Building Your Talent Pipeline

Marcianne Kuethen

May 31, 2012

Remember the days when, if you needed to hire someone, you would post an ad in the local newspaper? Well, times have changed, and hiring experts now advise building your talent pipeline to keep it constantly full. So what exactly is a talent pipeline?

A talent pipeline is a community of qualified, interested candidates with the skills and experience that meet your organization’s unique needs. With a talent pipeline in place, you get to take control of the recruitment process. You don’t have to go back to square one and wait for applicants to come in every time you have a hiring need – you already have an existing database of relevant applicants at your fingertips.–John Smith, The Hiring Site

Mary Lorenz of CareerBuilder spells out several reasons why building your talent pipeline or talent network is a smart business practice. The best, and most obvious, is that it will decrease your time to hire. Having a candidate pool of professionals who have already expressed an interest in your company makes it easier to get someone on board quickly.

A better cultural fit is another advantage of having already built a relationship with these candidates. Their previous familiarity with your company means these prescreened workers know what to expect, which translates into higher retention of those who commit to joining your team.

Because you’ve been recruiting when you weren’t in a panic, you’re likely to hire better quality people as well. The process of identifying potential candidates and staying loosely in touch until you need them allows you to get to know them better than when you’re pressured to make a quick hire.

You might also save money when hiring from your talent pool, says Lorenz. If your candidates are passive, not out on the open job market, competition for them may be less intense. However, we at Amtec always recommend that you plan to pay fair market wage and be prepared to negotiate if you really want to land someone who is the right fit. A team member who feels valued up front is likely to fit in sooner and perform with confidence.

There are many reasons for why building your talent pipeline is a good idea–shorter time to hire, higher retention, better quality of hire, and possibly lower spend. To get started, you simply need to choose a resume database such as CareerBuilder or Monster to help you start collecting the resumes of people you eventually want on your team.

For specific tips on how to build your talent pipeline, click here.