Tell 'Em What Sucks About the Job: Lessons From T2

This week, there's not one, but two HR conferences five minutes from my house. It's my shortest conference commute ever. Not that I needed convincing to attend the kick-off of #SHRMTalent on Sunday, Talent Tomorrow (T2)--the agenda was full of rockstars and DICE gave us all free wifi.There's something beautiful about spending a few minutes talking about tomorrow. I don't mean innovation, but tomorrow. Thinking about what's ahead, what's to come, and how what's happening now will evolve into tomorrow. And if you're like most people, and don't have the time to think, I've done it for you.Here are three lessons to consider if you're wondering what you need to be aware of in terms of preparing your talent strategies for tomorrow.

1) Don't ignore talent communities. Instead, define what they mean to you.

It's not about feeding more volume into your ATS. Tomorrow's talent communities are about creating a filtered, curated network. And in that network you need a way to engage and provide good candidate service, setting expectations about what community members can expect. Look for business value--communities aren't just about recruiting. They bring business to the company. Use your communities--build them for a reason. Define why you need them, determine the action you want to take and the results you want to see.

Inspired by panelists @fishdogs, @thisislars, @jessica_lee and @cjmdatl.

2) Stop stereoptyping GenY. Tell them what sucks about your company and your jobs.

The talent of tomorrow, GenY is one big mess of stereotyping. As you prepare to recruit the workforce of tomorrow stop with the stereotypes and focus on trends. Determine what your company's role is in GenY development--we all play a role in turning trends into value. GenY doesn't want you to focus on work-life balance. They want to know what it's like to work at your company. Be honest and authentic. Tell them what sucks. You'll be left with the people that can handle the not-so-great-parts and are actually passionate about the job.

Inspired by panelists @1SHRMScribe, @mattcharney, @PaulSmith, @JVPSaid, and @blogging4jobs.

3) Stop thinking about what information you need. Ask what information the candidates want.

There's no doubt, the black hole effect from candidates still an issue. They hate not hearing, not knowing. You can read the latest report here. But candidate experience tomorrow isn't just about responding to candidates, it's about asking what they want to know. We're so focused on the information we need from them, we're treating it like a transaction and not a relationship. Part of the candidate experience is ablilty to interact and get great answers on both sides of the relationship.

Inspired by panelists: @fishdogs, @gerrycrispin, and @madam.

I don't need to tell you it's impossible to be on top of every trend. But we all need a tomorrow mindset--a chance to wonder what will our jobs, our talent and our brands look like tomorrow. Stop, think, and you might just realize that heads down all the time means you'll be left behind.

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