Spot the difference: Talent pools, talent pipelines and talent communities

The top recruitment buzzwords at the moment? Talent pools, talent pipelines and talent communities.

All of these can come in handy if used correctly. But, it can be tough to know exactly what each phrase means.

Here’s our guide to spotting the difference between talent pools, talent pipelines and talent communities:

So, what exactly is a…

Talent pool

The most popular of these three resources, a talent pool is a group of professionals that you’re aware of and can reach out to when it comes to hiring time.

Talent pools are typically set up by companies or recruiters as a useful resource that speeds up the hiring process and improves the overall quality of staff.

Candidates in your talent pool can come from anywhere; they can be unemployed, employed by a competitor but seeking work, employed in a related industry, or even already employed by you.

They should share common skills or traits relevant to your business, and have qualities that set them apart from your average applicant.  

Talent pools require a lot of maintenance. You’ll need to keep in touch with talent pool members to make sure they’re still interested in your company, understand what factors are important for their future development and be aware of any new training or qualifications they’ve acquired.  

Talent pipeline

Talent pipelines have a lot in common with talent pools, but are much more targeted.

A talent pool is a passive resource that you turn to when you need it. A talent pipeline is an active, ongoing process geared towards making sure you have the highest calibre of staff in key roles.

This type of recruitment resource is usually used to meet a specific objective, such as:

• Bringing more experienced staff into a particular department over time

• Adding new skills from related industries into your management team

• Finding staff with qualifications that allow them to replace those who have developed beyond the role after learning on the job.

Hiring managers and department heads can get much more involved in managing the talent pipeline as it requires a much more targeted approach than the talent pool method.

Talent community

Talent communities are great at engaging candidates, but require some hefty work on your part.

They’re places (usually online) where professionals in the same role or industry meet to network and share knowledge.

Talent communities can be run by companies, recruiters, or exist completely independently.

These communities can be a great place to look for those candidates who are already making waves in your industry; the self-starters and problem-solvers who can add real value to your business.

But, you can’t approach candidates in a talent community in the same way you would for candidates in a talent pool.  

To get the attention of candidates in a talent community, start by sending in your own best and brightest to build up a rapport. They should set out to strengthen your employer brand and convince other members that recruitment is secondary to knowledge sharing.

Talent pools, talent pipelines and talent communities are all great resources for recruiters. Now you know exactly what they are, you can choose how best to use them to get your hiring processes just so.