Talent Pipelining: 4 Secrets to Success

To minimize hiring mistakes and shorten the time it takes to find a qualified candidate to fill a position at your company, it’s important to build a talent pipeline strategy.  Employers should always be proactive in their recruiting and thinking about their company’s future.   They should constantly be building a network of candidates so that when a position opens at the company, they have the right person already in place. This is a process that is referred to as talent pipelining, and it’s especially important for positions that are very hard to fill.

What to think about before developing a talent pipeline strategy

• What roles have the highest turnover?
• What skills are needed for each role?
• In what ways is your company growing or will be growing? Will you be needing different skills in the future?
• Start building an internal talent pool.  Identify which employees you already have that would be good for future roles.

Here are some steps to take to help you build a talent pipeline strategy:

1)  Start helping employees develop new skills

Talent pipelining should begin with the employees you already have.  They know the ins and outs of your business better than anyone and deserve to grow and move up in your company if they perform well.  Once you identify which employees would be the best for future roles, conduct training sessions to expand their skillsets so they will be more prepared for those roles.

2)  Employee referrals

You can start talent pipelining by getting recommendations from your employees.  Employees that are high performers and care about your business have the highest likelihood to recommend someone that will do the same.  Research from Jobvite found that employee referrals have the highest applicant to hire conversion rate: only 7% apply but this results in 40% of all hires.  Also, Jobvite found that 67% of employers and recruiters found the recruiting process to be shorter and 51% found the recruiting process to be less expensive with employee referrals.  Simply ask your employees to recommend people or hold informal social gatherings where they can bring friends that can learn about your business.

3)  Employer branding

To really get the attention of passive talent, the next step of your talent pipeline strategy is to put a lot of work into developing your employer brand.  First, make sure your business is a place to work that employees love.  This means giving them what they want: salary and benefits, career development, work-life balance, social events where they can relax and bond.  Then promote your brand on social media, e-mail, your website’s careers page and job advertisements.  Include employee testimonials and videos, and make sure everything you show is authentic.

To attract talent, promote what makes your company exciting, including company perks, aspects of your company culture and awards your company has received.  Make sure job applications are easy to apply to on all devices.  Improve the candidate experience on the careers page on your website.  Include a branded e-mail sign up page for those interested in working for you.

4)  Networking

Another important step in talent pipelining is to network regularly.  Attend events to find passive candidates and develop a recruiting pitch that is future-focused.  Source external passive candidates on social media networks such as LinkedIn and Twitter.  An integral part of your talent pipeline strategy is to keep in touch with all of these candidates by sending e-mails tailored to different groups of people based on what their skills are and how interested they are in working for you.  Holding “sourcing parties” where you can get to know your contacts further.  Have the reason for the occasion be an important company milestone, holiday or recognition of an employee’s accomplishments.