We live in a digital culture where speed, multi-tasking, and multifaceted technologic devices are the norm. A good recruiter ought to build a recruitment strategy that reflects this. How? In “recruiter’s terms” experts talk about a talent pipeline, or a set of candidates who an organization has already screened as qualified, but who are also waiting for an open position.

 

This type of recruitment philosophy is gaining momentum in today’s job market. Many organizations are engaging potential candidates on a variety of platforms in an attempt to set up talent pipelines. The key to this strategy is a movement away from what is called “reactive recruiting,” when a position is available and time is taken to locate an employee. In this case, the position remains open and the work is either distributed or left undone. Talent pipelines shift the focus, enabling a network of ready, qualified workers who can fill a job opening the moment it becomes available without a layover between posting and filling a position.

 

THE PIPELINE, & HOW TO REDUCE YOUR COST PER HIRE

 

  1. Touch Points – Promoting Corporate Culture
    This term, most often associated with marketing, refers to platforms and venues that alert job seekers to your organization. These can be as simple as flyers alerting candidates to visit a website which advertises skills acquired on the job, places former employees have risen to within the company, and keeping active on Twitter, or as complex as surveys distributed by current employee referrals. What’s vital here is, whether a position is open or not, that job seekers remain aware and curious of your organization.
  2. From Active to Reactive Recruiting
    Remember, by adhering to the standard recruitment model, you lose time, money, and productivity to the lag between a position’s opening and the date the position is filled. Not to mention, a position’s advertisement, relatively speaking, is posted only a short while. What about strongly qualified candidates that missed even seeing this opportunity? Active recruitment strategies, like touch points, help search for candidates all year round, instead of within the brief post-to-fill window that is allotted to spare overhead.
  3. Technology is Your Friend And Theirs
    Potential candidates entering the job market today were, for the most part, raised in the era of the internet, cell phones, and tablet devices. Play to these devices and platforms.  Consider hosting virtual job fairs with Skype or Google+ Hangout where recruiters connect and cultivate the talent pipeline. This point, perhaps above the rest, can save your organization time, travel expenses, and overtime costs that would otherwise go to grass roots recruiting models.

 

What is truly advantageous about the talent pipeline is that it fosters a network within and outside of your organization. You are leveraging your brand, actively recruiting, and simultaneously advertising your services, all while cost-efficiently benefiting the company. The platforms and communities that make the talent pipeline possible – social media, mobile devices, the web at large – are already in place.  It is your job as a modern recruiter to seize open these opportunities and create new ones for your organization.

If you are looking for a first-class staffing agency in Philadelphia, contact Magellan today. We have the experience and resources to help you locate top talent for your next job.