Talent retention: Are you practicing the delicate art of talent nurturing?

In a world where the job market is more unpredictable than Quebec spring weather (suddenly shifting from a talent shortage to a flood of resumes after mass layoffs in your industry), how can companies navigate these turbulent waters? The answer may well lie in the delicate art of candidate relationships.

Candidate relationships, talent nurturing, or lead nurturing… what is this tactic?

Imagine: your dream candidates, the ones you would love to see take root in your company, knock on your door and flood your inbox with resumes. Just one hitch: you don’t have a position to offer… yet! What do you do to keep them from slipping away and ensure these prospects remain interested?

Maintaining good relationships with potential candidates – also called candidate nurturing or talent nurturing – is a strategy underestimated by many companies. It helps maintain attention and build lasting ties with top talent, encouraging them to apply for your job postings in the future.

“Like tending a garden, candidate relationships prepare the ground, plant the right seeds in the right soil, and water regularly so that, when the time comes, the harvest is fruitful!”

In a previous article, we explained why candidate relationships are so important for generating qualified prospects. Now, let’s explore the tactics available to you to practice this art of talent attraction.

How to retain talents and their attention in 7 concrete tactics

Your relationship with potential candidates is based above all on anticipation: it is not limited to your company’s immediate hiring needs! Keep an eye on two key moments in your candidate journey: before and after they apply for one of your job postings.

Inbound recruiting and talent attraction: what to do before they send their resume

How do you encourage them to apply? Apply the principles of inbound recruiting, which rely on a strong employer brand and value-added content for your potential candidates.

• Present them with an engaging career page or microsite. It’s one of the main entry points into your organization’s ecosystem (alongside social media): make a good first impression! To get the most out of this showcase, consider including testimonials and an FAQ to give a good overview of your company culture and answer potential questions.
• Offer relevant content for each stage of the candidate journey. The goal is to follow talents along their path. For example, to convince them at the consideration stage, you could showcase your projects or achievements to help them picture themselves in your company’s daily life. At the application stage, focus on compelling job postings and clear instructions on how to apply.
• Share your Glassdoor rating. The stars collected on this site or another employer review platform help convince job seekers (active or passive!) through the power of social proof. Comments, testimonials, and positive experiences from real people often carry more weight than many HR marketing tactics! You could encourage your teams to share their views and add a step in your recruitment process to invite past applicants or interviewees to share their experience on these platforms.

Lead and talent nurturing: what to do after receiving a resume

• Use newsletters and email marketing. To cultivate the interest of talents who weren’t selected for an initial interview or who expressed interest when no position was available, this channel is a short- and medium-term asset! You could create mailings that promote your employer brand. Adding a subscription option in the application form or on your career page helps grow your mailing list while supporting your qualified lead generation. Other email tactics exist: keep candidates updated with automated scenarios triggered by events such as CV submission, newsletter signup, or a job opening in your organization.
• Be active on social media. These platforms help deliver your messages to engaged targets at different stages of your conversion funnel. A relevant and regular presence enables you to hold a prime spot in your audience’s mind, especially with employer brand–focused content. For instance, consider sharing a video that shows a day in the life of an employee, whether they’re on the road or at the office. This gives an inside look at your working conditions and company culture. You could also hit two birds with one stone by providing educational resources that position your organization as an industry expert while supporting prospects in their ongoing learning.
• Focus on communication. Keep your prospects informed about the next steps and provide feedback if their application wasn’t successful or if recruitment is slowing down. Radio silence after an interview or resume submission can dampen talent interest or even damage your employer’s reputation. After all, someone who wasn’t a perfect fit for one role could turn out to be the ideal candidate for another!
• Organize professional events. Depending on your budget and company culture, several options exist: training afternoons, informal networking events, seminars or webinars, mini job fairs, etc. The key is to build and maintain relationships with top talent while positioning your company as a key player in your sector. While event marketing can be more complex, its impact on talent attraction and retention within your company’s orbit is significant!

Checklist of best practices for talent attraction

1. Rely on candidate personas. The key to making personalization and relevance easier! For example, there’s no point in targeting an industrial engineer with benefits designed for your administrative staff. You risk wasting time, money, and their interest.
2. Get the timing right. You shouldn’t apply the same tactics at different stages of the candidate journey!
3. Get familiar with automation. Prospecting and relationship management with candidates takes time, which is why automating some steps helps preserve your resources.
4. Combine marketing and HR. Use marketing tools and approaches to set up a solid candidate relationship campaign for your HR team.
5. Opt for personalization. Again, don’t approach talents the same way in every context: is it a new subscription to your employer brand newsletter? A rejection of a finalist application? A LinkedIn InMail message? The level of familiarity, tone, and length should vary accordingly.
6. Leverage multiple platforms. Deploy your talent attraction marketing on your website, social media, email, events, etc.
7. Experiment with different formats. Showcase your company in various ways: blog posts, videos or interviews featuring employees, infographics shared on social media, photos of team-building activities, podcasts where your staff share their expertise… the options are endless!
8. Manage your prospects properly. It’s crucial to have the right tools and internal processes to store and manage your more advanced talent pool. For example, you could categorize them by potential roles and track whether they have already gone through certain stages of the hiring process.

Turn every interaction into an opportunity to strengthen candidate relationships

In short, attracting and retaining top talent means building a community of professionals attached to your brand, ready to jump at the chance when a position opens in your team.

Requiring patience and medium- to long-term vision, this approach is an excellent way to address today’s job market challenges. After all, those who take the time and have the right tools to cultivate their garden are often the ones who harvest the most beautiful flowers!

Questions about talent retention and attraction, or about your recruitment in general? Grab your trowel, gloves, and sunscreen – and let’s work on your strategy together!