Why Are Talent Pipelines Essential?

For most recruiters, having access to a high-quality pool of candidates interested in their organization no longer has to be a pipedream. Thanks to talent pipelining, that group of top candidates does exist and can be the ultimate tool for recruiters to pull from and find excellent matches.

Despite the many praises being sung about talent pipelines, some talent acquisition professionals still lack the adoption of this method. Considering all of the benefits, it’s in any organization’s best interest to implement a talent pipeline and start cultivating top talent that could fill open positions in the future.

What’s A Talent Pipeline?

At its most basic definition, a talent pipeline is a group of pre-vetted candidates ready to fill positions at a company. The first type of candidate that comes to mind is someone who hasn’t worked for the organization yet, but talent pipelines also include internal candidates that may fit some higher-level roles down the road. And pipelines aren’t exclusive to active candidates, as passive candidates make up the majority of talent pipelines.

Implementing a talent pipeline will enable you and your team to stop recruiting after someone is needed and become more proactive in your strategies. For example, having a project manager who has worked at an organization for several years and leaves without warning can leave a recruiting team in the lurch. But, with an already filled talent pipeline, qualified and engaged candidates are available at your fingertips.

#Recruiters widely understand with an already filled #TalentPipeline, there are qualified and engaged candidates available at your fingertips. Find out more in the blog from @Visage_Jobs: Share on X

Creating a talent pipeline requires a concept of what talent you’ll want to seek, not just today but a year or two in the future. While this can seem daunting compared to reactive recruiting, it allows you to strategically anticipate staffing changes. Having a talent pipeline already built out ahead of time allows you to save valuable time, energy, and money.

Like pipelines or funnels seen in other industries, the talent pipeline functions as a process. Your role as a recruiter in terms of the talent pipeline is to help usher candidates through the phases of awarecaness, engagement, and converting them to an accepted job offer. For the marketers out there: it’s a classic sequence of top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, before finally reaching the bottom of the funnel.

The confusion comes about talent pipelines when recruiters assume you can adopt a “set it and forget it” mentality. Talent pipelines require upkeep and maintenance, just like any valuable tool. Gauging the current interest of talent in the pipeline helps you stay on top of changes in interest or even career. To get the absolute best return on investment in your talent pipeline, it needs to be regularly updated and refreshed to ensure all information is accurate and candidates continue to be nurtured to the bottom of the funnel.

Benefits Of A Talent Pipeline

A talent pipeline allows recruiters to hire strategically, efficiently, and intelligently. Among the few benefits discussed in the above section, there are more recognizable and easily measurable pros of using a talent pipeline.

Higher Retention Rates

Because you already have gauged interest from candidates before they enter the talent pipeline, you are much more likely to have a high-quality, dedicated employee. They’ve already gone through the vetting necessary to be considered for a position, and they know what your company is bringing to the table.

Additionally, because the candidate is already very familiar with the organization and possibly the role they’ve been offered, they already have answers to the questions usually raised by a job offer, or they have a relationship with a recruiter that allows them to feel comfortable asking the questions they need.

Candidates that have gone through the stages of your talent pipeline have a better grasp of what working at your company would look like and probably have done their own internal vetting themselves. Because of this preparation and established knowledge, candidates hired from your talent pipeline are much more likely to stick around.

Prioritized Candidate Experience

At the beginning stages of your talent pipeline, candidates simply want to learn more about your company and potential open roles. As a recruiter, you want to build relationships with these candidates and ensure they navigate the pipeline step-by-step. Since there are likely no current roles you are looking for specifically, the process is much less focused on the role being filled and much more focused on the individual candidate.

By building out and maintaining a #TalentPipeline before you need to fill a position, recruiters can save time and see an instant improvement in their #TimeToHire metrics. See more from @Visage_Jobs: Share on X

This personalized attention, without the added pressure of fitting a specific job description, allows recruiters to connect with candidates on a more personal level. Candidates won’t feel like another resume in the stack; they will feel engaged and that their experience as a candidate is being put at the forefront.

Improved Time-To-Hire

LinkedIn found in 2021, time-to-hire, from search to accepted offer, took an average of 41 days. Many recruiters applaud talent pipelines because you can get ahead in your recruiting process by leveraging this tool.

It may feel straightforward, but it’s important to emphasize that by building out and maintaining a talent pipeline before you need to fill a position, you save so much time and can see an instant improvement in your time-to-hire metrics.

As we’ve touched on before, the familiarity candidates in the talent pipeline have with your company, in addition to the streamlined process, come together to ultimately get top talent hired quickly for the benefit of recruiters and candidates alike.

At the end of the day, the benefits of establishing a talent pipeline are hard to argue against. Companies of all kinds need to implement a pipeline of some sort to ensure their recruiting process keeps up with competitors and provides a top-notch experience for candidates. Not only does it free your recruiting team from the shackles of reactive recruiting, but it propels your team into the proactive realm of recruiting where your needs can be better anticipated.

To learn more about how Visage can help you build a proactive and robust talent pipeline, reach out to us for a demo.