Talent pool: What it is, how to create it and what are the best practices

In a world where technology is constantly changing and talented people are looking to make their economy independent, it's not surprising that recruiters need a 31% more candidates in their process to fill vacant positions.

Companies seeking to attract the best talent must invest in an effective talent pool through which they can attract the best talent, reduce hiring time and maintain company productivity.

In this article, we'll show you what a talent pool is and how to use it in your recruitment process.

What is a talent pool?

A talent pool is a base of qualified candidates that recruiters or HR managers can access when a vacancy opens. These potential candidates may be company employees seeking promotion or rotation, or external candidates. A strategy that has a talent pool makes the recruitment process simpler because it provides access to active and passive candidates.

How to build a successful talent pool?

There is a particular process that helps to have a good talent pool. Every step is like a puzzle: if you put the pieces together, you'll have a recruitment process that attracts the best talent. Below you will find the steps to help you put the puzzle together.

1) Develop an overview of your company's hiring needs

The talent pool must be based on a system that connects the group of candidates to you and your team. What keeps this system together is an understanding of your company's needs.

Pay attention to vacant positions, and to those that may open up in the near future, and start thinking about succession plans for the teams within your company. Talk to recruitment managers to identify what skills their teams are lacking and would like to find in new candidates, and align the needs of their areas with the company's overall objectives. With all this information, you can make your company's hiring needs plan.

2) Choose your search method

If you have a well-positioned brand, you'll likely actively attract talent through your career sites. Less visible brands have a harder time finding candidates and need to use a combination of talent sources to find and attract the right people. Regardless of the method you use, here's a list of some of the most popular ones.

Search on social networks

Social networks are a great engine for brand interactions between generations X, Y and Z, who today represent the majority of the workforce. Therefore, finding talent and creating an employing brand on social networks should be your priority. Although LinkedIn is one of the main sources of attraction, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, GitHub, Behance and YouTube are also great places to find good quality talent.

Search by referral program

A referral program provides a structured way to accept and manage employee referrals. Giving employees incentives for their referrals encourages them to recommend good quality candidates. A study conducted by CareerPlug shows that the referred candidates were more likely to be hired than candidates coming from job boards. Referred candidates are more likely to be suitable and motivated about the new job, even if they were initially passive candidates.

Networking events

Networking events are a great opportunity for you to meet both active and passive candidates and to make connections. However, you should not only attend events focused specifically on recruitment or other issues related to your sector. Perhaps you could go to a networking event organized by a professional development company, such as Rotaract, to meet people and build your talent pool.

The benefit of participating in these events is exposure to a wider audience of professionals; you never know who is in the market looking to change jobs. These events (conferences, talks, happy hours, etc.) can introduce many candidates to your business focused on their careers at the same time.

Recruiting databases

Recruiting databases are central places for hosting candidate information. They work as candidate tracking systems (ATS), to help recruiters and recruitment managers keep track of applications and CVs, and to optimize the recruitment and onboarding process. These databases can help you evaluate which recruitment sources attract the best talent.

Job Boards

Job boards are particularly useful for helping companies gain access to a large pool of candidates. You're more likely to find candidates for lower and middle management on job boards, while the best talent for executive and senior positions is more likely to be found through referral programs or networking events.

Lists of passive candidates

The majority of American employees are passive candidates. A survey conducted by Workable Great Discontent in 2021 shows that 37.3% of Americans are passively looking for work, 29.4% are not looking for new opportunities and 33.4% are actively looking for work. If you don't organize lists of passive candidates, you're missing out on a great opportunity to create an effective talent pool.

Do you want to learn more about attracting talent? Don't miss our guide to attracting talent.

3) Contact new candidates and build relationships

You've already identified the talent you want to add to your talent pool during your attraction process. Now it's time to contact them and invite them to your talent community so you can start networking. A talented community attracts active and passive candidates based on their common interests. These communities often include specific content related to the above-mentioned interests and opportunities for networking at future events.

4) Analyze your candidate group

Look at your pool of candidates with criteria related to trends in the talent market, long-term objectives and company needs. You want your group of candidates to be in line with your current and future demands so that your company maintains its importance and competitiveness.

Ask yourself the following:

1. Are there any employees in the candidate pool who might be good for the role?
2. If the answer is no, who in my pool of external candidates might be the best for that role?
3. Does my talent pool include people of all ethnicities?
4. In my pool of candidates, are there people who are truly qualified to help the company achieve its strategic objectives?

5) Send offers and nurture leads in your talent pool

The main purpose of a talent pool is to help have a stable flow of candidates to choose from when vacancies appear. When there is a vacancy in your company, who is the first person in your talent pool that you think of? Contact that person with an offer and get ready to meet.

There is a lot of competition to attract the best talent. You won't necessarily win by offering the highest salary. The best candidates are looking for a good benefits package.

6) Create (or strengthen) onboarding and training processes to accelerate new hires

New hires are often unhappy with onboarding. In fact, a Gallup study reveals that only the”29% of new employees they say they feel fully prepared and supported to excel in their new role after onboarding.” There are four fundamental elements that make for a good onboarding and training program:

• Operational knowledge: How does the company work? What materials and tools are necessary for success in the company? What is the chain of command like? What does the new employee need to know to perform their tasks effectively?
• Social knowledge: Do you provide opportunities for new employees to meet members from their area and others in the company? How are you creating opportunities for them to feel part of the company? How do you make them feel welcome?
• Strategic Knowledge: Does the new employee know and understand the company's vision, mission, objectives and culture?
• Professional Development: What are the new employee's professional goals? How can you create a career plan that includes learning and development opportunities so that you can meet those goals?

7) Keep track of appropriate metrics and ask for feedback

You'll know if your talent pool works if you look at the metrics indicated and ask for feedback from recruitment managers. Here are some of the most important metrics to follow:

• Hiring time: Has the talent pool helped us reduce hiring time?
• Candidate Response Rate: How many candidates have responded?
• Offer Acceptance Rate: How often were your job offers accepted?
• Candidate Satisfaction Rating: What was the candidate's experience like during the process?

Key Benefits of Having a Strong Talent Pool

Having a strong talent pool helps recruiters don't have to start from scratch every time a vacancy opens up. It provides a solid foundation for your recruitment team, making it easy to hire qualified candidates. Below are four of the most important benefits of having a strong talent pool:

Provides a stable flow of candidates

The process of creating a talent pool is ongoing. The members of your HR team should actively use talent search strategies to keep people coming into your pipeline. Don't forget that you're creating a community of talent. Keep the community active, meaningful and engaged.

Evaluate the quality of candidates before starting the recruitment process

Around the 54% of HR leaders they say that their biggest challenge in attracting talent is to find and attract the best talent. An effective talent pool includes some of the best talent your company seeks to attract and provides opportunities for you to engage with them. You can add or remove people from your pool to maintain quality.

Create a better experience for candidates

Building good relationships is the foundation of an effective talent pool strategy. This way, you'll make your brand remembered by the people you're looking to attract. You'll also spend less time convincing passive candidates that your vacancies are right for them and more time congratulating them for joining your company.

It allows for a higher retention rate

New employees tend to stay with a company if they are part of an active talent pool. The secret is that your talent pool management strategy doesn't impose your brand on candidates. Instead, it should provide opportunities for them to connect with your brand and with other candidates with common interests. The main thing is to build relationships and build foundations so that we can have engaged employees.

Create and manage your talent pool with Emi

There are several parts to manage in a talent pool: the strategic vision, the search for candidates, building relationships with them and hiring those who are suitable for your company's vacancies.

Doing all of this manually means that some parts may fail. Therefore, you need a tool that will help you automate and optimize all aspects of the talent pool process. Emi is that tool. See how we help Heineken reduce its hiring time O request a demo with us to learn more about how we can empower your recruitment team to attract the best talent.

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