Candidate Pipeline - What it is, benefits and how to create and manage a Candidate Pipeline

What is a Talent/Candidate Pipeline?

A talent pipeline, also known as a candidate pipeline, is the process of proactively identifying, engaging, and nurturing relationships with potential candidates and preparing a pool of candidates who would be suited to fill a position. These candidates may be suited for present and future job openings. It is a strategic approach that combines different recruitment stages. This is not limited to sourcing the candidates.

Think of a talent pipeline as growing a garden in your backyard. Planting the seeds does not ensure a blooming garden. One also has to nurture them regularly. The growth of the pipeline happens through continuous engagement, cultivating their skills and potential. A gardener selectively nurtures the right plants for a thriving garden. Similarly, organizations cultivate relationships with potential candidates for a healthy talent pipeline.

Talent Pipeline vs. Talent Pool: Understanding the Difference

Talent pool is often used interchangeably for Talent Pipeline, but there is a distinction. A talent pool refers to a database of candidates that recruiters keep in contact with. It is often your go-to database of potential candidates. Whereas a candidate pipeline represents an ongoing and dynamic stream of candidates. This includes various stages of the recruitment process.

Consider a Fortune 500 company. Their talent pool may consist of a list of candidates from various sources: applications from their Career page, profiles from referrals, or a list of profiles from offshore dev shops. While the final hire may be from this pool, the profile has to go through the complete pipeline. This involves continuous evaluations and engagement. Each applicant needs to move through different stages such as introductory calls, assignments, and interviews.

Benefits of Talent Pipeline:

1. Provides Long-term Vision to Recruitment:

A talent pool often lacks a structured approach. A talent pipeline, on the other hand, encompasses a long-term strategy for candidate assessment and engagement. It goes beyond collecting resumes, most of which are lying untouched in your database.

Through personalized engagement, organizations can better understand candidates' skills, aspirations, and cultural fit. This allows them to make more informed hiring decisions. A personalized approach also helps build trust and rapport, enhancing the candidate's experience.

1. Quick Response to Sudden Hiring Needs:

One of the key advantages of having an existing talent pipeline is the ability to swiftly address sudden hiring needs. When more bandwidth is required, maybe due to renewed product timelines or when an employee unexpectedly departs, organizations with a candidate pipeline can tap into their pre-qualified pool of candidates.

In a case where an organization is looking to expedite their product launch to meet the deadlines, the only options are to either hire a contractor or hire quickly from the existing pipeline.

1. Facilitating Organizational Growth:

Leveraging a talent pipeline can propel your organization’s growth. Many companies keep an eye out for talented individuals that can help them scale revenue.

For instance, startups aiming for rapid growth can greatly benefit from a talent pipeline. Instead of resorting to last-minute and hasty hiring decisions, a well-maintained talent pipeline enables confident selection from a pool of pre-screened candidates. Organizations invest a lot in evaluating candidates through assessments and interviews.

How to Create a Candidate Pipeline?

Creating an effective candidate pipeline is like curating your own garden. This needs to have a combination of all the right elements, from choosing the right soil to maintaining the right temperature and watering them every day. This is much like how you would create your own talent pipeline.

Diversify Your Candidate Sourcing:

It’s much like having different plants in your garden that ultimately allow you to create your favorite dish. A robust talent pipeline consists of various sources that include organic inbound applications, outbound reach-outs, referrals, talent from marketplaces, or applicants from development programs. The right profile that you are looking for can come from any of these sources.

Passive Candidates in the Pipeline:

Passive candidates are individuals who may be open to new possibilities but aren’t actively looking out. While active candidates are easier to deal with, it is difficult to have conversations with passive candidates. One has to have a targeted outreach and build a relationship to get a conversation going.

For passive candidates, it is crucial to grasp their preferences regarding the scope of work, financial considerations, and their vision for the organization's growth. The employer's branding also plays a big role for passive candidates. Only with an appealing employer brand, they are more inclined to accept an offer when the opportunity arises.

How to Engage with Your Talent Pipeline?

Having segmented steps in the pipeline allows you to better understand what each candidate brings to the table. At each stage, you can optimize how you plan on engaging with the applicants, be it through emails, interviews, or over text.

Here is a general breakdown that can help you structure your own talent pipeline:

1. Introductory Round: Initiating an introductory call gauges candidates’ interest and also allows you to assess their initial suitability.

2. First Assignment: Sharing short tasks for roles with high application volume can help you understand candidates’ intent and filter out applicants too.

3. In-depth Assessment: For senior or managerial roles, include more involved assignments, which also highlight language and skill-specific tests. You can also design a comprehensive vetting process that suits your organization’s needs.

4. Hiring Manager Interview: Candidates progressing are encouraged to have a conversation with the hiring manager to assess their skills and alignment with the team.

5. Call with Leaders (CTO, etc.): A call with a leader to discuss the company's vision and organizational fitment.

6. Peer Interaction: Depending on the role, arrange a call or meeting with peers to evaluate cultural fit and collaboration potential.

Building a Candidate Pipeline for Startups

MNCs and organizations have the resources to invest in candidate engagement, unlike startups. Startups have to negate that by putting in twice the effort to build their brand’s recognition while engaging with the applicants.

Tech giants like Google have their own community development initiatives. Programs like Google’s Summer Of Code and Microsoft’s Engage allow young and talented people to showcase their skills. These programs and summits allow companies to keep an eye out for fresh talent who eventually help them scale.

Startups, on the other hand, have to play the long-term game. They are responsible to give them an outlook of the brand, vision, and leadership.

Startup founders are generally active on social platforms. Quite a few candidates may have interacted with the leadership over interviews too. In such a case, they are more likely to have a positive perception and will be drawn to the company culture as well.

Startups should provide a tailored experience that focuses on these touchpoints:

• Quality Interactions: Respond promptly to candidate queries during the hiring process. This ensures a positive candidate experience.

• Transparent and Helpful Feedback: Provide constructive feedback to candidates. It not only helps them but also strengthens your employer brand and showcases your company culture.

• Personalize the Process: Introduce interviewers to candidates. It allows them to connect on a more personal level and experience the company's human side.

Conclusion

A talent pipeline is essential in today's competitive job market. It involves proactively identifying, engaging, and nurturing relationships with potential candidates for present and future job openings. Unlike a talent pool, a pipeline is dynamic and encompasses various stages of recruitment. It provides a long-term vision, quick response to hiring needs, and facilitates organizational growth. Creating an effective pipeline involves diversifying sourcing and engaging with passive candidates. Segmenting steps in the pipeline allows for optimized engagement. Startups can build their pipeline by investing in brand recognition and providing a tailored candidate experience. A well-crafted talent pipeline empowers organizations to secure top talent and create a positive employer brand.