Picture yourself having passive candidates to talk with the next time a hard-to-fill position opens up. Imagine how much time and money you’ll save by having individuals to reach out to when the need arises. Having an available pipeline of candidates not only reduces your time to hire, but also leads to better quality candidates. This is why you need a pipeline strategy in place.
Here are four tips to create a talent pipeline.
Create an Attractive Company Culture
Cultivate a culture that makes employees want to work for you. Build your brand with an attractive Careers page on your website. Include videos featuring employees, breakdowns of your benefits and payment structures, and awards your company won. Ask your staff to share their work experiences through videos, stories, and other posts on social media. Talk with managers to determine future hiring needs. Focus on roles with high turnover rates or hard-to-find skills that require a pipeline to keep them filled. Encourage employees to provide referrals for job openings. Focus on the candidate experience during the hiring process. Invest in employee development.
Find Passive Candidates
Source passive candidates from a variety of places. Meet candidates during product events, seminars, conference booths, and other industry settings. Use social media to promote your brand and company events to attract talent. Follow relevant hashtags on Twitter, Facebook groups, forums, and professionals in the field. Engage with passive candidates through discussions and mutual interests. Participate in niche platforms such as Reddit, Slack, and Snapchat. Let employees know exactly what you’re looking for so they can refer their connections. Search your applicant tracking system (ATS) to find referred candidates, former employees, interns, and candidates who advanced to the final stages of previous hiring processes.
Engage Passive Candidates
Build relationships with candidates qualified for roles that may open down the road. In your initial contact, let them know you don’t have an immediate opening but are likely to be hiring soon. Mention that you’re always looking for talent and would like a few minutes to talk with them. For candidates who agree to chat, ask how they’d like to keep in touch, such as phone, email, or video conference. Focus on candidates’ career goals to show how you can fill them. Find out what they like best about their current role so you can point out how your company can offer something similar. Invite candidates to company events.
Maintain Your Applicant Tracking System
Keep all of your pipeline information in an applicant tracking system (ATS). Maintaining a centralized location for talent lets you effectively manage your recruiting efforts. Include which candidates were contacted and when, what was discussed, how the candidate responded, their level of interest in a new opportunity, and what next steps were agreed upon.
Work with a Recruiting Agency
Turn to Boutique Recruiting to fill your talent pipeline. Our extensive network of finance, accounting, and administrative professionals puts us among the top recruiting agencies in Southern California. See how we can help you today.
