Top 7 Methods to Create and Manage Your Talent Pool

Talent acquisition is an essential part of running a company. Finding and bringing on the right people has a direct effect on how successful you might be in the future. If you run an organization without the most qualified candidates, it could lead to issues such as decreased productivity, an apathetic workforce, and bad decision-making. You want to avoid that at all costs.

One of the best methods to bring on great employees is to utilize a talent pool. This article will detail what a talent pool is, why it is important for your business, and how to create and manage your own talent pool. We’ll also delve into a few resources to help you streamline your talent pooling efforts.

What is a Talent Pool?

When we talk about a talent pool, we’re speaking of a list of engaged candidates who have previously applied for a position at your company, individuals who have left the organization (and you’d rather they hadn’t!), those that have simply expressed an interest in your business, and current employees. All of them will have a skill (or skills) that could make them a good fit for you.

Many companies will have several talent pools, each with its own purpose. For instance, one talent pool is used for potential employees with a specific skill, like digital marketing, while another is used for a role like art team lead. However, the people within the pool of talent can be highly diverse and include:

• Past employees who are no longer with the company
• Applicants who made it far in the hiring process but were not added to the team
• Individuals who were recommended by present employees
• Interested candidates who have been found on social media
• People who have participated in career fairs for the organization

Retired individuals, students, former employees, and marketing freelancers can all help to create a robust talent pool. The important thing to remember is that every member of the talent pool could be useful in a situation in the future. 

Now that you understand what a talent pool is, we want to share why it’s important to have one for your company.

Why Candidate Pools are More Important Than Ever

In the past, many employers would have a simple application process; if a candidate didn’t meet their needs they would reject them and move on. This can be frustrating for potential employees, but also means an organization loses touch with individuals who were suitably qualified for a position but only just miss out in the hiring process. The upshot is that they will almost certainly lose interest in your organization, and you lose touch with a potentially valuable future employee.

With a talent pool, communication can continue with the people who you gather profiles on. Whether past employees, failed applicants, new grads, or someone who shows interest in the company (who has some kind of skill you appreciate), you can keep their information and use it for hiring strategies in the future.

It can also make it easier to keep up with trends in your industry – or the workforce as a whole. For instance, remote hiring is a huge topic right now. When you have a talent pool, you can easily determine which potential employees might be interested in employment from across the state, country, or the world.

That’s only one example of how candidate pools can strengthen your business and make talent acquisitions easier than ever. Another would be having access to great candidates when fewer people are responding to online job advertisements – you can delve into your pool of talent to find others who might be interested in the same position.

You’ll have a talent pool with people who are interested in jobs right now, those who are doing other things that might be useful later, and those who might be interested if the perfect opportunity comes up. By connecting with a variety of potential employees, you can stay connected when and if they want to apply for a position.

How to Create a Recruitment Pool

We’ve gone over what a talent pool is and how it can benefit your recruiting process. We also want to share some information about how you can build one on your own. You can use the methods below about how to create and manage a talent pool based on what you know about your unique business or organization.

Know Your Needs

The first part of creating a talent pool is knowing what skills and competencies are needed in your organization. This ensures you know the type of people that qualify for your pool so you keep in contact with them. You can speak with current team members to learn more about the gaps you have that might be filled by those in the talent pool.

Use Innovative Software

You’ll need software to track your talent pool but that’s not the only way technology can help. Using applicant tracking software gets you tons of information on anyone who applies for your positions. Everything from the email address to the name, resume information and state will be stored in a database that you can use to build relationships with those who have the skills your company needs.

Create the Talent Pool

Assuming you’ve started to build a talent pool, you want to be sure you have people in it that match the important skills for your company. One of the best ways to gather information from a large group of people is through a career fair. In today’s digital world, you can hold a career fair online to save both time and money.

While not every person who goes to a career fair will be a perfect candidate, it’s a good place to start. Avoid spending money on a physical venue, food, and other career fair needs by going virtual. Everytalent provides the perfect place to engage potential candidates without all of the extra planning work. 

You can host a virtual career fair that has a network of hundreds of schools and hundreds of thousands of students. It’s a cost-efficient, simple way to get access to the best new talent.

Not sure about going virtual vs. physical? Everytalent can help you manage every aspect of the process so you have more time for everything else you do. A virtual career fair that brings in many great attendees can save you an average of 82% on recruitment time. It’s a great starting point for a talent pool.

Use other sourcing methods as well. Have meet and greets, ask for employee referrals, make use of your social media, and keep your website updated with job opportunities. The more places candidates can find you, the larger you can grow your talent pool and the easier time you’ll have to find the perfect person for a job opportunity.

Methods to Manage a Talent Pool

Once the talent pool has been created, if you’re not careful, it can’t just sit there with the same people and skills listed. Someone should watch over it and make sure it’s updated, maintained, and ready for use. There are several ways to manage the pool of talent for the best results moving forward.

Be Aware of Who Is in the Talent Pool

One of the most important things you can do is browse the talent pool regularly. There should be a broad knowledge of what people are in the pool and what they bring to the table that might be useful. Knowing everyone available and what they can do will give you a leg up whenever you are recruiting new employees.

Update Current Employee Skills

As current workers learn new skills as part of their training, make sure those things are also noted in the talent pool. Work with learning and development to be sure any new skills are listed. In some cases, when you realize you need a position filled, someone at the company will be able to step up. This can be a huge benefit if it’s a position that is traditionally hard to fill. You can fill with someone experienced and then more easily find a candidate for their former position.

Consider Past Employees

People quit their jobs every day for a variety of reasons. Being aware of them and speaking with people before they move on to other things is essential. Implementing exit interviews can give you details to fill the person’s talent pool profile. It’s a great way to leave a door open in case the employee wishes to return and has skills that would be useful for you.

Stay Engaged with All Talent Pool Members

When it comes down to it, the most important way to manage the talent pool is by keeping the people in it interested. Share relevant news, communicate about things they care about, and keep them engaged with your company. Remember that you can create marketing materials for subgroups within a larger talent pool to ensure the information you share is useful and timely, not something that gets ignored.

Final Thoughts

When you work with Everytalent, you have new options for finding talent and retaining new talent. Get access to virtual career fairs with networks of hundreds of schools and hundreds of thousands of students. In addition, we help with candidate screening, personalized management, and data analysis.

We can also help you engage with young job seekers, network with an inclusive and diverse workforce, and make use of assessment tools to understand applicant skills. Talk to our team today to find out more about how we can help the future of your company flourish.