Talent pools are a vital resource for companies and organisations, and problems lie ahead for your business if you have not built one. By creating a talent pool, you set yourself up with a contingency plan should a member of your team leave. Tapping into your pool of talent will help you reduce employment time, lower your recruitment costs, and maintain business productivity.

The Challenges Of Finding Candidates

When searching for candidates, your go-to solution might be to use a job advert template and post your job on a job advertising or recruitment website. Taking this approach is limiting because you are only targeting candidates who are actively searching for a job.

However, imagine if you could put your job description and opportunity in front of those who might be interested but not actively searching for a new job. Now you have cast your net much further and can catch the attention of a more significant pool of talent.

How To Build A Talent Pool

Building the best talent pool requires a multifaceted approach. 

To develop your talent pool, you could:

• Ask applicants for permission to keep their details on file – Asking permission will make sure you stay compliant and give you future access to individuals you were unable to employ (because there was a better candidate or they accepted an offer elsewhere) but displayed the characteristics and skills that match your company culture.
• Continue looking for candidates when you are not currently employing – By continuously collecting CVs and interviewing, you can identify individuals you would like to employ, but the timing is now quite right.
• Keep an eye on CV databases – Registering as an employer with online CV databases will give you alerts to candidates matching your skillset wish list. Add these people to your talent pool so you can approach them when opportunities arise.
• Offer work experience and apprenticeship schemes – This will help you build a database of students that may become available in the future.
• Read industry media – Industry websites and magazines will bring individuals to your attention from growing and successful companies.
• Network – It is all about who you know, and it is essential to partake in physical networking (conferences, business meetings, professional associations), and online networking (social media, forums).

How To Hire From A Talent Pool

To hire the best candidate from your talent pool you should:

• Ask previous applicants – This is the easiest way to hire people with the experience you desire. Remember, anyone you approach will be flattered and feel wanted.
• Curate your talent pool – Don’t just add anyone to your database. Reserve this space for the top talent and set a manageable and reviewable limit to help selection when you need to employ someone.
• Organise your talent pool – Highlight the reason for adding each candidate to your database, including skills, personality, experience, future potential, or why they are a good fit.

Read: A Guide On How To Hire Employees.

Conclusion 

Creating a talent pool is great because you can avoid high agency fees, lower the recruitment costs, and sometimes the time it takes to write a job description and writing a job ad. These benefits are exponentially more significant if you are looking for someone in your highest-paid jobs.