A talent pipeline is a group of qualified applicants that are able to fill vacant positions within a company. A talent pipeline may also be known as a recruitment pipeline or employee pipeline. Many larger companies have an established employee pipeline because of the practice of hiring (or promoting) within the company. With fewer employees, smaller business may not have the luxury of hiring or promoting from within. Small businesses should consider having a talent pipeline as part of their business plan. Here’s why small businesses need a talent pipeline, and a few ways to build it.
Why Small Businesses Need a Talent Pipeline
An employee quitting from a larger company, whether sudden or planned, can be a bit of an inconvenience. For small businesses, an employee leaving can be devastating. Without an employee pipeline, the small business now has to scramble to fill the void. They may be trying to fill a position WHILE handling the tasks of the empty position at the same time. This can result in loss of revenue as a small business owner tries to compensate for the empty spot.
A small business can easily post their job opening on job search sites like Indeed, Monster, and even LinkedIn. However, this process is not immediate and can take weeks (even months) to successfully fill the role.
One way small businesses can fill their vacancies more quickly is to post on a niche job site. A niche job site is a job search site that is specific to a particular industry. While this filters out the general job seekers, it still may take a while to fill the vacancy. Having a pool of qualified candidates on standby that the small business could easily choose from could ease this burden.
How to Keep Your Employee Pipeline Full
Because small business owners have a smaller pool of current employees, it can be more difficult to promote from wit
If you’re a small business owner and your employee pipeline consists of current employees, you may want to broaden your pool of potential employees.
Here are four things that you need to keep in mind:
- Plan ahead by building your brand.
- Keep a broad focus and narrow it down later.
- Engage with your candidates.
- Continue assessing your employee pipeline.
Consider Recruitment Marketing
Recruitment marketing is the process of branding a company to the best talent. As a small business owner, you want to attract employees that would be a great addition to the company. Employer branding is a key part of the recruitment marketing process. This technique markets a company in a way that will appeal to qualified job seekers. This ensures that only the most qualified talent will apply to your company. Branding your company may seem like a difficult task. It’s actually quite simple to do, especially with the help of a recruitment marketing agency.
Relationships with Prospective Candidates
It’s important to build a pool of both active and passive candidates. It’s also important to maintain a good relationship with all talent in your employee pipeline. Building and maintaining these relationships should be done before a position in your company becomes vacant. This will promote a smooth transition for your any new employee and the rest of your team.
Advantages of Having a Full Talent Pipeline
As a small business owner, unless you’re a solopreneur, it’s important to keep your talent pipeline full. This will help you to have a pool of qualified candidates ready to fill any potential vacancies. Other advantages include:
- Saving your small business the time and money it takes to search for, screen, hire, and train new employees.
- Keeping the work flow moving.
- Having a smooth transition for everyone once a vacancy is filled.
Maintaining a talent pool, or employee pipeline is something that successful large business owners, CEOs, etc. do. If you want to run with the big dogs, you need to emulate their ways. Life happens, and although small business employees are often like family, it’s important to remember they may seek other opportunities. As a small business, losing a valued member of the team can disrupt the flow of a business. Save yourself time, energy, and money by having a full, qualified, and ready-to-work employee pipeline available.
