talent pools within their Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). 
• A talent pipeline is a targeted recruiting process used to source talent with specific skills or to meet specific business objectives. In a talent pipeline, candidate selection may be based on varying criteria such as educational background, experience, expressed interest in job roles, prior history with specific companies, college/university attended, and other criteria. This is referred to as “curation”. 
• A talent community builds even further upon a talent pipeline through well-planned, intentional ongoing communication with community members. This is often referred to as “talent nurturing”.  

What is nextSourcing^TM? 

Let’s quickly explain what nextSourcing is. You can read more about nextSourcing in our inaugural post. The short version is it’s our proprietary advanced approach to direct sourcing that leverages a client’s brand to create private talent communities of exceptional pre-qualified candidates available for assignment.  

These candidates are not just left in a “pool” with crossed fingers hoping that they’re still there when the client needs them. Instead, nextSource forges long-term relationships with candidates through a nurturing approach that benefits both the client and the candidates.  

At nextSource, we’ve taken the pool to the next level and truly created a community.  

How Is the Community Nurtured?  

We saw the need to keep the candidates in a talent network engaged so we know if they are “really” ready for work. We also recognized that employees and candidates are increasingly prioritizing companies that offer candidates passion, purpose, inclusion, flexibility, and remote/hybrid work options.  

So, we work to build rapport with the candidates by delivering personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to receive the information. We’ve demonstrated that knowledge-sharing, providing tips, and taking polls plays an important role in the recruitment process, especially for recurring roles.  

Our nextSourcing nurturing approach is comprised of: 

• Delivering consistent outreach. Experienced professionals want to know how each position they consider can help them to reach their career goals, yet surveys indicate that nearly half of companies with talent networks never send another communication after the confirmation email. nextSource establishes a cadenced content delivery schedule (weekly, monthly) based on client preferences. 
• Practicing two-way communication. We keep in touch with talent community members to make sure they’re still interested in your company, understand what factors are important for their future development, and ensure that their profiles reflect any new training or qualifications they’ve acquired. 
• Providing relevant content. We understand the different interests and motivations of the various candidate segments, and we’re able to share relevant content that delivers a personalized experience. 
• Creating a dynamic community. While we are nurturing relationships with future candidates, we’re not just sending one-way emails. We’re finding opportunities to hyper-segment members to create a community that provides very specific needs for you.  

The nextSourcing Team 

If you determine that nextSourcing is a fit for your organization, you’re assigned a dedicated Engagement Manager whose job is to ensure continuous effective, ongoing, and engaging communication with talent community members.  

Engagement Managers find creative ways to keep communication fresh including:  

• Showcasing employee stories that give candidates insight into what it’s like to work at the company 
• Sharing indications of ways the client supports current events and social issues 
• Providing updates on company and/or industry developments 
• Offering face-to-face networking events (in-person or virtual) 
• Presenting career development guidance and tips 
• Sharing new job opportunities 
• Providing access to skill enhancement tools 

The nextSourcing Difference 

nextSourcing provides you with your own private talent community. In it, you’ll discover benefits that are not found anywhere else. These include:  

• Increasing your brand through a superior employee value proposition 
• Experiencing ready access to talent that is engaged with your company 
• Placing candidates who are knowledgeable about the company, its culture, and its work environment 
• Attaining higher assignment completion and re-engagement rates 

To find out if our nextSourcing solution is a good fit for your organization, give one of our experts a call at 800-641-9987 or fill out your contact information and a nextSourcing expert will get back to you to discuss your needs and how we can help you access high-demand candidates.