Talent Relationship Management (TRM) refers to the organization of relationships between talents and a company throughout the entire employee lifecycle. The aim of TRM is to maintain a long-term relationship with former applicants. However, the relationship with internal talent - i.e. employees - is also maintained through individual Personnel Development .
What is the definition of Talent Relationship Management?
Talent Relationship Management (TRM) is a strategic program in human resource management for maintaining relationships with talent. The concept shows parallels to customer relationship management in product marketing. There, the goal is to maintain customer contacts. TRM, on the other hand, is about strengthening old and new relationships with external and internal talent.
Talent Relationship Management Concept: Recruiting at Eye Level
The job market is dominated by candidates and no longer by companies. Ten years ago, only 50% of recruiters were of this opinion, now it is over 90% (source: MRINetwork, 2017 Recruiter Sentiment Study). The well-trodden "post and pray" paths in recruiting no longer lead to the important background noise of good applications. Active sourcing is the logical consequence and has become easier to implement at the latest with the spread of LinkedIn, XING & Co. In the last decade, entire sourcing departments have emerged in which headhunters have found a new calling.
However, active sourcing requires further concepts and tools in order to maintain the relationships that have been established in a structured manner. A TRM concept is the contemporary answer. This is nothing new: TRM has long been a mainstay of the recruitment strategy and supports the areas of active sourcing, recruiting and onboarding. The aim is to keep good candidates "warm" after initial contact and pre-qualification through exciting insights into the company. This will make it easier for them to get started as soon as the time is right. However, there is often a lack of practical implementation. A simple database with a standardized newsletter no longer convinces anyone.
Candidate Relationship Management as a suitable counterpart
The best way to implement TRM measures is with a tailor-made and interactive online platform. On the one hand, talents appreciate exclusivity and benefit from personalized information and suitable job offers. On the other hand, recruiters appreciate the additional data and advanced functionalities that they miss in public networks. The corresponding software is called Candidate Relationship Management (CRM). In product marketing, customer engagement tools are also referred to as CRM. In direct comparison, recruitment marketing still ekes out a niche existence and has a lot of catching up to do in terms of technology. Used correctly, a CRM shortens the "time-to-hire" – one of the most important key figures in recruiting. The experience of large companies shows that candidates from CRM are up to seven times more successful in the hiring process than candidates outside the talent pool. Investing in the candidate experience improves the success rate of hires by 70% (Source: Brandon Hall, The True Cost of a Bad Hire, 09/2015). The return on investment of a TRM program with suitable software therefore also convinces the board level. For a baseline for calculating ROI, see PeoplePath's white paper.
Talent Relationship Management Software: Using "Hidden" Reserves
First, exploit the potential of existing data sources. In sourcing and recruiting, ask about existing databases and spreadsheets. It is best to ask for the participant lists of past campus events and job fairs. Even hand-filled sheets contain valuable contacts of potential applicants. It is best to integrate the possibility to register for your "Talent Community" directly on your career page. This creates valuable contacts with interested parties, even if they don't see a suitable job at the moment.
Even more important are your "Silver Medalists" from past hiring processes: They are often suitable for similar positions and like to stay in touch with a good candidate experience. TALENTS COME AND GO, RELATIONSHIPS REMAIN. Accompany talents throughout their careers. With a suitable software solution, you can keep in touch in a long-term and structured manner. Whether interns and working students, graduates and young professionals or experienced specialists and managers: A network of good candidates for every career level quickly becomes a competitive advantage.
Former employees are also an exciting target group, although usually not in the field of view of classic TRM programs. There are many examples of successful alumni networks with positive effects for the company. This applies to the product and employer brand as well as to business development and knowledge transfer. Recruiting also benefits from referrals and rehires (boomerang hires).
Conclusion: Lifelong relationships are the basis for mutual success!
Would you like to learn more about the possibilities of mapping the topic with the help of software? Our partner PeoplePath will be happy to advise you.
Friedemann Holland
Head of Marketing & Sales Europe and Climate Protection Officer @PeoplePath
Friedemann Holland is responsible for marketing and sales activities for the European market at PeoplePath, a SaaS provider of candidate relationship management solutions based in Munich and New York.
