What is a talent pool? A guide to maintenance and engagement

Unexpected or sudden vacancies in your team puts business plans in jeopardy. The challenge is to fill these roles as quickly and painlessly as possible so business plans can stay on track. Having talent pipelines where pre-qualified talent is ready to step in quickly is key to staying on track with business goals.

A pre-qualified pool of talent means less work for recruiters and hiring managers when it comes to strengthening the employer brand. It usually enhances speedy quality hire with more experienced candidates being attracted to roles and increases the likelihood of acceptance of job offers.

What is a talent pool?

A talent pool is a database of potential candidates that can help the organisation grow and meet its goals. It is made up of candidates who are qualified and have expressed interest in working for the organisation previously through job applications, referrals or through a recruiter’s network.

Why is talent pool management important?

Having a talent pool can bring many benefits to the hiring process in a business. Hereare some top reasons for why talent pool management is important.

Improved candidate experience

The feeling of rejection can be extremely demotivating for any job applicant but by creating a talent pool, recruiters can help to maintain their relationship with the candidate. It is an effective way to showcandidates that although they are not right for the role in the organisation now, a future opportunity may open up for them. This approach is a lot more motivating for candidates and can help toimprove their perception of your employer brand.

Lower hiring time and costs

Hiring new employees can be very time consuming and costly as well.That’s why having a pool of readily qualified candidates can make the entire hiring process easier and faster. By dipping into their talent pool, rganisations can reduce the amount of money spent with recruitment agencies or listing job advertisements in multiple places. Having a talent pool is especially important in a tight recruitment market to supplement candidates sourced through traditional means.

 Improved workforce planning

Organisations with a teeming talent pool are able carry out workforce planning a lot more effectively and efficiently because they have a better idea of how long it will take to recruit certain roles. By nurturing a talent pool, they have candidates at their fingertips and can react more quickly tothe business’s future talent needs.Therefore, talent pools can help an organisation prepare for the future and achieve its workforce planning goals ahead of time.

How can companies authentically communicate with their talent pool?

Use an Applicant Tracking System

Purchasing and implementing an Applicant Tracking System can help you manage interactions at scale with qualified candidates, implement a regular program of engaging with insights and nurture talent like you nurture business leads.

Have regular interactions

Creating a website and active career pages that interact with candidates rather than just passively advertising job vacancies is also essential. Social media also allows for higher productivity in engaging with talent pools and talent generation activities.

Send useful and engaging content 

Interact with insights. Create programs of events, webinars and EDMs that have something for the target talent audience to consume and look forward to. It can’t be about the company’s products or services – it has to be something which helps them with their career goals and outlook.

Leverage your data

Use data to better understand your talent pools and identify those who have the right knowledge, skills and behaviours for future employment.

Keep internal teams in mind

Keep internal teams engaged by communicating the success of others, creating clear and achievable career paths and a good employee experience when they apply for a role internally.

How ELMO Recruitment can help

The ELMO Recruitment module allows users to retain, classify and have ongoing interactions via email with applicants who have applied for advertised jobs. What’s more, this system allows employees to access an internal careers portal where they can look at future opportunities and see how they fit. This forward-looking approach strengthens staff momentum by allowing them to envision how they might progress in their role.

Industry and company data also helps recruiters and hiring managers better understand their talent pools and identify those who have the right knowledge, skills and behaviours for future employment. Similarly, an active social media presence creates higher productivity in engaging with talent pools through talent generation activities.

ELMO Software is a cloud-based solution that helps thousands of organisations across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to effectively manage their people, process and pay. ELMO solutions span the entire employee lifecycle from ‘hire to retire’. They can be used together or stand-alone, and are configurable according to an organisation’s unique processes and workflows. Automate and streamline your operations to reduce costs, increase efficiency and bolster productivity. For further information, contact us.