Throughout the past year I have attended several conferences and heard speakers from a variety of Fortune Companies including leaders like Campbells Soup, Microsoft, Adidas talk about using social media to stay in touch and engage the talent markets for the future. Micorsoft Melvin Smith said they have a no one leaves the loop policy. So whether for the near or far future they have come to realize that talent markets are definitive and need to be groomed and cultivated and that your bench extends beyond your current organization. You should make it an imperative to know who the talent outside of your current organization is and what they are interested in doing in the future. This is where the magic happens. Managing your markets and capitalizing on shift events in your candidates readiness to look at new roles. This decreases need to advertise and subsequently manage significant amounts of data and resumes of the hundreds or thousands of unqualified applicants that an online posting will reach. Narrowing the market, increasing the quality of candidate and effectiveness of the recruiting organization.

So why do I see the exact reverse happening? Companies are diluting their internal brand using Tier 1 vendors who in turn partner with Tier 2 vendors diluting the message even further. As I put myself in the candidate seat I see my phone ringing all day with recruiters who are all working for the same company and do not even know about each other! If your company has multiple openings for the same skillsets or geographies frequently then talent pipelining using competitive intelligence and managing your talent market will double your ROI for your recruiting, give you a clear brand image in the marketplace and a reputation for adding value even before they hear about all your other successes.