Importance of Talent Pool

Developing a talent pool requires a shift from reactive recruiting to proactive recruiting. Your mind-set should switch from recruiting to fill an open position to thinking about who your company will want and should hire in the future. This takes time to develop and nurture, but in the long term the benefits are worth the investment.

1) Identify more candidates

There is often pressure to fill up job vacancies immediately which results in rushed recruiting. This might also lead to missing numerous top prospects. When you have a talent pool, you basically have more time to get to know candidates which allows you to ensure that they have the right skill set and fit into your company culture well. If there candidates who are still developing but have the potential to do well in your company, you can keep in contact with them until the time is ripe. When this developing talent finally reaches the required skill or experience level that you need, you can formally recruit them.

2) Higher retention rates among new hires

Similar to the previous point, candidates are also often rushed into accepting a job offer. This results in a significant percentage of employees regretting their decision. However, candidates hired from your talent pool are not rushed into taking up the new job. They will be more informed about your company and understand where they fit in. The fact that they know exactly what they will get by joining your company will result in a much higher retention rate from new hires who were in the recruiting inventory.

3) Superior candidate experience

A talent pool process is candidate-centric, meaning that it focuses on identifying and meeting candidate needs. With more time for engagement, answering questions, and two-way communications, candidates will have a better experience both before and during the hiring process.

4) It shortens the time-to-fill for open positions:

A Talent pool allows you to be two steps ahead in the hiring process and saves time in actively sourcing and narrowing down the ideal candidate profile. This gives the recruiter valuable time to develop a customized strategy to attract and hire key individuals. You will already know the talent and what is important to them in order to consider making a career move.

It also allows the recruiter to better influence strategic hiring decisions for your business by educating the hiring managers on the talent landscape. This will help boost the hiring manager’s confidence that they are making an intelligent hire vs. cycling through many candidates to try to figure out who is the best available candidate.

5) Build the company brand

As building a talent pool involves proactively reaching out to candidates, building trust and relationships, your company will be seen as a credible career partner by individuals and efficient recruiter by organisations. When your company’s employer brand gains recognition, potential candidates will open up to recruitment professionals and entrust their careers in their hands, allowing recruiters to expand their talent pools even wider.