Playbook – Employer Branding and Talent Pools

Purpose

Create and sustain relevance with the right talent pools so that sourcing & selection become faster, easier, and cheaper.

  • Core outputs: qualified talent pools (opt-in), consistent narratives/assets, reliable engagement signals, clean handovers.
  • Non-goal: “more content” without business impact.

Guardrails

  • Brand & Ethics: no overclaiming, no dark patterns.
  • Privacy: consent, transparency, deletion paths.
  • Bias controls: inclusive language & visuals.
  • Measurement: focus on funnel KPIs, not vanity.
Play A Flagship Narrative & Thought Leadership Builds trust through authentic storytelling and credible voices.

When to use

  • New or refreshed EVP needs a credible “face” and story.
  • Tight expert markets where trust and substance win.

Flow (essentials)

  1. Perception: field interviews with top performers & alumni.
  2. Generative: core narrative + 3 topic paths (problems, learning, impact).
  3. Generative: longform asset → short posts/snippets.
  4. Agentic (human): exec sponsor as “face of talent”.
  5. Reflective: quarterly retro; cut/refresh what moved talent.

Governance & Risks

  • Shiny talk without substance → center employee voices.
  • Overreliance on one person → at least 3 voices (tech, business, people).

KPIs (targets)

  • Return visitor ≥ 35%; dwell time ≥ 2:30.
  • Qualified follows/subscribes: +10–15%/Q.
  • Warm leads to recruiting: 50–100/Q per focus field.
Play B Augmented Content Studio (Always-On) Scales content creation with AI support and human quality control.

When to use

  • Need to scale content across multiple skill segments.

Flow

  1. Perception: collect signals (FAQs, forum threads, event Q&A).
  2. Generative (AI co-pilot): drafts in brand voice.
  3. Human edit: facts, tone, diversity check.
  4. Agentic: publish rhythm (2–3/week) + community engagement.
  5. Reflective (AI assist): monthly topic→pool→conversion review.

Governance & Risks

  • Hallucinations / tech errors → mandatory human review.
  • Tone drift → keep a living brand-voice guide.

KPIs

  • Post → profile view: ≥ 8–12%.
  • Profile view → follow/subscribe: ≥ 20–25%.
  • Content-induced applications: +20–30% after 8–12 weeks.
Play C Programmatic Listening & Targeted Campaigns Uses signal-driven targeting to place recruiting spend where it works.

When to use

  • Multi-region/language, fluctuating demand; invest where signals peak.

Flow

  1. Perception (auto): listening dashboards detect skill/geo spikes.
  2. Predictive (auto): propensity scores (next 4–8 weeks).
  3. Agentic (auto): programmatic ads; dynamic budget re-allocation.
  4. Human gate: weekly review (whitelists, exclusions, creatives).
  5. Handover: qualified, double-opt-in leads to talent pool.

Governance & Risks

  • Brand safety & privacy → placement control, consent logs.
  • Spend drift → hard spend caps + weekly value review.

KPIs

  • Qualified Lead Cost: –25–40% vs. manual.
  • Lead → interview: ≥ 15–20%.
  • Time-to-signal: –30–50%.
Play D Community Flywheel (Guilds & Alumni) Creates lasting talent pools through community engagement.

When to use

  • Build a lasting talent magnet for bottleneck skill sets.

Flow

  1. Seed: 2–3 guilds (e.g., Data Eng, Safety, Embedded).
  2. Generative (human+AI): learning sessions, reviews, micro-challenges.
  3. Perception: moderation + signal logging (who helps whom?).
  4. Agentic: co-creation projects (mini-hack, paper club, mentoring).
  5. Reflective: quarterly value review → adjust cadence & formats.

Governance & Risks

  • Community expectations vs. recruiting goals → transparent house rules.
  • Host burnout → rotate hosts; fixed cadence (e.g., monthly per guild).

KPIs

  • 90-day community retention: ≥ 35–50%.
  • Referrals share: ≥ 20% of applications.
  • Community → interview: ≥ 25%.
Play E Critical-Skill Micro-Brand Pods Builds niche visibility and conversion for critical skill areas.

When to use

  • 2–4 critical skill areas deserve their own micro-brands.

Flow

  1. Perception: gather insider pain points for the skill.
  2. Generative (AI co-pilot): hyper-specific assets (snippets, teardown posts, FAQ cards).
  3. Predictive: topic→channel→timing forecast.
  4. Agentic: pod owners publish, engage, appear on niche events.
  5. Reflective: monthly “what moved the needle?” portfolio review.

Governance & Risks

  • Fragmentation → content kanban + central asset repo.
  • Consistency → style guide, fact-check, buddy review.

KPIs

  • Topic → lead conversion: ≥ 8–12%.
  • Lead → interview: ≥ 20–30%.
  • Hiring velocity (target skills): +20–30% after 2–3 quarters.

Handover to Sourcing/Recruiting (applies to all plays)

  • Qualified talent-pool entry: opt-in, skill tags, location/remote, seniority, channel, notes/signals.
  • SLA: handover < 48h; first touch to warm leads < 72h.
  • Data hygiene: dedupe, source attribution (Play A–E), GDPR-compliant storage.