Why do you need a talent pool? Well, as a recruiter, you know how hard it is to fill in empty positions with the right talent. You face many challenges, such as finding qualified candidates, competing with other employers, and retaining your best employees. You also know that hiring can be time-consuming and costly, especially if you have to start from scratch every time you need to fill a vacancy.
That’s why having a talent pool can help you manage and hire the right candidate for the job faster and more efficiently. A talent pool is a database of potential job candidates that are highly qualified and interested in joining your organization. A talent pool helps you grow and achieve your long-term goals by having a ready supply of talent to fill positions.
But how do you create a talent pool? And how do you maintain it? In this article, we will explain what a talent pool is, why you need one, and how to build one using five effective strategies.
What Is a Talent Pool?
Let’s begin with the obvious question here. What is a talent pool? According to the Cambridge Business English Dictionary, a talent pool is “the suitable, skilled people who are available to be chosen to do a particular type of job.” [1]
A talent pool is usually built and maintained by recruiters, often with the help of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS.) It can include both internal and external candidates. Internal candidates are your current employees who have the potential to take on new roles or responsibilities within your organization. While external candidates are those who have applied for your jobs in the past, or those who have expressed interest in working for you through various channels, such as referrals, social media, or events.
Keep in mind that a talent pool is different from a talent pipeline or a talent community. A talent pipeline is a group of candidates who have been screened and are ready to be hired for specific roles. A talent pipeline is mainly used for internal hiring or succession planning.
A talent community is a group of passive candidates who are not actively looking for a job, but are engaged with your employer's brand and culture through regular communication and content. A talent community is mainly used for long-term recruitment or employer branding.
Why Do You Need a Talent Pool?
Having a talent pool can bring many benefits to your recruitment process and your organization as a whole. Here are some of them:
- Motivating employees: Internal talent pool can offer training and development opportunities for your high-performing employees. This can increase their motivation, satisfaction, and loyalty. It can also show them that you value their contributions and support their career growth.
- Improving hiring time: Hiring can take weeks or months, depending on the role and the market. With a talent pool, you can reduce this time by having a selection of candidates ready to contact and interview. You can also save time on sourcing and screening new candidates, as you already have their information and qualifications in your database.
- Lowering costs: Hiring can also be expensive, especially if you rely on external agencies or advertising platforms. With a talent pool, you can lower these costs by filling roles directly or with the help of a trusted partner. You can also reduce the costs of employee turnover, as you can retain your best talent and hire more suitable candidates.
- Improving diversity: Having a talent pool can help you improve the diversity of your workforce by giving you access to a wider range of candidates from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Plus, you can also use your talent pool to promote diversity initiatives and attract more diverse applicants.
- Enhancing the candidate experience: With a talent pool, you can improve the candidate experience by providing personalized communication and feedback. At the same time, you can keep your candidates engaged and informed about your organization’s news, events, and opportunities. As a result, this will increase their interest and trust in your employer’s brand.
Effective Ways to Create a Talent Pool
Creating a talent pool requires some planning and effort, but it can pay off in the long run. Here are five strategies that can help you build an effective talent pool:
1. Add Your Sourced Candidates
One of the easiest ways to build your talent pool is to add the candidates that you have sourced from various channels, such as job boards, social media, referrals, or events. These are candidates that have shown interest in your organization or industry, but may not have applied for any of your jobs yet.
You can use a tool like Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to store their profiles and contact details in your database. You can also use these tools to segment your candidates based on their skills, qualifications, preferences, or availability.
Click here to learn how an ATS helps you source candidates and build a larger talent pool.
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2. Build a Dedicated Landing Page
Another way to build your talent pool is to create a dedicated landing page on your website or career site where potential candidates can sign up for your talent pool. This page should explain what your talent pool is, what benefits it offers, and what types of roles you are looking for.
You can also use this page to showcase your employer's brand, culture, and values, and to share testimonials, stories, or videos from your current employees. It’s a good idea to include a form or a button where candidates can submit their resume, email, or social media profile to join your talent pool.
Check out how a career page can help you showcase your brand while expanding your talent pool.
3. Re-Engage Unsuccessful Candidates
Just because a candidate was not hired for a specific role does not mean they are not a good fit for your organization. Sometimes, the timing, the competition, or the requirements may not work out. However, these candidates may still have the skills and the potential that you are looking for.
That’s why you should re-engage your unsuccessful candidates and invite them to join your talent pool. You can do this by sending them a personalized email or message, thanking them for their interest and application, and explaining why they were not selected. You can also ask them if they would like to stay in touch and be considered for future opportunities.
4. Engage Students and Graduates-to-be
If you are looking for fresh talent with new ideas and perspectives, you should consider engaging students and graduates-to-be. These are candidates who are about to finish their studies and enter the job market. They may not have much work experience, but they may have the skills, enthusiasm, and potential that you need.
You can engage these candidates by attending or hosting career fairs, workshops, or webinars at universities or colleges. Partnering with academic institutions or associations to offer internships, scholarships, or mentoring programs is a good strategy. You can also use social media, blogs, or podcasts to share relevant content and advice for students and graduates.
5. Include internal talent and former employees
Your talent pool should not only consist of external candidates, but also internal talent and former employees. These are people who already know your organization, its culture, its values, and its goals. They may also have the skills, experience, and performance that you need.
You can include your internal talent by conducting regular performance reviews, career conversations, and talent assessments. Moreover, you can offer them training, development, and mobility opportunities to help them grow and advance within your organization.
Including your former employees by maintaining a positive relationship with them after they leave your organization is also an option. You can invite them to join your alumni network or community, where you can share updates, news, and opportunities with them as well.
Maintaining a Talent Pool
Creating a talent pool is not enough, you also need to maintain it. This means keeping your candidates engaged, informed, and interested in working for you. Here are some tips to maintain your talent pool:
- Update your database: Make sure your database is up-to-date and accurate. Remove any duplicate or outdated profiles. Update any changes in your candidates’ contact details, skill qualifications, or preferences.
- Segment your talent: Segment your talent pool into smaller groups based on certain criteria such as profession, interest, experience, skills, or candidate journey stage. This will help you tailor your communication and content to each segment and offer them the most personalized experience possible. To put this into practice, check out Manatal’s applicant tracking features.
- Communicate regularly: Stay in touch with your candidates regularly. Send them personalized emails or messages with relevant content and information. For example, you can send them industry news, company updates, job alerts, event invitations, or surveys.
- Provide value: Provide value to your candidates by offering them useful content and resources. For example, you can offer them tips, advice, or feedback on their resume, interview skills, or career development. You can also offer them access to webinars, podcasts, or e-books on topics related to their field of interest.
- Ask for feedback: Ask for feedback from your candidates on their experience with your organization and your talent pool. Find out what they like and dislike about your communication style, content quality, frequency, and relevance. Use their feedback to improve your talent pool strategy and candidate experience.
- Measure your results: Measure the results of your talent pool strategy by tracking key metrics such as the size of your talent pool, the quality of your candidates, the engagement rate of your communication campaigns, the conversion rate of your hires from your talent pool, and the retention rate of your hires from your talent pool.
Conclusion
Having a talent pool can help you improve your recruitment process and outcomes by giving you access to a ready supply of qualified candidates for your current and future needs. To create a talent pool that works for you, you need to follow some strategies such as adding sourced candidates; building a dedicated landing page; re-engaging unsuccessful candidates; engaging students and graduates-to-be; including internal talent and former employees; updating your database; communicating regularly; providing value; asking for feedback; and measuring your results.
If you are looking for a tool that can help you easily create a talent pool while keeping your talent connected; Manatal is the solution for you. It is an ATS that allows you to build and manage talent pools with features such as:
- Sourcing: Source candidates from various channels such as job boards; social media, email campaigns, and more.
- Segmenting: Segment candidates based on their skills, qualifications, preferences, availability, or status.
- Engaging: Engage candidates with personalized and automated communication campaigns.
- Evaluating: Evaluate candidates with assessments and technical skills tests to measure their skills, personality, or fit.
- Hiring: Hire candidates with streamlined workflows, collaboration tools, and analytics to make data-driven decisions.
With Manatal, you can create a talent pool that is not only effective, but also engaging, diverse, and future-ready. To learn more about Manatal and how it can help you with your talent pool strategy, start its 14-day free trial now.
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