by Laura Belyea, COO at Talivest
There’s a war on talent. To compete, Talent Acquisition and Recruitment teams in HR are investing heavily in attracting and retaining talent.
However, there is another source of talent that you can tap into: your former employees. It’s key to spend time and resources not just on recruitment, but on alumni relations.
When time is put into cultivating your alumni network, your ex employees can take on roles like consultancy to add value to your business after they’ve moved on.
What other roles can alumni networks play?
• Become rehires (boomerangs) and be a source for referrals
• Act as brand ambassadors
• Create business development
• Lobby influencers on your behalf
• Invest back into the business
• Provide knowledge and expertise
Creating and sending a quarterly or monthly newsletter is a great way to engage your alumni network. Here’s my top 5 tips for writing an engaging alumni newsletter.
1. Highlight alumni events
Showcase your events, whether these are for alumni specifically or another speaker series that they could attend. You could even invite alumni to become event speakers themselves, which is great for their personal brand too. Advertising and promoting key events will keep your alumni connected and engaged throughout the year.
2. Showcase the benefits
This is the reason for your newsletter in the first place. A great way to keep readers engaged is to talk about the additional benefits of being in an alumni network. People love extra perks so don’t forget to let alumni know what they can avail of by being part of the network. This may be employee discounts, an alumni referral scheme or mentoring programmes.
3. Community involvement
Think about the causes and role your company plays when it comes to corporate social responsibility. Just because the readers have left the company, it does not necessarily mean they have cut ties with the corporate values. Keep readers engaged by letting them know about corporate volunteer initiatives, environmental innovations and other causes the company is making progress on.
4. Develop the network
The alumni platform can be much more than old photos and posts about past milestones. Think about the content you want to project and put time into development. Readers will want real content, real value and will respond more if you are authentic. Showcase your newsletter as a means of dual communication – be there for them as a source of new knowledge and resources and they will return the favor.
5. Evaluate and stay connected
Know your audience! Take a vested interest in what your readers will respond to. Your alumni can use your newsletter as a source for job opportunities, professional development, networking and mentorship. Make sure to keep connected to your audience to ensure you are giving the readers what they want. Review, edit, revise and adjust based on recommendations and analyse your most popular content.
About the author
Laura’s role is to successfully support the growth and strategy for Talivest, as well as provide product support with her expertise within the HR industry. Previously posts were director of HR & operations in Telefonica, Elizabeth Arden and ICON
