4 Strategies to Build and Maintain Your Talent Pool

By Syed Balkhi

Hiring the right talent is crucial for the long-term success of your organization. So recruiters have to be extremely smart and strategic about whom to hire. 

In the current market, there is no dearth of good candidates. But finding the right fit can still be challenging. That’s why you need to build and maintain a talent pool for your business. 

A talent pool is nothing but a database of candidates who are interested in working for your organization. A corporate alumni management platform is an example of this database that can even have past candidates who were unsuccessful in cracking a job interview for your organization. Sometimes it might also include a former employee. 

Now the question is, how do you create such a database? 

In this post, we’ll talk about 4 strategies to build and maintain your talent pool. But before that, let’s understand why building and maintaining a talent pool is essential.

Why Build and Maintain a Talent Pool

Building a talent pool can be very beneficial for you if you’re running a business. Firstly, it allows you to proactively address any talent gap in your organization. By maintaining a talent pool, you know that you have a set of qualified candidates you can reach out to when needed. 

Secondly, maintaining a talent pool allows you to reach out to potential candidates who have already expressed their interest in your openings. This helps you make your recruitment process more efficient. Besides, it also makes your hiring process faster. 

Another benefit of building and maintaining a talent pool is that it helps you identify qualified candidates who can be trained for specific job roles in your organization. This means it serves as a valuable resource for succession planning. 

How to Build and Maintain a Talent Pool

Let’s now look at 4 strategies that can help you build and maintain your talent pool. 

1. Create a Talent Community Landing Page

Sometimes there might be candidates who are interested in your company. But they may not see any openings to apply for. At such times, a talent community landing page can be a great way to engage such candidates. 

All you need to do is create a dedicated landing page where such candidates can register themselves. Once they do that, allow them to receive updates about job openings from different departments. 

This will keep them posted about new opportunities in your organization and encourage them to apply for them. 

2. Re-Engage Unsuccessful Candidates 

The next effective way to build and maintain a talent pool is to re-engage unsuccessful candidates. Oftentimes, you’ll find more than one candidate applying for a single job role. But only one gets through the final interview round. 

But this doesn’t mean that the unsuccessful candidates aren’t capable enough for the opening. He/she might be equally good at it. So instead of just dismissing them altogether, why not re-engage them when you have an opening? 

Keep them updated about the interview process, and notify them about what to expect from the job role. You can also talk about the perks and benefits to motivate them to apply for your openings. 

3. Engage Students and Graduates-to-be

Another very effective way to build and maintain a talent pool is to engage students and graduates to be. There are various easy ways of doing that. 

For example, you can introduce internship programs for them. Such programs help them get hands-on experience in your industry and prepare them for your openings better. 

You should give these programs a proper structure so that it offers meaningful learning opportunities to these students. 

Another way to engage students and graduates-to-be is by participating in recruitment drives, career fairs, etc. Such events allow you to introduce your organization directly to potential candidates who might be on the lookout for jobs. 

4. Target Candidates Who Fit the Role

If you really want to maintain a talent pool, you first have to target candidates who fit into the role. This needs a strategic approach. 

The first step to identifying the right candidate is to understand who an ideal employee is for different roles in your organization. Understand the skills, experience and attributes you want in your candidate. 

Once you do that, look for an already existing talent pool that might have candidates with your requirements. 

You can look for industry-specific job boards, career fairs, social media communities, etc. Sometimes you might also want to reach out to your professional associates and colleagues who might refer some good candidates to you. 

Conclusion

Building and maintaining a talent pool needs a strategic approach, time and effort. But once you build a talent pool, it can be one of the most resourceful elements for your business. 

Finding the right candidate at the right time may not always be possible. However, maintaining a talent pool can help you prepare yourself for a better and more efficient recruitment process for your business.

About the Author

Syed Balkhi is the founder of WPBeginner, the largest free WordPress resource site. With over 10 years of experience, he’s the leading WordPress expert in the industry. You can learn more about Syed and his portfolio of companies by following him on his social media networks.