By Darren Gilbert
Established in 2013 by Emily Keyes, The Talent Boom is anything but your traditional recruitment agency. In fact, they prefer to call themselves a ‘word-of-mouth agency’. Word gets around about their ability to find the right talent. Then again, ‘headhunting agency’ is a better description for them.
Keyes explains: “You’d think that as a recruitment agency, our role would be to find job seekers. But that’s not what we do.” That’s tantamount to waiting. And The Talent Boom doesn’t sit around and wait. Instead, they’re proactive. They go out and head hunt. And Keyes is confident they can find the right talent. Every time.
“We specifically target talent who are very happy working [where they are] and they’re only in the job market because our client has an awesome opportunity,” she says. “That is what recruitment should be. That is how it should be done. We should be finding the best talent who aren’t looking for work.”
To do that; to find the right talent, you need to target.
For The Talent Boom, that means attending different events and festivals to network with the best creative talent out there, be that in South Africa or abroad. Dubai Links; Cannes Lions; Loeries. Name the event. Keyes makes sure she attends them all. “It’s our number one approach when finding talent,” she explains. “We want to find the best of the best. The only logical way of doing that is to be proactive; to meet talent face-to-face.”
Of course, the agency is discreet about their approaches. They have a reputation to uphold, clients to keep happy. But they also know that following the same recruitment path as any other agency won’t allow them to stand out. Or to shake up the industry for the better. And Keyes won’t allow that to happen.
“Look, let’s be honest, a recruitment agency is a luxury,” she says. “That means you don’t want to spend a fee on someone who copy and pastes a job description that your HR person spent time writing up.” Add in the fact that there is most likely more than just one agency who is posting your job opening online. “The costs can be outrageous and there really is no point to it,” she adds.
And then there is the fact that talent talks.
“If an ad agency is recruiting 10 account directors for a number of different clients, they’re constantly recruiting,” says Keyes. “If there is a recruitment agency that is also working with them and posting jobs, there is going to be talent that sees the job offer and knows who the client is.” They’ll also wonder why the agency can’t fill the position when they’ve been recruiting for a year.
“Little do they know that the client is actually expanding their business,” says Keyes. “So in a way, if you are using a recruitment agency, who is posting a job advert, it can potentially tarnish the client’s brand reputation because talent talks. They’re also unlikely to apply if they’ve seen it on a job board for the past six or 12 months.”
Fortunately, it’s a problem that neither The Talent Boom nor Keyes faces. “Our clients know that if they come to us, there is no fuss or hassle. We don’t advertise any posts but we’re confident enough to say that we can usually find you the right talent within a quick and efficient time frame.” The fact that Keyes can tap into a global talent network allows her to promise precisely this.
“With us, you pay a service for real, honest advice on where to find talent,” she adds. “And we’re confident that we can deliver. There is no bullsh*t here. If we say we are going to find fresh talent for you, we will. We will never take on a job spec if we can’t find that person you need. We know we can do it all, and if we can’t do it, well then there is a really good reason why.”
Some people call The Talent Boom head hunters; others a ‘word of mouth’ talent agency. They’re in fact both. But they’re also simply connecting creativity.