Sourcing & Social: How to Build Thriving Talent Communities

A Smarter Way to Build Pipelines

Filling roles faster and better comes from building stronger relationships.

In this one-hour session, Fruition Group welcomed Adam Gordon, Co-Founder of Poetry, to share a fresh approach to proactive hiring. At the core of the session was his 30 Point Talent Game Plan: a practical roadmap for TA and HR professionals looking to build, engage, and activate thriving talent communities using sourcing and social strategies.

Here’s what we learned:

1. Start With Purpose, Not Promotion

If your community’s only goal is to push jobs, don’t bother.

“Build it with purpose. It’s got to have a particular purpose which is communal across everybody. Relationships are better than reach.”

Highlights included:

- Define a clear mission and who it’s for

- Clarify what your community is and isn’t

- Focus on value; share insights, not just job roles

- Set measurable goals beyond follower count

2. The 30-Point Talent Game Plan

At the heart of the webinar was Adam’s 30-step roadmap, covering every phase of building a thriving virtual community. 

Some of the most actionable steps:

- Onboarding: Send invites from subject experts and include at least 3 strong “What’s in it for me” reasons to join

- Content: Use polls and questions to drive interaction; post weekly updates; appoint admins by topic

- Engagement: Spotlight active members; automate welcome messages; celebrate milestones

- Growth: Create referral loops and promote in relevant micro-communities

- Real-world links: Run regular meet-ups or open house sessions aligned with hot topics

- Feedback: Track engagement trends, ask for feedback, and tweak your approach

“Track engagement metrics. If the trend is going down... you’ve got some work to do. Iterate. Try different things.”

3. Move Beyond Job Ads

Sourcing doesn’t stop when your ATS goes live. Adam urged recruiters to think more like community managers than traffic generators.

Top Takeways:

- Invite contributions from your audience

- Share exclusive insights, not recycled company content

- Turn great discussions into usable content for other channels

- Meet people where they are: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube

“There are a few bespoke Technology providers that can help you to build talent communities. Talent Pools, for example, has a brilliant matching system that can tell you which people in the community would be the absolute best for doing a particular job.”

4. Celebrate What You Want to See More Of

Communities are built on interaction, which makes recognition a key lever.

“Celebrate milestones. Post it, send a certificate, whatever… we’re building a real community here.”

Ways to reinforce participation:

- Share shout-outs for engaged members or top contributors

- Turn their success into video content, mini case studies or Q&As

- Use lightweight rewards, even a public thanks goes a long way

“Spotlight active members. Anybody who’s really participating, reward them.”

5. If It’s Not Working, Don't Panic (But Don’t Keep Pushing It Either)

TA teams often fall into the trap of “build it and they will come.” Here’s what to do so that doesn’t happen.

Adam encouraged recruiters to:

- Set a timeframe to review success (e.g. every 3 or 6 months)

- Bring in new ideas or owners if energy stalls

- Be honest about whether to pivot, pause or press on

“Keep trying different things. If it’s not working by month 12, bring someone else in to lead it. It might not be worth it…but if you get it right, it can be really worth it.”

A clear theme ran through the session: talent communities thrive when they’re built with care, curiosity, and a shared sense of purpose. Adam’s 30-point plan gives structure, but real success lies in how TA teams bring it to life: showing up consistently, listening to their audience, and adapting with intent.

For TA teams looking to move from reactive hiring to proactive engagement, this session was a timely reminder: you don’t need a bigger budget,  just a better way of building trust.

Want the full breakdown? Watch the webinar replay here

For more practical insight on hiring strategy, content-led sourcing, and recruiter enablement, contact us.