Every business venture comes to a point when they either have to settle for the current company size or look out to the world for fresh talent. Since human nature is rarely satisfied with the mediocre, we choose to expand instead of staying the same. But many businesses land in the trap of hiring low-level recruits for mid-tier jobs just to fill their missing staff positions. This leads to an over-saturation of under-qualified and underpaid staff who cannot meet high business expectations.
Business expansion should happen in a calculated and linear way. Under-expansion is the same as over-expansion – it leads to the loss of resources and ultimately may damage your company. That’s why many companies turn to the ‘talent pipeline’ strategy to meet the demand for new recruits. This article introduces several new concepts in employee recruiting and explains safe ways to expand a business. We will also share some popular tips on how a talent pipeline is created and how you can avoid recourse sinkholes. Let’s take a look.
What is a Talent Pipeline?
First, let’s explain exactly what a talent pipeline is and how it works. There is a common misconception that to staff a growing business, you need to cram as many new recruits as possible to fill out all available jobs. The truth is that hiring under-qualified people for positions where they will underperform will directly reflect on your business. For this reason, recruiters need to implement various strategies only to hire recruits that best match the job description. One of these strategies is called a talent pipeline.
In short, a talent pipeline is a pool of job applicants that have been selected during a recruiting process to fill out various positions in a company. A talent pipeline aims to find the best-suited candidates and place them in jobs that will match their areas of expertise. The difference between a pipeline and a regular recruiting cycle is that a talent pipeline can stay active indefinitely. Whenever there is a need to hire someone, for example, a software engineer or marketing analyst, recruiters can refer to the already filled pool of candidates and choose one that best suits their needs.
There are many advantages to setting up a talent pipeline. The main advantage is that it provides a steady source of qualified candidates that can fill an internal or external position. This ensures that a position will always be filled with the most qualified candidate. Another advantage is the marketing and recruiting cost optimization. Once a talent pipeline strategy has been developed, there is no need to re-launch a recruiting cycle. Instead, you can just reach into the already established pool of candidates and choose. This strategy saves companies thousands of dollars a year on recruiting costs.
Additional benefits to creating a talent pipeline include:
- Reduced downtime on department occupations;
- Reduced time-to-hire;
- An overall increase in talent quality;
- Quality of life improvement for both the recruiters and the candidates;
- Reduced marketing costs.
How to create a functional talent pipeline?
Let’s answer the question that is already on everyone’s mind: how to build a talent pipeline? Now that we’ve explored the long-term benefits of what this recruiting strategy can do for a business let’s disassemble the steps required to build it.
Understand your company’s goals – expansion or retention
The first step in building a successful talent pipeline is to understand your own company’s needs. It’s a bit more complicated than it sounds. Not only do you need a brand that the entire company can rally behind, but you also need to know the future path your company will take. Are you looking to maintain your current position without taking financial risks? Do you want to continue the slow climb towards national coverage? Or are you looking to rapidly capitalize on available resources and expand your business in a very short time? You need to answer these questions for yourself to know where your company is heading. A talent pipeline is an investment in the future; a well-placed and maintained pool of candidates would be able to fill out available positions for the next 3-5 years. However, depending on your company goals, you can plan for shorter or longer periods of time.
This planning burden doesn’t fall solely on the CEO of a company. As part of the pipeline process, recruiters need to be kept up-to-date on future company goals. To hire the most suitable candidates, recruiters need to know what future projects are discussed and if the company is looking to hire additional staff. This is one of the most important tips that can help create a functional talent pipeline.
Identify valuable talent sources and various tools for recruiting
These tasks fall solely on recruiters and recruiting analysts. There are many places where talent acquisition occurs: job boards, hiring campaigns, online advertisement, etc. However, some strategies for hiring the right candidates are better than others; besides, what works for a regular recruiting cycle may not be appropriate for a talent pipeline. Filling your pipeline is an ongoing process that requires proactive thinking.
Some valuable sourcing methods that can help recruiters fill out a pipeline include:
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- Networking Events
In-office events, such as seminars, encourage people to network and make social connections. When the event takes the form of an office party or lecture, the main topic of discussion will organically shift towards work. More socially outgoing employees are more likely to reach out to others and create a welcoming atmosphere. This type of sourcing has the added benefit of falling under the category of passive recruiting – besides organizing the event, everything else happens organically.
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- College Hiring Events
Many large companies reach out to colleges or universities when they want to create a steady long-term talent pipeline. Job fairs on campus are a popular recruiting tool. To set up a functional talent pipeline within a college or university, you will need to establish a connection with its representative. It might take some time, but the best recruiting resources come from young professionals who are hungry for recognition.
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- Email Marketing
There is nothing better for establishing a lasting pipeline than good old-fashioned email marketing. Recruiters around the world already use tools such as SignalHire to extract email addresses of valuable candidates. Going one step further and combining SignalHire’s tool with a website such as LinkedIn will boost your marketing strategy performance.
- Referral Programs
A lot of large companies try to motivate their employees to go out and actively recruit other people. This pipeline strategy not only counts as passive recruiting but also motivates existing employees to find good co-workers.
Create a talent acquisition persona – skills, team compatibility, and employee traits
One of the most important things about recruiting is being able to distinguish between differently qualified candidates. Recruiters should be able to analyze a person’s CV on the spot and know if that person is a good fit for the company. Finding talent is one thing; knowing what to do with new recruits is what makes a pipeline work. Perfect candidates need both technical and personal skills – we call these hard and soft skills. Typically, you’d want your job candidates to already have some of these skills, but in a realistic world, many employees develop their soft skills while interacting with co-workers or clients. A recruiter who has been trained in this algorithm analysis will be able to separate perfect talent from those who need further study and put them into two different piles. The goal of a pipeline is not to waste talent – if someone needs additional training, it’s best to provide it within the company rather than outside. This way, when the person has gained the needed skills, they could be assimilated into the company without further hassle, thus reducing costs of additional recruiting cycles.
Assess your talent pipeline
Once you’ve identified ways to retain talent, it’s time to assess whether these changes make sense for your business. At this stage, hopefully, your pipeline will be functional. Don’t be afraid to make changes and eliminate things that don’t work. The goal is to make the recruiting process as streamlined and effective as possible.
Set future goals and maintenance of the talent pipeline
For a business to grow, its employees need to further their education. There are many ways that a company can ensure this:
- Seminars;
- Training videos;
- Presentations;
- Retreats;
- Team goals and challenges;
Remember, educating employees doesn’t need to be boring or time-consuming. It can be engaging and entertaining while still providing necessary corrections. Offering your employees and future recruits time to make connections and learn from one another will increase productivity. It’s often the little details, such as a surprise Pizza Party with a team-building game night, that leave the biggest impressions. Of course, the actual form of useful entertainment will depend on the company and its business niche, but as a rule, there is always a way to motivate already existing employees and boost their productivity.
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