What is Talent Pool Engagement?

Talent pool engagement, as the name implies, happens when an organization takes active steps to stay engaged with prospective employees—often before they’ve even applied at the organization. With today’s ever-connected online environment, there are ever more ways for employers to stay in touch with the talent pool, no matter the size.

Why Care About Talent Pool Engagement

You may be wondering why this is an issue—after all, as long as the candidates apply when you have a vacancy, that’s what really matters, right? If you’re extremely lucky, the answer may be yes. But in most cases, it also matters how well the applicant knows the organization—if they’re engaged with the organization prior to applying, there’s a much greater likelihood that they are also in better alignment with the organizational goals and company culture. They will be self-selecting to be engaged with the organization. You’ll be more likely to have applicants who already feel they’re a good fit.
Here are some additional reasons why increased talent pool engagement can be useful:

• The organization is more likely to simply get enough applicants for a role if they already have an engaged group of individuals who are interested in the company. This alone can mean your time to hire is decreased, which also decreases your total hiring costs. This can be a key reason to make the effort to keep the talent pool engaged—it can save you in the long run.
• Proactively engaging with the talent pool can set your organization apart from others. Most job applicants bemoan how frustrating it is to be in the job market and barely get any contact from employers—sometimes even after applying and interviewing. By being proactive in this area, the employer may stand out and be more likely to give applicants a positive experience.
• If they’ve been actively engaged and interacting with the company, new hires are more likely to already feel they have a “link” to the organization, even before they’ve arrived for their first day. This can help to ease the transition for those hired.

Now that we’ve taken a look at why an organization may want to work on talent pool engagement, we’ll discuss ways to do just that in a follow-up post!