Developing a talent pool is primarily a function of the employment recruitment industry. It is the practice of gathering a group of professionals who are eligible candidates for the workforce. A talent pool could be limited to a specific task or area of expertise, or it could be a broad grouping of individuals who are capable of performing a variety of job tasks. Technologies and software programs are available that support creating pools of talented prospects.
Recruiting professionals must develop numerous relationships with workforce candidates in order to generate talent pools. That team of professionals may be focused on a niche industry, such as accounting and finance, or the scope of the areas of expertise may be more diverse. Recruiters could also focus on a specific demographic when developing a talent pool, such as minorities or female professionals, to fill a void in a given industry. They may focus first on developing these relationships and then filling job positions as they become available instead of scrambling to find the appropriate candidate as each career opportunity arises.
Job fairs are places where recruiters and other staffing professionals often attend in order to meet prospective job candidates and strengthen a talent pool. These functions may be hosted in major cities and are often advertised on college campuses, in print publications, and on the Internet. Social media may also be used as an outlet to recruit and market talent for future job opportunities.
Employers might rely on an internal staff in order to develop a talent pool of qualified candidates. This group of prospects may be a function of employee referrals or the result of proactive measures taken by members of a human resources team. An internal team of recruiters may rely on software products to assist in the search process. The software solution may target different types of companies, such as small-, mid-, and large-sized employers, because separate techniques may apply to each of these categories. Software can help create a talent pool in each of the stages involved, including recruiting candidates, managing logistics such as scheduling interviews, and narrowing down the prospective candidates.
In addition to satisfying new employment opportunities, a talent pool can serve to assist in succession planning or replacement planning. When an executive is nearing retirement and fills a key role at a company, discussion may begin early on who a suitable replacement candidate will be. A talent pool made up of existing employees at a firm who can feasibly take the role of a retiring individual can prove useful in determining the future direction of that company.
