A talent pool is made up of candidates actively interested in working for your organisation. When recruiting, you can draw on your talent pool as a means of profile-matching appropriate applicants and job opportunities – ideally before advertising externally.

Talent pools are usually created when:

• There is a surplus of candidates that meet the requirements of the role.
• Candidates apply for a role where although they may not be suitable for that role, they would be an ideal candidate for another.
• Candidates apply for a role where they are slightly out of the area or have a mismatched salary requirement.
• There is a need to proactively build up a talent pipeline for the future to meet expected demand, or for a new home or service opening.

The Benefits of Talent Pools

The benefits of talent pools are vast:

• Cost per hire. If there is a readily available pool of candidates for certain types of roles, this can be considered before or instead of advertising externally.
• Time to hire. The fact that you can access the pool easily allows for time to be saved on screening and managing a full recruitment process.
• A more positive application process. If a candidate is not suitable for one role, but could be for another, there is a better chance of them succeeding with your organisation if their details are retained.
• Brand confidence. Candidates are left with a more positive outlook of the organisation and brand by association.

Considerations

Who makes up your talent pool? Are they genuinely active candidates? Are you first on their minds when they’re job seeking? Will they share your opportunities in their own networks?

To ensure top engagement with candidates, you need to communicate with the pool on a regular basis. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as sending out news updates and communicating current vacancies, which also encourages candidates to be more proactive in their engagement with you.

Know your audience – how do they like to be communicated with and what about? Some candidates prefer emails, others an SMS – your recruitment technology should support you to get this right. However you communicate, the content must be relevant. Is your messaging about good news stories? The latest opportunities in area? An upcoming event? Create and stick to a content plan that is going to keep candidates wanting more.

Be sure to know what they care about. Gen Z care about social value and making a difference (which of course we offer in abundance across social care). Gen X want a trustworthy employer and autonomy. Most people today want flexibility and learning and development opportunities. Are you talking about both?

Of course, there are laws that have to be considered when retaining candidates’ details. Data protection is a crucial and therefore ensure you outline your policy and obtain permission in line with GDPR regulations.

Talent Pools – you’ve got to be all in

Talent pools can be extremely beneficial when setup correctly.  Encourage hiring managers to think outside of their own vacancies, homes and services when recruiting and consider whether the candidate might be more suited to a different team. Hiring them in another part of the organisation is a far better outcome than outright regretting great talent.

Time also needs to be spent nurturing and managing the pool by communicating on a regular basis which will allow for a real time community of candidates. Fail to keep people engaged, and your talent pool won’t be working for you. Get this right, and you’ll have far better results than online job boards – and a far more engaged pool of talent wanting to know more.

So, remember to keep asking the question – what does your talent pool say about you?

At Cohesion, we become your Recruitment & Retention team. Whether you require targeted campaign-based talent acquisition or seek an exclusive recruitment partner, we are your trusted source for end-to-end social care recruitment expertise and insights. Either way – we will build and engage with a talent pool exclusively for you, using your brand. For more information, get in touch today.