What are talent pools?

Talent pools (which can also be referred to as talent communities) are networks of people who have been identified as promising candidates for existing or future jobs. In contrast with your talent pipeline, which includes all the candidates who have been sourced or applied to your open roles, the people in your talent pool may not be associated with any specific role.

Because it takes time to nurture and engage the people in a talent pool, building a talent pool is a long-term talent acquisition strategy. This approach allows you to continue the conversation beyond a single interview or phone screen. You can build relationships with promising candidates who aren’t the right fit today but who could be a perfect fit in a few months or years.

Why talent pools matter

So much of the recruiting process relies on timing. If you reach out to a potential candidate when they’ve just started a new job, for example, they might not be too receptive to the idea of applying and interviewing somewhere else. However, once they’ve been in the role for a year or two, they might be more open to learning about new opportunities.

Similarly, sometimes you’ll encounter a candidate whose values align with your company’s, but their skill set is not quite right for any roles you have open today. In a few months, though, a relevant role might open up for them.

Talent pools are based on the idea that relationships are a critical part of recruiting and building relationships can turn prospective candidates into what marketers call “warm leads” (people who have shown some level of interest and are more likely to move forward in your process).

Here’s how the Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Gong, Kelsey Biggs, describes her experience with executive recruiter Austin King: “The relationship we had during my lifecycle felt more like a really good customer success manager or partner. He made a point to understand who I was as a person so he could tailor his pitch. And with that heightened communication, it was hard to ever ignore him because he’d created such a good rapport.” Kelsey’s story demonstrates how building rapport and regular communication with a prospective candidate over time can eventually lead to making a high-impact hire.

Here are a few of the reasons why you should consider making talent pools part of your recruiting strategy.

• Talent pools streamline recruitment processes

When you organize prospective candidates in a talent pool (often with the help of a tool like a CRM or candidate relationship management tool), you have a historical record that helps you track all the relevant information for a particular prospect or candidate, such as when you were last in contact, who from your team was last in touch and what the appropriate next steps would be. This eliminates duplicated efforts and creates a streamlined and seamless experience for prospective candidates.

• Talent pools reduce time-to-hire

A talent pool is not static – you’re always adding to it whenever you encounter promising people (we’ll share more on who should go into your talent pool in the next section). This means that whenever a new role opens up, instead of sourcing from scratch or posting an opening on job boards and waiting for candidates to apply, you can go directly to your talent pool to source candidates. And since the people in your talent pool are already familiar with your company and may have already interviewed for roles, you may be able to skip or expedite some steps of the interview process, which can reduce your time-to-hire by days or even weeks.

• Talent pools improve candidate quality

When you rely on inbound applications, you have little control over who enters the talent pipeline. This can mean that you get flooded with applications from candidates who don’t have the skills and experience you’re looking for or who aren’t aligned with your company’s values. But when you create a talent pool, you can curate it to only include high-quality, vetted candidates. Your hiring managers will love the fact that they can focus their time on candidates who are much more likely to move on to the next stages of the hiring process.

How to develop a successful talent pool

If you’re interested in creating a talent pool at your company, here’s what you’ll need to do.

• Identify target talent segments

Who should go into your talent pool? There are several groups to consider, including: former candidates (especially those “silver medalist” candidates who made it to the final interview stages or those who were promising but needed to develop a specific skill or two before they’d be the right fit), passive candidates you’ve reached out to and who responded to indicate some level of interest, college students you’ve met at career fairs or similar events and alumni from your company (including former interns, part-time employees, contractors or freelancers in addition to former full-time employees).

• Nurture and grow your talent pool

Once you’ve decided where you’ll source the members of your talent pool, you will want to spend some time thinking about how you’d like to segment its members. For example, you might create segments based on roles or departments or by seniority level. Also take some time to consider how you’ll maintain regular communication with talent pool members. It’s a given that you’ll keep them in the loop whenever a relevant new role opens, but it’s also a good idea to check in with them periodically to see how they’re doing and strengthen your relationship.

• Provide value-added resources and opportunities

While the majority of your contact with talent pool members will relate to job openings, it doesn’t have to end there. You can keep the conversation going by sharing links to blog posts or webinars, news about product releases or any other relevant company updates. If you’ll be hosting events in their area, make sure to extend an invitation. Remember it’s not always about making a hire – the goal is to keep the lines of communication open.

• Use technology to automate talent pool management

If all this sounds like a lot of work, keep in mind that technology, like a CRM tool, can automate and streamline many of these tasks. Plus, if you choose a CRM that connects to your applicant tracking system (ATS), you can seamlessly transition prospects from your talent pools into candidates for jobs.