Hire Smarter: What Is A Talent Pool In Recruitment?
Hiring from a talent pool is like cooking with a well-stocked spice rack. Not every spice is needed for every meal, but you always have the right ingredient for each recipe, avoiding the need to venture to the supermarket every time.
The same is true for talent pools.
Put in the groundwork to build a pool of qualified candidates and you have the best talent at your fingertips when it's time to hire current and future roles, eliminating the need to always go out to market.
In this blog, we're exploring talent pools to understand why they're so effective in finding great applicants for your latest vacancy, and how you can build a talent pool of your own.
What is a talent pool?
A talent pool is a database of people who could potentially be a good fit for a certain role.
Think of it as a talent pipeline of pre-vetted individuals warmed up to be approached about the next vacant position in your organisation.
Building talent pools of relevant candidates is a long-term and ongoing approach to sourcing excellent talent - invest a little time here and there and it becomes easier and faster to fill future jobs.
When the time comes that you need to hire, you can dip into that talent pool and immediately contact relevant candidates straight away,.
Suddenly, hiring is a speedy and cost-effective process in comparison with going out to market, publicly advertising that you're recruiting, and waiting for relevant candidates to reply to your job advert.
What are the benefits of using a talent pool to recruit?
Let's summarise all of the advantages of taking this creative approach to growing your organisation.
- Speeds up the recruitment process - no need to spend time writing and posting job adverts then sifting through CVs
- Saves money on your recruitment budget - agencies and job boards cost money, so having a group of candidates you can approach for free will significantly reduce your hiring spend.
- Boosts your employer brand (the internal and external perception of your company) - when great candidates have a positive experience of dealing with your company, it gives them a good sense of your company culture and whether your values align with theirs, boosting your reputation.
- Improves candidate experience - even if someone is unsuccessful in applying for a job, how you treat them can be the deciding factor in their perception of your company. Keep in touch with great applicants and leave the door open for future opportunities.
- Access to candidates who aren’t active on the job market - these are often people who wouldn't actively apply for jobs on career sites but are open to a discussion, so you wouldn't have come across them via a standard hiring process.
- Unearth talent your competitors aren't considering - if they're not actively applying, the chance are your competitors don't know about them, so you get to them before they're faced with multiple offers.
How do recruiters use talent pools to hire?
Talent pools are common in recruitment.
In fact, a good recruiter in an agency will constantly be feeding and growing talent pools within the specialism they work.
They'll keep in touch with individuals consistently so that when a client approaches them with a vacancy, they have a strong selection of people to put forward without having to advertise the position.
Typically, a recruitment consultant will create talent pools for different roles they recruit for.
For example, an accountancy and finance recruiter might have separate talent pools featuring all the finance directors, accounts assistants, and credit controllers in the local area.
Are talent pools just for recruitment agencies?
No. Internal teams can create talent pools, too. In fact, it's a really strong tool for internal recruitment teams to use.
We regularly recommend it to our clients, especially if there’s a type of role you recruit for regularly.
Say you’ve got a big contact centre with 100+ customer service advisors working for you.
You're regularly recruiting customer service advisors, so it’s a really good idea to have a talent pool of potential employees who you're aware of, but aren't working for your company at the moment for whatever reason.
Who belongs in a talent pool?
This leads us to the question: in what circumstances will someone join your talent pool?
Usually, there's been some element of qualification of the candidate before you’ve put them into the talent pool.
You’ve spoken to them, you understand their skills and experience and know what their motivators and drivers are.
You may also know what it would take for them to move roles, in terms of salary, location, and any other factors.
Talent pools can be made up of:
Former employees who left on good terms and you’d happily re-appoint
Unsuccessful candidates from previous roles
They didn't have enough experience/qualifications at the time
There was only one role available - silver and bronze medallists who didn't quite make the cut
They weren't the right personality for a particular team
You offered them the position but they took a role elsewhere
People you unearth via a market mapping activity - they're working with a competitor right now but open to the right opportunity.
As you can see, there are many different reasons you’d put people into a talent pool. The common factor is that you have reason to believe they're a good prospect for your company or role.
Often, things change and a formerly unsuccessful candidate becomes the ideal candidate for the same or a similar role in future.
Maybe they've moved house, their family circumstances have changed, they've completed qualifications, or they've gained key experience they were lacking previously to change their suitability and priorities.
Providing you gave constructive feedback at the time and maintained a good relationship, they may still be interested in your organisation and be happy to form part of your talent pool for a particular role.
How to build and maintain an effective talent pool
Record it in one place
Finding the right way to record your database of potential candidates will dictate how successful and well-used it is.
You have various options, with the most effective and obvious being:
- A spreadsheet - simple and effective
- In your CRM software - most good recruitment CRMs have a function to record different types of talent pool.
Populate it with relevant information
Rather than simply recording names and contact details, add in information along the lines of:
Qualifications
Competency
Skill sets
Salary expectations
Motivation and drivers (e.g. salary, location, progressing to senior roles)
Individual circumstances.
This will make it easier to decide if they fit the bill for your next job opening.
Make sure it's GDPR-friendly
Always ensure you have consent to hold people's details and that they understand why you're keeping in touch with them and keeping their details on file.
Keep in touch
Create a system to keep in regular, consistent contact with members of your talent pool without overdoing it.
Keep them informed about your company and ask about their current situation - are they still happy where they are or actively looking? Have they switched jobs? Gained new qualifications? Maybe their personal circumstances changed?
Make a note of any relevant information to remember for your next call to add that personal touch.
Start building a stronger workforce by assembling a database of high-quality candidates
Ready to take a more strategic, long-term approach to finding first class candidates with the experience and energy to help you grow?
At Cummins Mellor, we specialise in filling roles in the professional sector across East Lancashire.
We work closely with employers to build talent pools, either taking the entire process off your desk as part of your broader hiring strategy, or helping you to create your own database of suitable candidates internally.
Are you curious to see how you could build and maintain a talent pool to hire more quickly, effectively, and cheaply in your organisation?