Take Advantage of Your Internal Pipeline
Nothing halts the job of HR professionals and recruiters like a lack of a strong talent pipeline. It’s hard to recruit when there is no talent pool to recruit from. However, blame not the talent, but the stale pipeline strategies that have been used over and over again. Companies have to adapt their strategy to follow the ever-changing trends of the workforce and examining their current efforts from the inside out is where they should start.
Passing up opportunities to develop current employees is a mistake for a number of reasons:
- Employees want career development and sometimes that means finding a new job, whether it’s with their current employer or not. Even if the employee is not a perfect candidate for the job, employers should examine if there is room for improvement or training. Alternatively, it could greatly benefit them to be proactively engaged in performance management to groom current employees for potential and critical roles in the company that may open up in the future.
- It costs companies thousands of dollars to bring on new employees and that number grows each time a new employee doesn’t work out. What’s more is that in a job market where candidates have the upper hand, external candidates can be more demanding with their compensation and benefits. Hiring internally can save employers the time and money required for recruiting, training and paying new employees.
- Consistently passing up internal candidates for opportunities within the company damages morale and consequently affects company culture, two things in this job market which are extremely important to both recruiting and retaining employees.
Boost Your Branding
It isn’t enough anymore for companies to merely be connected. Companies have to have a unique presence to attract new hires and high-quality talent. Their message has to be tailored in such a way that shows job seekers that employers are seeking out candidates and not the other way around. The message should be about them. Two important things to keep in mind:
- It can’t be stressed enough that employers have to understand the needs and trends of the talent pool. Rather than focusing content on what the company’s immediate needs are, emphasize aspects of the company that will attract worthy candidates such as success stories and company culture or industry articles about employment trends and interviewing advice. This shows potential candidates that the employer values them as a professional, even if they aren’t currently seeking out a job with the company. If they feel a strong connection, they may seek out a position in the future or refer someone from their network.
- Networking is one of the most powerful tools in recruiting and companies that fail to adapt to social media trends will be left in the dust by their competitors. If employers aren’t proactive on their social media accounts daily, they miss valuable opportunities to connect on a different level with potential candidates. Posting engaging content on social media accounts daily will give employers more reach and influence. Engaging content can be fun and creative, giving employers a chance to show candidates another side of them.
Recycle the Talent Pool
Telling candidates, “if any positions open up matching your qualifications, we will contact you,” has unfortunately become an automated response that companies rarely follow through on. Rather than dismissing candidates from previous job openings, remain in contact with them in case any future openings arise that they may be better qualified for. This provides employers with great networking opportunities and shows candidates that even if they were not hired for a job in the past, you are interested in them as a professional. Who knows? They may even provide the company with some referrals. Using an applicant tracking system can help employers weed out applicants who are unqualified for the job.
Pipelining talent is a job that requires active engagement if companies want to reach quality candidates. Modifying the internal pipelining strategy should be the first and most important step when seeking top quality talent pools. The right applicant tracking system can help you streamline talent acquisition from attraction to the new hire’s first day. Follow up your recruiting initiatives with a hiring process that provides a memorable candidate experience. Sign up for a one-on-one demo today to see how Click Boarding’s employee onboarding software can improve your hiring process.
