TalentLink helps companies recruit new talent

Finding enough qualified workers with the necessary skills to fill various jobs has been a challenge for companies throughout the U.S., including companies right here in Oklahoma City.

The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber created TalentLink to help meet that need. It’s a talent and partnership networking event where educational and nonprofit workforce organizations can connect with talent acquisition teams to broaden their talent search.

The second TalentLink event took place July 27 inside the Aubrey K. McClendon Whitewater Center. The inaugural event was held last fall; another is planned for later this year. TalentLink’s goal is to foster workforce development partnerships.

“We found that getting them in the same space enables people to leave with two or more connections to help them regardless of what their need is,” said Lee Copeland, director of talent and growth at the Chamber and organizer of the event.

With a speed-networking approach, the TalentLink participants sit at assigned tables. Each person has just a few minutes to introduce themselves and what their organization needs – or how their company can help with talent acquisition. When the timer goes off, everyone rotates to a new table to meet more people.

Chris Goines was one of those people. As operations manager for Waste Management, he hasn’t had many opportunities to network. By attending the event, Goines hoped to make connections and forge some new relationships that could eventually help his company expand its workforce.

“To identify talent to grow and drive results for our company, you can only do that through making connections and networking with people who can find that talent from the beginning,” Goines said.

“We are very thorough in our training. So, it’s nice to be able to find someone we can develop and mold into the talent we need.”

Darla Shaw, human resources manager for ASM Global at both Paycom Center and Prairie Surf Studios, attended the very first TalentLink event last fall. She liked the first program so much, she decided to attend the second one as well.

“I think this event is great. We have attended it now both times and made lots of different connections and discovered organizations I didn’t know we even had in Oklahoma City,” Shaw said.

TalentLink also included participants from aviation services provider AAR, King Transportation, Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City, the University of Oklahoma, Workforce Ready Oklahoma and more.

“We’ve had a little bit of a different mix of employers and partners each time, but each mix of providers and employers has been beneficial,” Copeland .

If you’d like to participate in the next TalentLink, please contact Lee Copeland at [email protected].

This article originally appeared in the August 2023 edition of VeloCity newsletter.