This ebook shows companies how to give candidates a personal experience and how to build an engaged workforce.

1. The talent
community
GIVE CANDIDATES A PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR COMPANY AND
YOU’LL BUILD AN ENGAGED WORKFORCE
TOM KAMINSKY AND MARIA ROSPLOCH

2. /02
Whether they realize it or
not, all companies are in
the business of talent.

3. INTRODUCTION /03
Historic global, corporate economic shifts
have compelled a heightened focus on talent.
There is the need to protect intellectual capital. There is the cultivation of valuable
knowledge particular to a company and its culture. There is the priority of building
a deep bench of talent.
Talent management has escalated to a primary business activity, on a level with
product development and distribution, customer relations, supply chain management,
marketing and sales, and investor relations. Not one of these activities is possible
without strategically sourced, carefully selected talent. And in a world in which
processes and players are undergoing landmark change due to technology’s
reach and impact, there is no question that talent management will require
technological prowess.
Think about the rate of baby boomer retirement. The decreasing birth rate. The current
dip in university enrollment in science, mathematics and technology. The digital nature
of marketing. The effort required to identify the people who might fit in a company
environment. The opportunity cost of losing touch with candidate silver medalists who
might be good employees or even influence their companies’ buying decisions at
some point in the future.

4. INTRODUCTION /04
These realities call for more than a traditional HR framework or a relationship
management platform. They point to the fact that recruiting, hiring, retention and
knowledge transfer – already disrupted by social technology, already fueled by
intricately-networked structures – must be perceived as revenue centric and worthy of
custom platforms. Moreover, talent management deserves a level of personalization
commensurate with the new expectations generated by social technology.
There are other, exciting realities about corporate talent today, too. Access from
around the globe to local talent. A socially networked workforce. Independent thinkers
who connect. Customers who advocate, not just buy.
One emerging tool can address the good, the bad and the ugly realities by managing
the business of talent: the talent community. It lives online yet it is real, forging
connection from first contact and compelling lifelong relationships that serve the
workforce and the corporation. It enables people to stay in touch, to personalize the
company-candidate-employee connection through valuable content and specialized
communication.
The talent community makes the business of nurturing and engaging talent easier to
do. Companies could not pull off the integration of a personal touch and technological
intelligence until today. Now that they can, giving talent management a higher level of
attention and emphasis is a must-do, not a nice-to-have.

5. /05
The secret of talent
management is
engagement

6. THE SECRET OF TALENT MANAGEMENT IS ENGAGEMENT /06
Competitive pressures and shortages of talent are
affecting every industry and discipline.
The competition for specialized skills, knowledge and experience permeate every
category. Yet the pressure to remain competitive and reduce cost shows no sign of
dissipating. So when a company stands either to lose a team member to a competitor
or cannot attract the person with the appropriate skill set, the company’s position can be
compromised.
Beyond taking steps to capture and retain knowledge capital with random tools, a
company can use technology in another way – as the network serving available talent
and the company. This signifies the importance of undiluted engagement: emphasizing
relationships which are networked to the degree that deep bonds result – bonds that
withstand employee departures and changes in personal situations and priorities.
Engaging employees in relationships poses no risk and many rewards: authentic good
will, mutual understanding, insight into employees’ needs and expectations. Most of all,
engaging employees is the foundation of a critical talent community that is skills-centric
and connected not just within the company but within industries and professions.
Talent Board
Talent
Board
Messages Talent Group My CV
Retiree
Star Graduates
Interns
Candidate
Runners-up
Alumni
Engaging employees in relationships across
industries and professions has many rewards.

7. Using technology as more than a tool for knowledge extraction enables a company
to think and act beyond the “talent base” to create a marketplace that, in reality, is a
talent community. The company’s talent community includes people who are more than
quality performers or targets; by virtue of their connection to the company, they know
its culture and methods, enabling them, upon employment or re-employment, to ramp
up faster, produce quickly and perform more strategically. And if they don’t become or
remain employees, people engaged in a company’s talent community often act as the
company’s ambassadors without even being asked.
The benefits of a talent community are significant.
• Freed-up internal teams who can put more time into the substance of talent
acquisition, resource management and talent retention
• Knowledge of and access to people who are in the market for new positions
• Loyalty that can enhance other barriers to competition
• Retention of intellectual property
• Accessibility to specialized talent that possesses a familiarity with the company’s
culture, processes and protocol
• Increased speed to productivity
/07
The company’s
talent market
includes people
who are more than
quality performers
or targets.
THE SECRET OF TALENT MANAGEMENT IS ENGAGEMENT

8. THE SECRET OF TALENT MANAGEMENT IS ENGAGEMENT /08
• Cost savings in recruiting for full-time positions and vetting contingent labor
• Speed in sourcing talent, from star interns, to retirees who like to participate in
project based work, to runner-up candidates
• Ability to engage talent within their comfort zone – interests, expectations,
needs, values
• Time to nurture relationships on a personal level, from delivering job openings
that might interest them to sharing content about their areas of expertise
• Opportunity to invite members and extend membership beyond talent targets
to influencers
Troubling trends to consider
Recently, Bain & Company,
in conjunction with Netsurvey,
analyzed responses from
200,000 employees across
40 companies in 60
countries and found several
troubling trends:
• Engagement scores decline
with employee tenure,
meaning that employees
with the deepest knowledge
of the company typically are
the least engaged.
• Engagement scores decline
as you go down the org chart,
so highly engaged senior
executives are likely to
underestimate the discontent
on the front lines.
• Engagement levels are
lowest among sales and
service employees, who have
the most interactions with
customers.”

9. THE SECRET OF TALENT MANAGEMENT IS ENGAGEMENT /09
This is why companies as varied as Zappos, Rackspace, Ericsson and IBM have built
talent communities. These are interactive, online, 24/7 forums in which individuals
connect not just with the company’s current workforce, but with alumni, retirees and
other potential employees and contractors about employment and over substantive
issues and professional interests.
Talent communities present a remarkable opportunity to engage people through
content about employment, performance, and ideas, and they help companies build
and retain access to knowledge and experience in a manner that transcends the typical
employment transaction.
Talent communities
help companies
build and retain
access to knowledge
and experience.

10. /10
A talent community
personalizes –
and nurtures – the
talent supply chain

11. A TALENT COMMUNITY PERSONALIZES – AND NURTURES – THE TALENT SUPPLY CHAIN /11
A talent community covers a great deal of business territory.
It is a technology solution. It creates a network and enables real-time, multi-layered
connections among a variety of stakeholders, powered by a customized, branded
technology platform. It is a marketing channel, as it provides another direct route to
influencers who can hear and tell the company’s story through its real human face.
And the talent community is a human resources tool because it addresses all aspects
of managing talent, from sourcing through exit.
In a day and age when people want to work differently, in terms of both quality and
quantity, companies are looking at the need to consider free agents, or workers
who are hired on a contingent or contract basis, as a resource while responding to
employees who often want to become free agents. In fact, 44 percent of American
workers across all industries classify themselves as free agents today. The risks in free
agency are clear. For the worker, it is replacing employer-sustained infrastructure
beyond the salary as well as dealing with fluid employment status. For the employer,
the risk is knowledge and intellectual capital the company cannot always contain
and must take extraordinary steps to protect. Up to this point, tools like job boards
and outbound, company-sponsored communications have pushed job and hiring
As part of the total
talent supply chain,
forty-four percent of
American workers
across all industries
classify themselves
as free agents today.

12. information to candidates. This is not engagement, and with what might become
a 50-percent-free-agent workforce, it is essential for companies to create a talent
community that encourages interaction while it nurtures the supply chain.
The very aspect of community is what distinguishes an online talent base from a
talent community. It is the capacity to interact one-on-one as well as one-to-many that
enables a company to demonstrate a level of attention that mere job boards and email
campaigns will never realize. The communities can be set up as invitation only, further
allowing organizations to source niche types of talent. The talent community addresses
talent segments, messaging, sourcing, risk management, company value, and company
content. It is a force not just for talent management but for talent-rich business
planning and execution. But it must be done right; this is not purely a technology
purchase nor is it a matter of securing solid specialty consulting advice.
To build a breathing, strategic talent community, companies must integrate technology
and self-knowledge. This combination gives the company a custom community that
expresses its brand through the delivery of relevant, customized content.
/12
To build a breathing,
strategic talent
community,
companies must
integrate technology
and self-knowledge.
A TALENT COMMUNITY PERSONALIZES – AND NURTURES – THE TALENT SUPPLY CHAIN

13. A TALENT COMMUNITY PERSONALIZES – AND NURTURES – THE TALENT SUPPLY CHAIN /13
Talent supply chain strategies have rightfully shifted from a front-heavy emphasis
on sourcing and recruiting to embedding sourcing and recruiting throughout the
employment cycle. This is a mindset of always looking at talent as if they must be won
and kept – even when they leave.
For this reason, a talent community must be more than a set of social media tools
bundled with a robust database or relationship management platform. The talent
community must afford a company the ability to connect and engage; its features
must be served by technology, not overshadowed by bells and whistles. The talent
community is about nurturing people in real time, on their terms.
Where to start
• Define your sources of
talent within the talent
supply chain to target
potential members of the
community, expressing key
talent qualifications
• Invite only the talent who
aligns with your sources
of talent
• Chart the specific types
of information content
your talent needs and
wants, from tips for
interviewing, to benefits, to
industry information
• Incorporate flexible
strategies for content
and technology that you
can update or change
every quarter

14. Every member of the talent community is the company’s customer, stakeholder and
influencer. Every company must design its community in terms of its business identity
and the employee’s role in shaping and executing this identity.
There are 8 factors to consider in constructing a talent community.
1 Understanding of the worker’s needs and expectations
2 The ability to communicate candidly and in the company’s voice
3 A technology platform that serves a company’s particular needs, culture
and strategies
4 A philosophy of openness, transparency and invitation
5 The sense that the community is a resource for all parties, not just the company
6 Tailoring to the company’s industry and locations
7 The belief that anyone who has worked in the organization is part of its future,
not just its past
8 The ability for community members to communicate and network with each
other on a talent board, which gives visibility to see what is relevant and trending
for the group
/14
Every company must
design its community
in terms of its business
identity and the
employee’s role in
shaping and executing
this identity.
A TALENT COMMUNITY PERSONALIZES – AND NURTURES – THE TALENT SUPPLY CHAIN

15. /15
How to establish a
vibrant, resourceful
talent community

16. HOW TO ESTABLISH A VIBRANT, RESOURCEFUL TALENT COMMUNITY /16
Adopt a customer sensibility. Beyond user friendly experiences, design a talent
community that treats members as customers. Much as corporate marketing is
becoming the institutional voice of the customer, the talent community must be a
space that invites talent to connect with the company on their terms.
Be inclusive. Social networking undoubtedly has brought customers and users into
the corporate tent. Yet many companies struggle with the old habit of broadcasting
directives; it doesn’t work in an age when people instantly come across company
information from sources other than the company. An inclusive talent community
makes it easy for people who are interested in working for the company, or staying
connected with it, to get information they know to be true.
Identify and deploy superb technology. With the abundance of corporate
technology platforms designed to do everything from capture minute bits of content
to distributing messages automatically, it is tempting to try to outsource the talent
community to a template format. Resist the temptation. The best talent communities
are custom-designed to serve the talent and company’s persona – and to lock into the
rest of the company’s relationship management efforts appropriately and strategically.
Take the time to design your talent community using technology that accommodates
your company.

17. HOW TO ESTABLISH A VIBRANT, RESOURCEFUL TALENT COMMUNITY /17
Find, share and develop high-quality content. The information created and shared
within the talent community must be useful and interesting to the talent. It should be
refreshed frequently. People are bombarded with emails, tweets and posts and spend
time sifting to find the relevance. High-quality content does the sifting for talent and
puts their desires on par with the company’s need to reach them.
Use a consistent voice. Companies invest a great deal in creating brands that resonate
with the marketplace. This includes establishing a voice – a point of view and a set of
messages that customers recognize immediately. The best talent communities echo the
company’s personality as expressed through the brand and reinforce the benefits of
working there.
Establish boundaries but keep them fluid. Social media has brought down barriers
and relaxed communication styles. This doesn’t mean formally structured corporate
messaging should be compromised. The talent community is a professional space with
corresponding responsibilities, so companies must set boundaries and help community
members navigate them.

18. HOW TO ESTABLISH A VIBRANT, RESOURCEFUL TALENT COMMUNITY /18
Get comfortable with trial and error. Failure is becoming an option, thanks to Silicon
Valley startups. Yet many parts of the world are still learning the benefits of trying new
things and enduring a few missteps. These are going to happen in any new endeavor,
so the talent community is not immune. Leaders, however, must put practices in place
that mitigate damage by anticipating it and preparing for it.
Many parts of
the world are still
learning the benefits
of trying new things
and enduring a
few missteps.

19. Resources and reading
/19
Management’s Three Eras: A Brief History by Rita McGrath, HBR Blog Network
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/managements-three-eras-a-brief-history/
Organizing the Networked Enterprise for Change
By Jacques Bughin, Michael Chui, and Lindsay Pollak
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/organizing_the_networked_enterprise_for_change
It’s Time to Retool HR, Not Split It
by John Boudreau
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/08/its-time-to-retool-hr-not-split-it/
Within Reach
by Pam Berklich
http://www.hrotoday.com/content/5552/within-reach

20. ABOUT THE AUTHORS
THOMAS F. KAMINSKY is Vice President and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Practice
Lead – Americas for KellyOCG, the Outsourcing and Consulting Group of Kelly Services, Inc.,
a leader in providing workforce solutions. In this position, he is responsible for expanding
current client relationships and developing new business opportunities. This includes managing
and accelerating the KellyOCG RPO brand and position within the market through thought
leadership, strategy infusion and effective practices as well as ensuring service delivery models
and innovative solutions reflect client needs.
MARIA ROSPLOCH is Vice President, Global Solutions Architecture and Enhanced Services.
Maria consults globally with top performing organizations to ensure that client talent needs are
clearly developed and defined, in order to deliver optimal recruitment process solutions. With a
focus on best practices and lean processes, and founded on nearly two decades of recruitment
process and delivery expertise, Maria is integral in designing the right strategic solutions for
clients, and partners with delivery teams to ensure alignment with client expectations and
consistently achieved program goals. Prior to 2002, Maria held roles in program management
and account leadership for KellyOCG.
EXIT
ABOUT KELLYOCG
KellyOCG® is the Outsourcing and Consulting Group of workforce solutions provider Kelly Services, Inc. KellyOCG is a
global leader in innovative talent management solutions in the areas of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO), Contingent Workforce Outsourcing (CWO), including Independent Contractor Solutions,
Human Resources Consulting, Career Transition and Executive Coaching, and Executive Search.
KellyOCG was named in the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® 2014 Global
Outsourcing 100® list, an annual ranking of the world’s best outsourcing service providers and advisors.
Further information about KellyOCG may be found at kellyocg.com.