An active phenomenon is underway that is so powerful and so prevalent that a term has been coined for it. That term is "The Great Resignation." It refers to a significant shift in the labor force that began in 2021 and continues today.

The labor market has experienced great turbulence since the COVID-19 virus swept through the United States beginning in 2020. The job market tightened considerably as many businesses were forced to shut down and lay off many workers. Many of those companies went out of business entirely, never to return. Things have changed rapidly since those dark times in 2020, and now employers are finding it challenging to employ the talent they need. 

This change is attributed to many factors, including: 

• Inflation is at record highs and is forcing many workers to seek higher rates of pay and/or find other job opportunities.
• A record number of job openings has made it easier than ever for people to switch jobs.
• People are not as fearful about switching jobs as they used to be. A recent Microsoft survey revealed that 52% of Millennials and Gen Z workers said they would at least consider changing jobs within the following year. 
• Many employees have become accustomed to working from home during the pandemic and refuse to work for a company that will not allow them to continue doing so.

Thus, there has never been a better time to focus on expanding your talent pool and looking for interested and available candidates.  

Why Build A Talent Pool?

To hire new employees, you must first collect data on who is qualified, available, and seeking employment. This means using a talent pool to to source, assess, and attract talent. The more information you have on potential hires, the better. 

A talent pool should have people who have already applied, people who have been extended a job interview, and even people who have not reached out to you but who seem like they might be an ideal fit. 

You want to keep all of those potential hires in the mix because you never know when someone may switch positions and accept an offer from another company. Given how flexible the job market is at this time, you have to prepare for all possibilities. 

All companies should consider building a talent pool because it will improve several factors in the hiring process, including: 

• The amount of time it takes to hire a new employee
• The quality of the hires that are ultimately made
• The ability to see in a quantitative way what each new hire brings to the office

So much of our modern world is data-driven, and there are important reasons why that is the case. We make better decisions when we have more information, and hiring is no exception.

How To Broaden Your Talent Pool

Think broadly when you begin the process of constructing your talent pool. This is certainly NOT the time to restrict any outreach method to various candidates and potential candidates. What you want to do instead is think of both inbound and outbound recruiting strategies as an appropriate use of your time when building your talent pool. 

LinkedIn And Job Search Boards

LinkedIn and job boards are great resources for recruiters. These are places where job-seekers can post their professional details to land a new job or promotion. They are great resources for the job-seekers themselves as they open the possibility of making a connection between themselves and the ideal career opportunity. 

The thing to remember about job search boards is that they are highly competitive. The best job-seekers often have their resumes posted on a number of different boards and they are inundated with emails and phone calls from recruiters. It can be difficult to stand out in this type of situation, but it is worth the effort.

Referral Candidates

Sometimes, the best resource for discovering new talent is asking for referrals from existing employees. There is a decent chance that they know people who might be a good fit. Referral candidates are known to be some of the best candidates because they are familiar with your company and have some sort of connection to it. They come pre-vetted by someone you trust which means that their qualifications have likely been checked out. There is already a level of trust established between the referrer and the person being referred. 

This can make the onboarding process smoother. This is why approximately two in three referred candidates ultimately get hired by the company to which they were referred. These individuals should always be included as part of your talent pool. 

Inbounding Recruiting

Some candidates will opt-in to your recruiting talent pool if you produce excellent content about your job openings and company culture. You can attract these talented individuals by creating interesting and informative blogs, podcasts, videos, or articles about your industry, team, and work environment. 

An inbound recruiting strategy will require more time and effort on your part than simply posting a job opening on a job search board, but it can be worth it. The people who you reach out to in this way will have already self-selected as being interested in what you do and they are likely to be a better fit for your organization.

Lumina makes inbound recruiting seamless. Our tool takes your plain-text job posting and turns it into a compelling video within a day. 

Here’s how this happens: 

1. Create your original job posting text
2. Copy the URL from that job posting 
3. Paste the URL into your Lumina account
4. Press the "request" button
5. Wait 24 hours or less to see an outstanding video of their job posting ready to populate wherever you need it 

Visual mediums like video and images are more likely to draw in the viewers than text-based job postings, which everyone else is using. Thus, the job posting is far more likely to stand out, and it is likely to receive many more applications as a result. 

Best Practices For Curating Your Talent Pool

Just creating a talent pool is not nearly enough. Recruiters and business owners need to focus on molding their talent pool in ways that will be most advantageous for their business. One way to do this is by focusing on quality over quantity. While it is important to cast a wide net, it is more important to focus on finding the best candidates possible. 

Reach Out To Previous Candidates

Consider reaching out to candidates who have previously applied but did not get hired before. There are many reasons why they may not have been selected the first time, such as: 

• There was only one role to fill, and another candidate won the spot
• They were unable to meet the scheduling requirements for the job at the time
• They accepted a different job offer from another company

None of these things should be immediately disqualifying for a candidate who wasn’t hired the first time. Thus, it might be worthwhile to reach out to them again and see if they might still be interested in applying with your company. 

Don't Forget About Your Internal Team

A talent pool should not be thought of as only including people who are external to your organization. You also have many talented employees who may be interested in advancing their career within the company. Offering them chances for advancement and growth can help you retain the talent you have while also bringing in new candidates. This is done by creating a talent pipeline, which is a system that allows employees to move up through the ranks of the company over time. Don't forget to at least include a few familiar names when constructing your talent pool. 

Former Employees

Former employees may still be considered as long as they did not leave on bad terms with the company. Most employers will tick a box indicating if an employee is eligible for rehire or not when they leave the job. Those who are considered suitable for rehire may be perfect when a new role opens up that they are ideally suited for. 

Need Help Developing Your Talent Pool? 

Creating a talent pool is a necessity, but it is not easy. Companies that fail to create such a pool may find themselves falling behind the competition when it comes to talent acquisition. Luckily, there are many resources available to help business owners and recruiters develop a talent pool that will work best for their needs. 

At Lumina, we understand the importance of having a strong talent pool. That's why we offer a creative twist to traditional job posts. Create shareable recruitment videos from existing job postings that you can use to attract prospects and empower recruiters. Give Lumina a try now.