Cluetrain: Renewing the Theses

I've been almost obsessed recently with reading manifestos published at ChangeThis. There are a bunch of them about a lot of different topics. A very intriguing one is Hughtrain, somewhat of a takeoff on the popular book from a few years ago The Cluetrain Manifesto. Hughtrain is largely about how branding and advertising have to change in the "new" economy. (WARNING: Read it, it makes some great points that apply as well to employment branding, but the language and tone are, well, blunt.)

After reading Hughtrain, I was inspired to drag out my old copy of Cluetrain last weekend. When I read this book a couple of years ago I thought it was very provocative--now I think it is prophetic! I will be referencing a few of the Cluetrain theses over a few posts. But I'm going to start with 1 through 5:

1. Markets are conversations.
2. Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
3. Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.
4. Whether delivering information, opinions, perspectives, dissenting arguments or humorous asides, the human voice is typically open, natural, uncontrived.
5. People recognize each other as such from the sound of this voice.

Some of the points that I have made in previous posts about talenteering being about relationship building are SOOOO emphasized by these 5 theses. Employment brands cannot be sterile representations of a company--they have to be living, breathing, value-based representations of the company stated in straight-forward, natural, human language. Talent relationships are--exactly as Cluetrain calls them--conversations. And as I have pointed out in previous posts, the more personalized the conversation, the more recognizable it will be to the candidate.

So what's my point in all of this? It's time to adopt a talenteering mentality. Speak to each candidate market in terms they recognize and can relate to. Make the message conversational and in a tone and level that represents what your company could be for them--and not in a contrived and fake voice. Top talent is attracted to opportunities where they believe they are a good fit, their skills will be valued, where they have an opportunity to be challenged, and where they can increase their own personal value proposition. They will sense that through meaningful conversation with you. And just because it is called a conversation doesn't mean it has to be "1-on-1." The conversation is about listening to what the market (in this case talent pool) says, understanding that it is  living, breathing, and real, and using language and communications vehicles that are real, human, and relevant to what they care about.

Become a talenteer. Adopt a conversational style. Be proactive. Develop relationships.

Comments

[Wendy]

Hi. Are you finding different approaches work better for different people, i.e., everyone learns differently, processes information differently: see, hear, do? Are you finding that the conversational style works best in approximately 39% of the cases? I'm looking into a learning theory hypothesis and I'm curious if you are seeing any of this play out in your work..just a thought.

I enjoy your blog!

[Julien André]

Welcome in the HR Blogging community !