Everyone seems to have a different opinion on what exactly makes up a talent community. Is it the contents of your CRM? Your job board resume database? The collection of people that ‘follow’ your company on LinkedIn. For me, there isn’t necessarily a single hard and fast definition. What there is though, is an overriding theme.

The clue is in the word. Community. A talent community is a group of candidates that a company is focused on building a relationship with. The emphasis is very much on communication. Companies stay in touch with these candidates and focus on creating a two-way dialogue. It’s a learning opportunity for applicants, who have an opportunity to ask recruiters questions and get to know the brand, while it offers companies the chance to draw out the application process and fully understand whether a candidate is a good cultural fit.

The current ‘war on talent’ is forcing companies to change the way they hire – talent communities are central to these changes. We recommend you get ahead of the curve and start your talent community right now!

Here’s why:

Everyone is passive nowadays

Look around your office. Everyone you see probably falls into the category of passive talent. You might be surprised to hear that as many as 35% of employees are quietly looking for a new job within weeks of joining a new company! Even your co-workers who aren’t actively looking for new opportunities, the people who may be more than happy in their respective positions, are passive candidates nowadays. Do you think really think that, if a great opportunity came knocking, they wouldn’t be open to hearing more?

We’ve reached a stage where almost everyone can be included in the ‘passive talent’ category that we all hear so much about. Understandably this group often encompasses the most talented employees that companies have to offer – the kind of people that could be real game changers for your business.

You can’t rely on these candidates applying to your company, you need a different approach. This is where the talent community framework comes in handy. The hiring process becomes more informal. Less of a ‘just-in-time’ approach, more of a relationship building exercise.

Focus on connecting with this top talent and letting them know the exciting things that you’re doing. It’s a time investment and you may end up with a more drawn out hiring process, but it’s the best way to hire the very best candidates in today’s hyper-competitive market.

Stop losing talent

We often have a very rigid view of the hiring process. A candidate ticks the boxes? We hire them. They lack the required skillset? Straight into the no pile. We rarely stop and think about whether that applicant might suit a different role that we’re hiring for. Or whether they will become a great fit in 6 months time when we’re hiring again.

Talent communities let you decide for yourself where a candidate fits in your organisation. It’s this logic that led Zappos to remove job positions from their application process. Now you apply to become a Zappos insider and the company decides which role you are most appropriate for.

This puts the power back in the hands of your recruitment team and stops talented individuals, that might be perfect for your company, from slipping through the gaps.

This post originally appeared on the Seed Blog

Ben Slater is Sales & Marketing Director at Seed.jobs, a platform bringing marketing and data science to hiring. Follow him @BenJHSlater