We've often discussed the value of training the competition. Value based outreach to potential employees who happen to currently occupy desks at the "other guy's" company is an essential component of 21st Century Recruiting. Not for the faint of heart, investing in the competition's workforce, with usable data and rich (but employee centric) value, violates several core 20th century assumptions. Investing in this aspect of employment branding is a key demonstration of corporate faith in the ultimate outcome of the competitive battle.

We've also written extensively on emerging, web based alumni programs.

Amping up the internal communications infrastructure so that current employees are being actively re-recruited on a periodic basis requires new ways of thinking about supervision. Currently, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems are all the rage in sales forces around the globe. Designed to keep relationships alive and healthy across product, support and sales subsets, these tools aim to coordinate all customer data through a single database that prompts effective behavior. We're seeing a variety of signals that indicate that ERM systems (Employee Relationship Management) are on the immediate horizon. These tools would harness the various data around the enterprise to prompt effective supervisory behavior.

The big issues will circle around employment branding in the customer, supplier and investor arenas. Sustainable harvesting of these rich veins of Potential Employees requires a careful hand. Some companies will decide that it is simply too risky to deliver focused employment messaging into these sectors. This risk, of course, is that a successful campaign will deplete the supply chain's talent supply and cause it too collapse. The counterbalance, as obviously, is that with a pictable labor supply, there is no need for a supply chain at all.

There's method in our madness. The reason each of the aforementioned sources have to be carefully inspected and targeted is that Employment Branding is fairly expensive. We estimate program costs at $500 per individual per year. Trying to deliver the employment branding message to a group large enough to satisfy a five year labor requirement means reaching a very large audience. The budget numbers will take some time to get adjusted. Building that audience, one name at a time, by targeting discrete subsections of easily accessible supply is the best method for managing the costs of the program.

Systems that help identify leads, trigger outreach, suggest behavior and manage the Potential Employee Relationship are on the way. Just over the horizon, these PERM solutions will help manage employment branding programs into budget alignment. The trouble with waiting for them is that your competition won't.

- John Sumser © TwoColorHat. All Rights Reserved.